Not Sleeping It Off. . .Unfortunately

The in-laws arrived very late on Wednesday and are now sleeping soundly (I hope) down in the new guest room.

Cleaning, unfortunately, took way longer than anticipated and since I did keep putting things off, left me achey and complainy when I finally finished this evening. Now that my house is clean and mostly organized, groceries bought, pumpkin bread baked and turkey breast roasted, you'd think I'd be ready for a good night's sleep. Instead, I went to bed around 12:30ish, got woken up by a noisy Craze at 3 am and have since been wide awake on this very early Thanksgiving morn while Craze and the doggies slumber away in the bedroom. (Though I just noticed that the Bear must be having some kind of bad dream as he actually sounds like he's growling in his sleep! Well, at least he's actually asleep.)

We are headed out tomorrow (aka later today) for Thanksgiving lunch to a fancy downtown Chicago restaurant right in Millennium Park (home of "The Bean" and, in Fall/Winter, the picturesque Millennium Park ice rink) which should be fun. I'm excited about having someone else cook for me and do all the dishes afterwards!

I was amazed, watching Oprah this morning, when she said she's never cooked a whole turkey. I swear, I've cooked at least 20 of those poor, de-feathered beasts over the years. Probably closer to 30 even (between Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners) but I don't want to exaggerate. This year with only 3 weeks and 3 days until my little baby is due to arrive, I'm more than happy to leave the roasting, cooking and clean up to others.

So, after sneaking down to the kitchen for a cup of decaf tea and a slice of the afore-mentioned pumpkin bread, I'm really hoping, at 5:20 am, that sleep is about to catch up with me again. Hoping, but not really feeling it unfortunately. The complete irony of pregnancy is that people constantly remind you of all the sleep you'll miss out on once you become a parent. Though they never seem to relate the terrors of all the sleep you're going to miss out on during the nine months when you have more time and inclination for uninterrupted rest. So unfair! Oh how I look back now on my nights of easy slumber with relish. Total comfort. No nightly trips to the bathroom. Hardly ever waking up with only two hours of sleep and then being wide awake for no reason. I have always LOVED sleeping. Now, unfortunately, I find it hard to achieve for more than a series of cat naps interspersed between bathroom breaks.

Let's just hope I'm able to stay awake later today during our Thanksgiving feast!