RINGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Ah sweet slumber.  Sweet peaceful blissful sleep-filled slumber.  How I love thee.  How rarely I get to have you in my life. Why just last night, I didn't get to bed until 1:25am. I was totally exhausted and so dearly looked forward to a long winter's nap. Finally - such deep and utter sleep when.....'RINNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! RINNNGGGGGGGGGGG!" Yes, at exactly 5:50am this morning, my phone rang.  My brain, which was clearly in the unconscious state, took a few seconds to process the sound. As soon as my brain realized the phone was ringing, panic set in. Who calls at 5:50am?  I was so worried it was my daughter calling from the Naval Academy and her eyes were worse or she was sick or something along those lines.  I literally jumped out of bed and ran full force to the kitchen to answer the phone. As soon as I said "Hello" - I heard the recorded message from our school superintendent. "Hi. This is your school's superintendent. School is now on a 2 hour delay." OH right. WINTER. Didn't I just say YESTERDAY that it is really winter?! That it is snowy and cold?! I never even started to think that school cancellations and delays would already be upon us! Last year we got the phone call so many times that the second the phone would ring we would all guess: 1 hour delay, 2 hour delay or closed? So the winter delays have begun. My brain will now register that all early morning calls at 0'dark-thirty will be school closures or delays.  I will no longer leap out of bed with my heart pounding and I will no longer run at the speed of light in order to answer the phone in record time.  My son and daughter were made quite happy by this morning's call.  They immediately went back to sleep.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres said something incomprehensible like why is our daughter ringing the doorbell and he immediately went back to sleep.  Even the barking happy-to-see me SO EARLY in the morning puppies went right back to sleep.  Any guesses as to whether the panic stricken, run like the wind, oh no I hope my older daughter is okay, mom went back to sleep? Right. No. Not at all.  The amount of adrenaline running through my system lasted just long enough so by the time I was really really tired and wanted to go back to bed......it was time to get up.  And thus, another shortened night of sleep for me.  The good news is that my cleaning projects are coming along very nicely! I am ahead of schedule and that never happens. I just might be ready for Christmas after all! "Ring Christmas Bells Merrily Ring"......except please don't ring before 7am, after 11pm, during dinner, while I am in the bathroom, during a movie, and especially, please do not scare me out of a deep sleep. Thank you ever so much. I really appreciate it!