I'm sitting in a booth at Panera's, next to the fireplace, on a gray and misty Monday morning. Cozy. Fortunately, rainy days and Mondays don't get me down. The only thing that could be better was if I hadn't picked a spot near a table that has filled up with 6 people in some type of meeting, but it's not bad. If I wasn't concentrating on writing, I might be interested in listening. I've always been curious about 'meetings' because we only have 4 a year in my salon, and for a lot of people, I think their jobs consist of meetings. When people used to ask what my ex did for a living, I'd tell them I wasn't sure, but I knew he had a lot of meetings.

I was so tired last night. Spent. Then, I couldn't fall asleep. I really didn't have much on my mind. Sleep just wouldn't come. After about an hour, I thought I should take something to help me sleep, but I was too tired to get up. Then, with a deafening siren, the house alarm went off, and I knew right away what had triggered it. I hadn't taken down the ornaments I hung in the threshold between the front door and the living room. The floor vent is right below the ornaments. The motion detector is above. The air made the ornament swing around triggering the alarm. Nothing like jumping out of bed and flying downstairs to deactivate the alarm, heart racing, thoughts of a burgler as a possibility in the back of your mind. Somehow, it didn't wake Emily. I went upstairs, took a pill and tried going to sleep. Couldn't sleep. Remembered another ornament hanging from a door frame in range of the motion detector. Back downstairs to take that down. Up to bed. No sleep. Light on, reading the Italian Classics cookbook. I think I fell asleep around 2:00 and woke up at 4:30. I decided to get a start on the day. I gathered the recipes for the appetizers and desserts I'll make for my party. Made lists of ingredients I have on hand and what I need to buy. Checked my wine supply. Made lists of paper good I have to buy. Decided to drive Emily to school, come here for breakfast and coffee, then go to Sam's Club and the liquor store. Then, I'm going home and spending the rest of the day in till Emily comes home from school. I would like to spend hours working on my cards. If we feel up to it, we'll go shopping. We both need outfits for this Saturday. And with that, I'll just say whew. And another thing: I inherited all my energy from my mother. Before she had her stroke 6 years ago, she was in constant motion. I miss that mother. She misses the person she was.