Micah’s New Job (Subtitle: Sharing a Bedroom)

There is big news around Phoenix… Micah got a promotion! Okay, so maybe it’s a big deal at our apartment, but still. We’ve been here for only eight months and Micah has rocked it at his job, and I am so proud of him for earning his new position. He has stepped out of retail banking and is now a relationship manager. Woo hoo!!! The crazy thing about his job is that he works from Arizona, but his region is Washington state, so he will actually be working with bankers (and perhaps even businesses) with whom he is already familiar.

There is one small, teensy, tiny downfall to this promotion though. We have now become a pre-7am-wake-up couple. I know, I know. I should get over it. Most adults have to wake up before 7am, but I just don’t like doing it. We had gotten into this lovely routine as a married couple of going to bed at 11ish and waking up around 7:15 in the morning. Yes, count it. EIGHT hours of sleep every night!!! It’s been the most amazing eight months of my life. I even made up a slogan for it… “Sleeping 11 to 7 since 7/11…” (That’s our anniversary in case you were confused). Now why would I make up such a stupid slogan you may ask? Well I’ll tell you. Because I’ve been sleep deprived since 9th grade and sleeping for eight hours a night is certainly a reason for slogan-making. Seriously. I’m a night owl like my dad and have lived off an average six hours of sleep a night since the beginning of high school. This summer marks our ten year reunion. I’ve gone a long time on little sleep. All through college. All through my years teaching high school. Until now. But things are a-changin’… Micah will now be waking up between 6 and 6:30am and my days of the blissful 7:15am wake up are long gone.

Here’s the thing. When I have to wake up earlier than Micah, I shut off my alarm as quickly as possible. Tip toe to the bathroom. Get dressed with the lights out. Shut doors quietly. I go to all measures not to wake him up, and I’d say I’m sucsessful at least 75% of the time. Now when Micah has to get up before me, it’s a different story. He snoozes about five times and I have to ask him to turn his loud, static-y radio off repeatedly. When he finally gets up, he walks out of our room, leaving the door open, so I can hear him getting his cereal prepared in the kitchen. He usually comes back in about ten minutes later, leaving both bathroom doors open (yes, we have two doors for increased sound wave flow) as he shaves and showers. If he hasn’t tried to have a direct conversation with me by this point, despite the fact that I am still trying to sleep, he cannot avoid the temptation of post-shower dialogue. Either he will tackle me (literally) when he finally emerges from the bathroom, which is his version of a morning hug I guess, or he will ask me to help him pick out a tie. I don’t even know why I bother to still be in bed at this point. I should have learned my lesson months ago.

I share this with you only to explain that Micah’s new wake-up time of 6am will also be my new wake-up time. I’m not going to try to fight it. Not having to wake up before dawn was one of the perks of being a college teacher instead of a high school teacher (that and the enormous stipend they give me…), but I can kiss that perk goodbye. Oh the joys of sharing a bedroom with a boy!!!

*In all honesty though, I am so proud of Micah and will gladly wake up with him at a much too early hour. I am already thinking of new ways I can use my extra time in the morning before I have to go to school. I might even go back to morning workouts. Whoa now.