cheers to the nap

I got back from Toronto today - a week (well, three days) of hanging out in front of the fireplace, riding the subway, watching movies, intimate nights (quietly - there were parents present, which is always an interesting challenge), crib playing, late night talks, music listening, soccer watching and completly enjoying Steve's company has come to an end. I'm still firmly embedded in the everything-is-beautiful stage, the can't-get-enough-of-you stage and the are-you-for-real? stage of the relationship - happily, I might add. Has anything in my life been this simple before? The answer, easily, is no. Nothing has gone so right for me in a long time; if it means that I stay in the honeymoon stage for months to come, dizzily coming to terms with the fact that I am in an extraordinary relationship, well - I'll take it.

So I came home and took a nap, exhausted from three days of doing nothing. I'm working a 6-2 walkhome shift and after learning that my partner ALSO took a solid nap this afternoon, we started on a fast-paced back and forth about our craziest nap stories ever. In honour of the nap, quite possibly my favorite pass time and one that I openly indulge in on a daily basis, I'd like to cover the basics of the nap. Feel free to add your own, if you can think of any.

The Classic Nap
The sun is streaming in through your window, you have an afternoon with absolutley no commitments and come to think of it, you're pretty sleepy. You stretch out in your favorite nap position (for me, it's on my side with my knees pulled up to my chest) and you let'er fly. Bonus for deliberately napping through your afternoon classes, or napping on really snowy or rainy days.

The Couch Nap
Sometimes, couches are even better than beds. You grab an afghan, you sink into the worn student-couch pillows (or in my case, Steve's leather loveseat) and you blissfully pass out. Bonus points for having a fireplace that you can sleep in front of.

The "I'm Just Studying in Bed" Nap
You're sitting at your desk and you realize that your bed looks a whole lot warmer than your drafty chair. You stack up your books, pile them next to you and crawl under the covers. You might change into sweat pants for good measure, if you're not already wearing them. At some point, you put the book down next to you and close your eyes to 'think about what you're learning'. You might go so far as to turn out the lights to eliminate distraction. The next thing you know, it's 6pm, your housemates are banging on the door and you're lazy shouting that you've been, uh, reading.

The Tandem Nap (alternatly called 'the Post-Sex Couple Nap"
As I told my partner tonight, napping is always better if it's done in pairs. There's something about napping with your significant other that is both lazier and more intimate than anything in the world. The perfect way to spend a Sunday morning, in my opinion.

The Waking Up When It's Dark and Being Really Disoriented Nap
Napping at night time can be killer. Not only are you setting yourself up for a complete inability to sleep at a regular hour, but you also feel REALLY WEIRD when you wake up and it's dark outside. I find 7pm to be particularly disorienting - it often takes me about 20 minutes to remember why I'm waking up in the first place and that it's not already the next day. It's like the napping black hole - your housemate could ask you what your up to when you stumble into the kitchen after and you look at them blankly and say "I actually don't ... know".

The In-Class Nap
A dangerous one. Sometimes there are classes that it is physically impossible to stay awake in. In my first year art history lecture, the professor starts the class by dimming the lights so that we fade into relative obscurity and I swear that I can literally hear people's heads hitting the desk. This is the kind of nap where you wake up with a handprint on your face at the end of class and have no idea what the lecture was about. I also call this the head snap - you find yourself jerking awake every time your neck muscles relax, snapping your head back to attention.

The Car Nap
A personal favorite of mine. Marcus and I used to do a lot of driving back and forth to his cabin in Ontario which is about 4 hours away from school. We would get into his Jetta, put in one of our road mixes and without fail I'd be out like a light before we got to the 401. There was something about the combination of a)being in a car with the person I felt more comfortable and safe with than anyone in the world and b)turning his seat warmer on 5 so that it warmed up my whole body and c)he blues music playing softly in the background, that put me to sleep like a baby. I have countless memories of him shaking me gently and saying "we're here, sweetie".

The Middle of the Night Power Sleep
I've pulled more all-nighters in University than I could count on all of my fingers and toes - it's just the way I've operated. Healthy? No. Effective? Yes. And always interesting. I've become particularly good at the 3:00am knock out. One minute I'm furiously typing away, the next, I'm contemplating how absolutly blissful it would be to sleep. Yes, just for 10 minutes. Or maybe an hour. Before I know it, I'm face down, fully clothed on my bed, with all the lights on - and it's seven in the morning. We give a collective "oops" and then move on.

The PMS Nap
I'll make this short, since I know that the boys are cringing already. But is there anything, ANYTHING better than curling up and falling asleep with your body wrapped around a really hot water bottle? I didn't think so.

Honourable mentions in my napping repretoire: going back to bed after a shower to 'warm up' and falling asleep for an hour, sleeping between classes on the couch in the drama department, taking naps in John Andrews office this summer when I couldn't stay awake to answer frosh phone calls any longer, napping on the beach in the summer - lying in the hot sun on the warm sand, napping in the park on a blanket, napping in the back of marcus's car at the drive-in theatre in Wasaga Beach because I was too blind to see the screen, napping with my sisters - they look so angelic when they sleep, nappping with waldo, who is always up for a good sleep :D

Speaking of sleep - I have a lot of work to get done before I go to bed tonight. This week has been good for me- my life is starting to come together in very tangible and attainable ways and I feel like I'm figuring out what needs to be understood along the path. More on me later, as usual. For now, I'm going to go and play Dutch Blitz with my walkhome friends.