I used to think of midnight as the �witching� hour, but now I think of it as my absolute latest bedtime. I don�t know why, but it seems that no matter what time I begin preparing for bed, it...

I used to think of midnight as the �witching� hour, but now I think of it as my absolute latest bedtime. I don�t know why, but it seems that no matter what time I begin preparing for bed, it is midnight before I actually crawl between the sheets.

Every night I go through a mental checklist: I prepare the coffee pot for the next morning, take the dog outside, fill the dog�s feed and water bowls, fix ice water for the bedside, put on my pj�s, take my meds,� brush teeth and use the Waterpik. It almost never fails that as soon as I lie down, I remember something I forgot to do.

Lately, I�ve gone to bed at midnight and awakened at 4 a.m. If I�m lucky, I can read my book for a while, and go back to sleep until a more appropriate hour. I�m pretty sure that the early wake up hour is a carryover from the days when Jim slept an average of four hours at night, which meant that I also slept about four hours a night.

On good days, I get to take a nap. On busy days, I just force myself to keep on going.

Today has been a busy day. I picked up my mom and we went to music practice at my brother�s house. I wasn�t sure Mom would go in the freezing cold weather. During our morning telephone conversation she said that it seemed like she just spent a lot of time in her chair and that she just didn�t feel much like going out. Anyway, she felt like going to music practice.

�I know how you feel. It seems the less I do, the less I want to go,� I said.

I�m always playing catch-up. I have so many tasks I need to do, and then there�s the chores I intend to do, and, of course, there are things I want to do. I want to play my ukulele and sing, so I look forward to practice and to playing at the retirement/nursing homes. We worked on some new material today and the challenge was good for us.

These short winter days throw a kink into my plans. I have trouble driving at night. My eyes have always been sensitive to light and the new ultra bright headlights give me a headache. Our club meetings are after dark this time of year. The drive into town for the last meeting was nerve-wracking, and that was in good weather.

I�m slowing down in my older age. Everything takes longer and my concentration isn�t what it used to be. I certainly cannot multitask anymore.

This is the last day of 2023 and one minute after midnight, we usher in a new year. I don�t plan to set any earth-shattering goals for 2024. I hope that I allow myself to rest when I�m weary, look for the good and overlook the bad, cherish the quiet moments, think happy thoughts, and be kind to others and to myself.

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Copyright � Dec 2023 by L.S. Fisher

http://earlyonset.blogspot.com

#ENDALZ�

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