Time Check

It's almost 1:00am. I'm awake for no apparent reason. My alarm is set to go off at 3:00am. There's really no reason to even try to go to bed at this point.

I'm working long, hard days. I should be tired. Why the insomnia, then? Maybe it's because I have too much stress-- there are 3 big catering jobs going out in the morning. Each of them is more complicated than normal. One of them is "Breakfast in a Box" for 40 people. I hate when people order this-- I've been working on removing it from our catering menu because it's a hard one to pull off. When the new menu is printed, it will be history, but for now it's on the menu so I have to offer it, although I always try to persuade people to make a different selection. The problem with the box meal is that there is a lot that goes into it: a piece of strata (quiche), a fruit cup, a biscuit, a bowl of grits, apple butter and butter. The strata takes about 1.5 hours to cook, so I've got to have it in the oven by 4am in order to have it cooked, cut, wrapped and boxed for a 6:00am departure time. What usually happens is that the strata is placed in the box with the fruit cup and butters. The fruit gets warm, the strata gets cold. I hate this option, and the thoughto of cutting up enough fruit for 40 cups in the middle of the night is not appealing either. I tried to get it done today, but everyone said that they'd be there to help me in the morning and not to worry about it. Well, it's not in my nature to NOT worry. So many times people have said that they'd be there to help me and they oversleep, or show up late, or get busy doing something else. I've learned that I can't depend on anyone to help me, so I take on more than I can do and I end up sitting here at 1am with insomnia.

Another reason I can't sleep... the show is about 36 hours away. That adds a whole other reason of stress for me. I know that everything will go ok once I get on stage-- it's the couple of hours leading up to the show that I'm worried about. Some of my coworkers are in the show and they don't know the area. They will get lost, mark my words. My boss and her family are coming to the show-- even though she has a GPS Navigator, she will get lost. I will spend the preshow hours giving directions via cell phone. Through in the fact that my make up lady might possibly get lost too and I'm imaging my fate of what will happen when I have to beg someone else to do my makeup and they do the total opposite of what I want. it happend in the show a couple of years ago-- luckily there are no pictures to remind me of the night I went on stage looking like a clown and trying to pull off a dramatic Kelly Clarkston number. Hopefully everything will turn out ok and I'll have worried for nothing-- but like I said, I'm a natural born worrier and if I don't have anything to worry about, I'll invent something!

I had a smart idea earlier this week-- I decided that Keisha would look better with a tan. So, I went over to Performing Arts in Hapeville and did a 15 minute sizzle in bed #3. I got a little bit burned, but ended up with white stripes going down my sides. So, like a fool, I trotted on back to Hapeville the following day for another dose of artificial sun- just to even up the redness. What I ended up with has got to be a case of 3rd degree burn over 90% of my body. I'm not exagerating-- it's awful and I'm sure I'll be either peeling or blistering by showtime. It should be lovely. The thought of putting on that tight bra over the sunburn is the equivelant to nails on a chalkboard. It hurts to wear normal clothes. Much less anything tight. What the hell was I thinking? Maybe another reason I can't sleep-- the sheets hurt my skin.

I just thought of another reason, and probably the most plausable one. I started taking a new supplement last week. You start off by taking 1 pill twice a day for 3 days. Then you take 2 pills twice a day for 3 days. Then you take 3 twice a day for 2 months. Then you stop for a month and then start over. Well, I started on the 6 per day dose yesterday. I'm thinking there may be caffeine or speed or soemthing in these pills. The more I take, the more frenzied I become. I've got to admit that they are working-- my abs are really beginning to show for the first time in my life. I guess I just need to remember to take them earlier in the day, not at bedtime like I did tonight.

So, it's almost 1:30am now. I'm going to get ahead and hit the shower, get dressed and go on into work and start chopping fruit and cooking stratas. With any luck I'll be out of work by 9am and can spend the rest of the day resting, recovering and prepping for the show on Saturday. Wish me luck-- the "after-party" can't come soon enough!