rules

Not only do I work my 9-to-5 job, but to make a little extra money I do some freelance work in the evenings.

I usually can't even start this work until 8 or 9PM. By the time I get home and we figure out what to do for dinner, make the dog feel like she is loved, make a few phone calls, etc. I usually work until 1 AM, sometimes a little later. This all sucks, but if you keep focused and consider caffeine a food group, it's not half bad.

Belinda is asleep on the couch behind me.

I have asked her again and again to go to sleep in the bedroom. This is for two reasons. First, so she can sleep comfortably, and not wake up with neck pain, which she invariably does. Besides, one of us might as well be well rested. Also, it drives me fucking batty because it makes burning the midnight oil on a project that much more difficult. Hearing the quiet little snores behind my head as I try to work, makes me think about nothing but sleeping, and makes me want to punt my laptop and dive into bed.

I have tried to get her off the couch and go to bed. I have tried to trick her into going to bed. Nothing works.

But she insists on sleeping on the couch (or the cozy chair) in the living room. The funny thing is when she was in graduate school and she stayed up until all hours studying, she insisted I go to bed. For the exact same reasons!

It's funny how the rules are different.