For the second night in a row, I find myself unable to sleep ... and it's after 3 a.m.
Sunday night it was the same, and I tried to sleep in the spare bedroom to keep from bothering Donna. It's an antique bed that creaks and groans with every shift of the body. I think in its previous life it was a medieval rack. Couple that with the fact that my main side-effect experience has shifted from Monday afternoon to Monday morning, and that adds up to a stormy Monday.
Given my fogginess, the flu-like feeling and a general need for more sleep, I nearly blew off my lectionary group on Monday morning. As for The Daily Times, I had a 1:30 interview with a graphics editor candidate, which was the main reason I was pushing ahead and trying to make the day work.
I'm glad I didn't blow off lectionary, because I think I got a pretty good Pentecost sermon out of the deal. Plus, Ken showed up with Stan, who's getting his first church this year. Ken, Stan and I met at Chick-fil-A afterward and that's when the day grew worse: I bit into my last bite of a chicken wrap and my temporary bridge broke.
There I sat with a huge gap where there once was a complete bridge. It had the same appearance of a wire photo I remember from years past: it depicted the scene after a runaway barge knocked out a section of bridge on some Louisiana river. Ken and Stan just stared at me with this look of astonishment on their faces. (In all the years I have known him, I have never, ever seen Ken at a loss for words before.)
For me, it was one of those "Aw, crap!" moments.
"Sorry guys, but I've got to go," I lisped, wrapping up the remains of the broken bridge with that last bite of sandwich and tossing them in the trash.
I was started to unravel.
In the car, I called Dr. Bill, my dentist, and went on to the newsroom. Already deciding that once this emergency passed I was going home. That was that. Too much stress for me. I worried that if things started falling apart in the Newsroom, the Riba-Rage would overcome me.
At the Newsroom, I managed to focus on the job interview and not worry about my appearance. Afterward, I went on to the dentist.
"How are you doing today?" the receptionist asked.
"Lousy," I grumbled.
Thankfully, they quickly got me back to a chair where I continued to scowl and fume about the situation. But the hygenist working in the other room was not going to let that go. She stepped in, took one look at my Disney-like appearance and horse-laughed.
"You look so funny!"
Now, I was the one who was shocked. I shot her a look like, "Don't you dare laugh at me," but that only made it worse and she guffawed again.
I have to say things got better after that. Dr. Bill did his magic and I was out of there in less than an hour, with the gaping hole now filled with a temporary tooth. Fortunately, it only has to hold up for a little more than a week.
There were some computer problems in the Newsroom when I left, so I decided to return before coming home. As it turned out, I spent nearly four hours working on one station before deciding the techie was going to have to wipe it clean and reinstall. I then made my way home.
Now, here I am again ... awake, wishing I could sleep.
It is now 4 in the morning and I think I'll sneak back into bed, trying not to wake Donna.
I hope this isn't some sequel to the movie "Groundhog Day."
Grace and peace ...
