sleep, but not snow, deprived

Stef and I decided we were going to go enjoy Avatar with the others on Thursday night.  Alex decided to sleep.  Smart choice.  We went and watched--loved--the movie and then headed out to the car and geared up for a long... morning?  It was just past three when we got back to my apartment where my brother had already arrived.  Both of us needed to finish up some packing, so we did.  And almost two hours later, at 4:45 a.m., we were on the road headed to Michigan.

About 45 minutes later I realized I had forgotten my phone in the apartment.  Besides that, all was going relatively well.  Unfortunately, it was only a little later when the sleepiness started smacking me something fierce.  I had to stop at a rest area for about ten minutes of sleep, and then another ten minutes of walking around trying to wake up and try to find out whether 64 was closed because of that landslide a few weeks ago.  I couldn't find out, so I decided to keep going.  About half an hour later I had to stop again.  This time it was at a Waffle House, and for another 30 or 40 minutes.  I was getting kind of upset with tiredness, and now that I'm thinking about it, I don't remember much of what happened all that morning.  I ended up getting Alex to wake up enough to switch with me at some point, and finally went to sleep.  But not after asking him at least a dozen times if he was awake enough to drive, in order to make sure he was getting angry at me, and thus, hopefully awake enough to drive.  He was a trooper.  Drove for like three hours while I slept for 10 minutes (it seemed).

When I started driving again, it was after we had stopped to get gas.  I had paid in cash, giving the girl more than I would need because I didn't know how much it would cost.  I pumped the gas, went to the bathroom, and we were off.  Getting onto the freeway, I realized I had forgot to pick up my change, which was about $10.  Wow, I was urinated to the max.  Silly things make me extremely frustrated, especially when I am tired, when there are other people around, and when I made a stupid mistake.  (I have a lot to learn.)  Conveniently, the next exit was only about ten miles away.  DANG IT.  So we--I--wasted like twenty-five minutes driving to that stupid exit, turning around, driving back, and walking in to the gas station, waiting in line for a couple minutes, and then being handed a receipt and $10 bill from a smiling checkout girl.  She was awesome and I hope she has a blessed life with a wonderful husband and many happy, thoughtful children.  I had imagined walking back in there, walking over to the counter in shame, and then being told that I couldn't get my change because someone else had already pumped gas at the same pump or something.  Oh man, being handed that 10 dollars was the only minor bit of relief I got through that whole experience.

We eventually got home around 4:15 that afternoon.  It was a long night/day.

It's pretty much been lightly snowing since we got here.  It's very nice.  The cat still hates me and runs under the Christmas tree when I get close.  She let me pet her a little last night while I ate some cereal, but that's about as lucky as I get.  Mom somehow gets her to jump on her lap and stay there for a while.  I watched Les Triplettes de Belville with my sister last night.  What a strange, but somehow refreshing, movie.  OK, but mostly strange.

Bye.