Awake before anyone else

Or at least I think I am.

It was 4 in the morning when I woke up today. I guess I can make it to morning prayers today.

So I wake up this early - I haven't slept through the night in half a year - because of this machine I use, the CPAP - basically an air compressor that keeps my airway from closing up at night. The thing dries me out since I don't use the humidifier on it. I choose not to use it because if I did I would have to wash the breathing assembly (a little barrel with two soft nozzles that fit into my nose) and the hose with antibacterial soap every day. This would be to avoid things like Legionnaire's Disease which thrive in moist environments. I;m just not disciplined enough to do this , so I live with the dryness.

This limitation is small compared to the gain; I've had only five hours of sleep and yet I feel more rested than I did before when my sleep apnea disrupted my sleep.

Beck and I have this joke, "Thanks, CPAP, it's incredible," making fun of the awful video the local clinic uses to pimp this thing. Ask us about it sometime.

Chad's viewing was last night. I was glad to be able to go, even though I normally avoid these things. I told Beck this was the first one I've gone to where it hasn't felt like an obligation. I'm glad it wasn't in a funeral home. Those places feel like dollhouses.

Ghost is awake with me. Chewing on an old water bottle.

So, in a last gasp of early morning indulgence, here's what I'd like to get done today. (I have no printer now as mine recently konked out - anybody want to sell a used Mac printer?)

- email Julie Boehm about the poverty documentary project
- Finish up the top ten list stuff for John Fox, my editor on the Best of Cincinnati project
- get the books out from under the sofa
- make arrangements to borrow a van and add a bookcase to the living room
- clear off space on my computer - I have less than a gig free on an 80 gig system!
- clean the bathroom
- make arrangements to find a new printer
- email Angela with the writers project info
- add my blog info to the signature on my email
- clean the backyard and measure for pavers - we're paving the little back yard we have.
- do four loads of laundry
...that's this day's peek into the glamorous life of a freelance writer.

-Steve