Waking up before the alarm

We all know the feeling - you wake, for whatever reason, peer bleary eyed and the clock...and groan. You've woken up before the alarm, with not enough time to really go back to sleep. For me, that usually means 30 or so minutes. Just enough time for me to drift back to dreamland and then

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Awful.

This morning was different, though. With my new part time salary comes the only good thing about being part time - a part time schedule. I've always said that my dream job would not start until 10. Well, my wish has been granted. I do not have to be to work until 10 am, and I work until 3:30 each day. In the words of a friend's daughter, Halle-freakin'-lujah!

I set the alarm for 8 am. Around 5:45 I woke up in a panic, sure I'd overslept. I've always had to be at work between 7 and 7:30, no matter which district I was in, so being able to sleep until 8 felt sinful. After peering bleary-eyed at the clock, and convincing myself that yes, I really could sleep until 8, I managed to go back to sleep Until 7:30.

But for what is probably the first time in my life, I wasn't angry that I woke up 30 minutes before the alarm. It felt blissful to know that I could lie in bed for a few more minutes, snuggled up to Ricky. Or I could get up and putz around the house for a while, have breakfast, and get ready for work at my leisure. For the first time in a long time I wasn't rushing around the house, throwing on the first clothes I saw and skipping a shower because I woke up too late. I even left the house early, had time to stop at Safeway to pick up a Lean Cuisine for lunch, and got to work early!

I think I'm really going to like this new schedule!