Flagellant

Ok, so I don't use a cute little whip, and as far as I know I don't derive any sexual pleasure from it, but HOLY COW do I beat myself up for a good time.

Once a month my husband and I host our friends for the "EAU Night".
EAU stands for "Evil Around Us". It's a role-playing-game that we both play... and with a great deal of delight. It's one of my links if you're interested in reading more.

At any rate... the game is played on a Tuesday night. It means I have to forswear watching my (LOVINGLY nicknamed) Fat People Show, but that's no real sacrifice.
We take some time setting up and then cleaning up, but that's no real suffering.
From time to time I'm "nominated" to host the Evil Owl of Doom and even THAT isn't a struggle.

The real thing that beats me to pieces is that I'm used to going to bed at about 9 or 9:30 on most "school nights." My day usually starts sometime between 4:30 and 5:00 am and for some twisted reason, ever since having my daughter, I now require COPIOUS amounts of sleep. Once upon a time I could function perfectly well with no more than 4 or 5 hours per night - every night, and do well every day. Pregnancy and child-birth has broken me, which for the most part I don't mind, but it sure would be nice to not need sleep. Anywho...

Once a month, on Tuesday night, I go to bed between 12:30 and 1:00 am (gameplay usually runs until about midnight and then there's the saying good byes and the cleanup and almost ALWAYS the post-game discussion between my hubby and I... ) and wake up about four hours later SOOOO desperate for another hour or two... or three or even four. The next day (that would be today, btw) is always a rough one - far too many yawns, a general inability to actually focus, and generally a brainful of nightmarish scenarios too-well designed to be anything but intrusive and distracting - and I'm supposed to work.

If you haven't caught the gist of this by now, I'm totally not complaining about the game, the lack of sleep, or even the "thought provoking" quality of the game. I love it. It nourishes me. It is one of the few escapes I have allowed myself to keep.

If only the work day included a siesta...