Salamander
Fire Walking

The Professor is trying to "normalize" his sleeping schedule. He tends to be a night owl, getting up in the early afternoon and going to bed as I'm rising for work. Mostly this doesn't affect me, since I'd only see him in the evenings during the work week anyhow. Weekends, however, this has had a greater impact, since I wake by eight o'clock and he often isn't out of bed until after two in the afternoon.

Trying to get his schedule more in line with mine means he's going to have to go through some weird sleep schedules in the interim. Today he'll be crashing just as I get home from work. Which means I'm on my own for dinner tonight, and I'll need to be more quiet than usual around the apartment. It's all for a good cause, but I'll be glad when he either adjusts to the new schedule or admits defeat (he's tried this before, unsuccessfully).

I spoke to him last night, briefly, about my twenty-second would have been wedding anniversary coming up in a couple of weeks. It seemed only fair to tell him that I was feeling a little bittersweet about the milestone, considering everything that has transpired in the last year. He seems to understand where I'm coming from on this - he's not hurt that it's on my mind, nor is he threatened by it. For some reason, this made me feel more comfortable with it as well. I expect I'll be a little upset on the actual date, but it helps to know I can talk to him if I am. Far easier than trying to ignore the fact that I was married.

Over the weekend I told him I was thinking about returning to my volunteer work at the zoo. I figured that, now I had the veterinary degree, I'd be even more useful in the education activities than I was before I got the degree. He was less enthusiastic about that, though not to the point of asking me not to do it. He's had half a year to settle into life here, though, and I don't want to have to wait around each weekend until he's up and wants to do things. If he really normalizes his schedule, I may reconsider doing volunteer work at the zoo, but I left a lot of friends behind there, and would like to regain contact with them if possible.

Huh, the thought just struck me ... he announced he was going to try and normalize his sleep schedule after I told him I wanted to go back and do weekends at the zoo. I believe I missed out on a major signal he's been trying to send me here. Suddenly I feel like a dolt. Funny how things sometimes don't strike a person till they see them in print.

I still haven't heard from the ex about my mail. I'd love to know what's happened to that accumulation of stuff he said he had waiting for me.