Not a Morning Person

I am not a morning person (and yet, somehow I was up at 7 am today). My husband knew this when we married. That is, he should have known this. After all, I had repeatedly told him. And, well, there was that whole different approach we had to the 8 am classes.

Before we married, Hal would get up from his dorm room (the nights he wasn't back in Ohio), get ready, go down to the student lounge, get coffee, hang out, head to class. I, on the other hand, would roll out of bed in my apartment on the other side of campus, throw on some clothes, pull my hair back into a pony tail, brush my teeth, and - if I had time - make instant coffee to put into my travel mug, and dash across campus to slide into class 2 minutes before it started.

So he should have known.

We married on June 1, 2002. That summer, most of the time he let me sleep in while he got up and puttered around the house, doing pastor stuff like sermon prep and drinking coffee. Especially after one particular morning. I remember it well. He had gotten up, in a good mood, bright eyed and bushy-tailed (a saying which I have never particularly understood) - kissed me good morning, said he loved me, to which I replied "mughlorkingsplat" or something of the like. A little while later (after I had rolled over, pulled the pillow over my head and started snoring again), I felt a vice close around my ankle and this horrible pain on the bottom of my foot. Ok, really, he had just grabbed my ankle and started tickling me. But, well, at that hour of the morning...

Needless to say, more than mughlorkingsplat came out of my mouth. I don't think I said any bad words - but I do remember questioning his sanity and asking him what he thought he was doing as I pulled my poor foot out of his evil clutches. He got a terribly hurt look on his face, and said he was just tickling his bride's foot (he tells me now that on that morning, his beautiful bride was not to be found). Feeling badly, I muttered that I had warned him that I'm not a morning person, that I was sorry, but please leave me alone. I think I said please. I don't know if he remembers it that way or not. If I didn't say those things, though, I meant to. In my defense, it was early. I know that when Hal tells the story, something about evil incarnate overtaking his bride comes into play.

We now have an understanding when it comes to morning. I get up on the mornings that I absolutely have to. The rest of the time, Hal gets up and does what he does quietly. He warns me before he turns the bedroom light on in the morning (otherwise he hears the line from Gremlins: "Bright light! Bright light!"). At times he'll gently kiss me bye when he leaves for the office, otherwise he'll just wait til I get up and call over to the office to say good morning. And I try really hard not to growl - or whatever that voice was that came out of my mouth that morning 8 years ago.