Couch Monster and the sleep deprivation

It turns out that Don and I have a Couch Monster. It goes with our Laundry Fairy and the Kitchen Gremlin, I guess. The Couch Monster is responsible for that phenomenon in which somebody stays on the couch to read/ watch TV/ be online/ watch a movie/ play a video game/ whatever instead of dragging his/her rear off to bed, so that instead of turning in at a responsible, healthy 10:00 or 10:30 one finds oneself still goofing about at midnight or later, missing the valuable sleep that will make the next day productive or even liveable. Bad Couch Monster, it got me good last night.

So I didn't get enough sleep and did really stupid things all day, like this: Went through the Starbucks drive-thru on the way to work. Paid in cash, got my change, drove away. Got about 3/4 of the way to work and reached for my caffeine at a red light only to discover that it's not there. I actually drove away before they handed me my drink... I had to turn around and drive back to get it, where they were all laughing at me, which made me late for work. The alternative--going without coffee on 5 hours of sleep-- was unthinkable. The worst part was that when I realized the coffee wasn't in my cup holder I kept looking for it, like maybe I set it on the back seat or the dashboard or something. And all that was before 7 in the morning... my day was stupid.

Don and I have agreed to rescue each other from the Couch Monster and drag the victim to bed regardless of protestation, to prevent days like this.

Went to dinner with my family at this cool Japanese place where they prepare the food right in front of you with much flamboyance. It was fun. We also stopped by Borders on the way home (a natural activity for my family) and I got to talk to Ben for a bit which was something of a relief--I'd felt lately like he'd been mad at me, or avoiding me or something. Apparently not the case, though, thankfully. I found him pinned in the music department by my Dad, who asks arcane, complicated questions about classical music and doesn't understand why they can't unwrap a CD for him to listen to in the store and decide on later. Poor Ben.