Catching a wink

Today I am tired - dog tired for some reason (allergies mostly) and really could use a nice nap. If I put my head down on my desk there is no doubt I could sleep. It reminds me of the last time I was this tired for a long period of time. The year was 2000, I was living in Cincinnati and working for one of the soap companies there. It was September and I was in the midst of planning a sales meeting for 5 days in Orlando, Florida for about 150 people. I was in charge of every detail, hotel, meeting space, meeting topics and presenters, food (breakfast, lunch, dinner, 2 snack breaks and a hospitality room each evening), entertainment (one night at Epcot, one at Cirque de Soliel), transportation (airfare, travel from airport, travel to dinners and entertainment) for everyone, as well as all materials that had to be prepared and shipped from Cincinnati to Orlando, this included giant sales binders for everyone and of course the would not be done and ready until 2 days before the start so we'd be paying a premium to ship them. I was in charge of making sure the theme was evident in all areas of materials and planning (it was a Circus theme in honor or Cirque), and that included designing powerpoint slides, and dinner menus and personal name tags for everyone - pre-printed and laminated and making sure their name was spelled right!

At the same time I was planning my wedding - perhaps the single most important event of my life. On a much smaller scale of course and with a tiny budget. But I was printing menus, favors, name cards, bulletins for the church, I was making pew bows and ordering flowers, and picking dinner choices, recording RSVP's.

I don't think I've ever been as stressed or as tired as I was those three months - Sept - planning both, Oct - sales meeting, Nov - wedding.

So where is this leading? One day I left my desk in the cube farm and went to the bathroom finally getting a moment to myself with no phone ringing, no email dings, no one standing over me. I sat down to do my business and rested my elbows on my knees and my head on my hands. It was always chokingly hot in the bathrooms at the soap company for some reason and the warmth lulled me right to sleep. The next thing I remember someone else came into the bathroom and the act of opening the door sent a cold draft right up where you might imagine and startled me right awake. I had no idea how long I had been sleeping, but I finished up with wiping (had dripped completely dry by this point anyway) and washed my hands and left the bathroom. When I got back to my desk and looked at the time - I had been in the bathroom for almost an hour!

I had taken a 45+ minute power nap on the toilet!

And today I seriously considered trying it again - but it's not warm in the bathroom here, it's downright cold. So I'm back at my desk wondering if anyone would notice if I just took a nap here. Hmmm - disable the screensaver and just close my eyes. Not a bad idea.