c is for clueless

there's been a bug going around and as a result i've had lots of bonus shifts at work. for instance, yesterday was my third straight overnight at charbonneau house. this one was planned at the very last minute and actually involved a bit of a morning shift the following day. the deal is that whoever's getting up with the core members for breakfast also takes the monitor for the night. basically, i can hear how nancy's doing and, at the touch of a button, can check on her. nancyvision!

i hadn't done this in a while, but when i lived at charbonneau it was my turn at least twice a week. so, obviously, i'm a pro.

as planned, i woke up for the 7am pee and went to wake nancy. she was reluctant, as usual, but followed me to the bathroom. when we were done there, i brought her back to her room, assuring her that someone would wake her up in the morning. she settled back on her (new!) bed and i returned to mine. before i tucked my groggy self in, i went to reset the alarm for my real wakeup, around 7:30. which was when i finally looked at the time.

it was 1:30am.

apparently, it wasn't my alarm that had woken me up! i'd just woken up on my own, assumed the alarm had gone off, and went along with the routine!

a hundred thoughts ran through my mind: "did i just dream that?! 'cause sometimes i daydream within dreams, and this could be one of those times... no, i'm pretty sure that really did just happen!!! what if she can't fall back asleep?! it's ok, we have some her sedative on standby! too bad we don't have a protocol for when assistants have sleep disturbances! should i still get her up again at 7 and then *again* at 9?! oh, also: are you stupid?!" though i was ducking and weaving, eventually sleep hit me.

fast forward to 7:30: i was packing up my stuff when i heard a thud downstairs. i hit the button on the monitor and *poof!* nancy wasn't there! jogging down the stairs, i wondered why her door alarm hadn't gone off. answer: houdini was sitting on the floor. just chillin'. i joined her in playing it cool, and pretended this was her normal 7am interlude from sleep. it all worked out fine, and she went back to sleep for nearly 2 hours. so forgiving!

in my life there have been plenty of nights when i woke up multiple times, worried that i might oversleep. before tests, trips, work. this was certainly the first time i assumed it was morning already.

what a way to (false) start the day!

edited to add:

first of all, given the dreams i forecast in my last post, i think my 1:30am adventure may have been rum-induced!

secondly, i wrote to my mom about all this, and this was her reply:
very funny! i hope you're not too worried about it. it can happen to anyone... remember how i once woke up in the middle of the night, tried to warm some milk in the microwave, and set the time starting with 416? or the night when i went for a glass of water, placed a cup under the light switch, and waited patiently?