Why I'm Tired Today

Yes yes, I'm always tired at the end of the day, and usually by the time the middle of the week rolls around I'm operating on a sleep deficit that's been compounded over several nights. But this story is too good to just let go without preserving it for posterity--especially because it has a happy ending.

So this morning I woke up somewhere around 4am, surfacing out of a jumble of dream to what my confused brain told me was the sound (and smell) of bacon frying. Pop POP pop stzzzz POP pop. And a super strong frying meat smell. At first I just rolled over and went back to sleep, thinking (in my half asleep state) that it was no big deal, it was just Josh frying up bacon for Eli's sandwich tomorrow. (This wasn't totally insane--Josh has been known to stay up until ungodly hours like 4am, and he does sometimes make bacon sandwiches for the kid's lunch.) But I woke up again a few minutes later and this time realized that Josh was lying next to me snoring, so the sound and smell had to be something else. So I poked Josh and said "honey, what's that sound? And that *smell*?"

And I don't know if it was that special I-just-got-woken-up-and-I'm-worried wifely tone of voice or what, but Josh actually woke up right away and literally vaulted out of bed (nearly killing himself tripping over the laundry baskets all over the bedroom floor) to the kitchen, because he realized he'd left a big pot of chicken stock reducing on the stove all night. It had lost all its liquid and the leftover skin and meat was starting to literally fry on the bottom of the pot. Luckily it was on low, so (miracle of miracles) nothing got burned--but whew, that smell! Concentrated eau de schmaltz. It was so overwhelming that it was hard to get back to sleep (even with the fan on--we didn't want to leave a door or window open because it was so cold out and we didn't want to get up a few hours later and have it be freezing in the house). So that, plus the leftover adrenaline, plus general early morning insomnia, meant that I really didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night.

But you know what? It could have been soooo much worse (especially in this all wooden, "12 minute" house we live in), and we are able to laugh about it today. And when Eli asked us this morning "what's that smell?", we were able to look at each other and explain without hesitation: "oh, that's just chicken from last night's dinner." Whew. Lost sleep seems like a small price to pay.