Midnight

The mantle clock behind me has started to chime.
I know Julie hates that clock, but I love it. I like hearing it chime on the hour and half-hour.
It's a little loud, she says, when we're talking on the phone.

12 times. Midnight.

I never was much of a night person. I always got up early, got my work done early, and then turned into a lazy slug for the afternoon/evening. Guess I was that way because of how I was raised. I had the "get it over with" mentality drilled into me from an early age.

I do like my mantle clock.

Not much has been going on around here today. I did a good bit of running around yesterday and intended for today to be a "lazy day". Did go through the junk mail, and tomorrow morning, I'll pay some bills, along with the school taxes sitting in there.

Sigh. I'm not looking forward to opening that. It's gonna be at least $1,400, and thankfully, I have enough saved up to pay it off. After that...well...it's not gonna be super tight, but it'll be interesting.

If you haven't seen Julie's blog yet, you should go read it. (Hopefully, she hasn't posted the pictures of me in shorts...yet.) She's gonna be a grandma. My girlfriend's going to be a grandmother.

Occasionally, I have to stop and let my mind wrap around that concept.

See, to me, growing up, grandparents were old. When your mother's 42 when you're born, grandparents are going to be a bit older. I still equate "grandparents" with older, gray-haired people who've had long lives, plastic covering the furniture and jars of candy all around the house.

Julie doesn't have gray hair (despite her daughter's teasing), doesn't have plastic on the furniture, and is on a diet, so candy? Forget about it.

Hm. Growing older. The thought of that doesn't bother me, but the concept of "getting old" does, if that makes sense. I've seen what happens in my family when old age comes around, and it's not something I'm looking forward to. I have a genuine fear of getting old, but even as I type those words, I can hear My Priestess tell me "it's better than the alternative".

Late nights. Granted, just past midnight isn't "late", but when you've spent years going to bed before 11, this is unfamiliar territory for me, you could say. I've been used, for years, at getting up between 5:30 and 7. Sleeping in until 9 only on Saturdays. Now it's an almost daily occurrence for me, and its taking a bit to get used to.

And yet, I just talked to my love. She's gotta get up at 2:30 in the morning to be at work by 4, but she was just getting to bed. Took a nap this afternoon, but that can really muck up her night.

It's amazing what we can do, when we need to do something.

Hm. 12:15AM. Think I'll surf the web a little, watch the end of the All-Star game (tied at 3 in the bottom of the 11th), and get to bed eventually.

Tomorrow's another day.