I have all my electronic devices charging, so I don’t have technology withdrawals. My laundry is in the dryer. I took a shower. Lin has leftovers for dinner tomorrow. Aside from packing and filling the gas tank, I am ready to go. Mom called earlier and suggested we might have to put off the visit again, because of the weather, but really … a 20% chance of rain on my way home isn’t scaring me. I’d rather it not, but it isn’t like severe storms and hail are on the forecast.

That means there will probably be severe storms and hail. Such is my luck. I haven’t driven the truck in really bad weather yet. As a rule, I do try to avoid driving at all in really bad weather, but when it happens, and it does, I am probably quicker than most to pull off at a gas station or something and sit it out for a while. It’s not my own driving I worry about. Most Texans, I tell you, have not figured out there are road conditions that call for driving slower than 80 miles per hour … like when you can’t see for the driving rain. There’s no shame in stopping for a soda or cup of coffee, or on the side of the road, if need be.

I don’t think the weather is going to be particularly awful. I may have to wait for some fog to clear in the morning, but I never seem to hit the road until almost 10 am anyway, no matter how hard I try. There’s always one more thing to do, or I forget something at the house and have to go back. Never fails. I used to not be a morning coffee drinker though, and it seems that now I have significantly more pep in my step when I decide I need to get moving early.

It’s late, and I guess I should go get some sleep. Not that I am sleepy. You are probably thinking “Of course not!” After all, I slept a good part of the day away after going to bed rather early the night before. That’s by design. If I have something out of my ordinary routine to do early the next day, I can never get much sleep. Too much nervous energy and excitement. I never had a first day of school that didn’t involve me being so tired I fell asleep as soon as I got home, for example. So I get a bunch of sleep the day before. Even if I got no sleep at all tonight, I’d be OK until early evening. My mom goes to bed super early, so that works out perfectly. Otherwise, I am awake after she goes to bed, and there’s no way to do anything in that house without making too much noise. Surfing the internet at less than 56k is no kind of late-night entertainment. Neither is sitting in the dark. Therefore, being ready to fall asleep standing up by about 9 pm is a benefit.

Anyway, it’s getting late, and I am going to go lay down in the bedroom with the cats and get a few hours of sleep.