Besides me stands a woman with her face hidden in a shawl, strands of her auburn hair peeking out and dancing in the breeze.  She is looking away from me, captivated by something far off at the horizon, where the mists above the water create an eerie impenetrable fog.  I feel her soft, feminine hand holding mine, not so tightly as if to keep me from disappearing, but gentle enough to let me know she's there.  For a brief moment, I cannot remember who this exquisite being is next to me.  Her name is there just beyond my grasp, tantalizing me, coming just close enough for me to almost recall, then leaping back in a playful manner.  If only....if only I could see her face...then I'm sure I would know.  I lean forward a bit to get a better view of her face.  Seemingly connected to my thoughts, her face ever so slowly turns towards me...yes....

Suddenly, the air is filled with this harsh cacophany of noise, seemingly coming out of Nowhere and Everywhere.  Of little use, my eyes clench shut tightly in reflex, my hands going to cover my ears.  The relentless ruckus resounds against my skull, reverberating through my cranial cavities.

The first thing that goes through my mind, "What the heck is a tornado siren doing going off on a perfectly beautiful day?"

I manage to force my eyelids open, wanting to see if anyone else is as confused as I am...

...And what were once soft puffy clouds are now rumpled, lumpy pillows.  The bright halo of sunshine is now transformed into sunbeams piercing through the blinds.  The mysterious woman has now morphed into Jen, lying in bed next to me, stirring in her slumber. 

*beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep*....

And of course what I initially mistook for a tornado siren is our !@#!#$!$ clock radio alarm clock, which somehow has withstood years of abuse of us pounding the snooze button not yet into oblivion. 

I somehow manage to get my not-quite-functioning-quite-right-muscles to obey the vague commands emanating from my brainstem..."Sit up, move your legs onto the floor, move your right leg...nonono...your *other* right leg doofus, yes very good...now your left leg..."  And somehow stagger over to the alarm clock carefully balanced on top of our extra computer cart.  After several misses from my uncoordinated arm, I finally get my hand to land in the same general area as the snooze button and peace and quiet is once again restored. 

I stumble back into bed, and drift off back into dreamland..."good, now to find out who that woman was..."

*beep* *beep* *beep* "Cliff.." *beep* *beep* *beep* "Cliff..." *beep* *beep*....

Again I awaken to the same piercing electronic wail, only this time the incessant beeping is interrupted periodically with my name.  "Since when did the alarm clock start talking?" I wonder.  As I regain more consciousnes, I realize that the alarm clock did not become sentient overnight, and it's my lovely wife trying to get me coherent enough to go play the "Whack a Snooze Button" game again. 

The preceding paragraph is repeated over and over again until some weird system in my brain finally decides that in order for me to get into work when I absolutely have to be there, I *must* get up *now*.  This is followed by me stumbling into the bathroom to relieve myself & make myself presentable, and then finding some decent clothes to wear.  Time all told, I can be up, dressed, and out of the house in 10 minutes.

As you can tell, I am most assuredly *not* a morning person.  Ugh...how I *hate* mornings...This is one of the things I Do Not Look Forward to Each Day. 

On days when Jen needs the car and needs to drive me to work, this dreaded morning routine is exacerbated by having to wake up Braden who does not wake up well if he has not had enough sleep.  Having to wake up to the highly annoying alarm clock is bad enough...it's a hundredfold worse when a crying, unconsolable toddler is added to the equation.  The addition of this single one variable suddenly makes it one of the things I *Really* Do Not Look Forward to Each Day.

[Anywhere from 25 minutes to 35 minutes later...]

We pull into the parking lot of my work, already starting to fill to capacity with cars of People Who Obviously Are Better Morning People Than I Ever Will Be.  I get out of the driver's seat, grab my bag and my lunch, and look in the backseat to see two, beautiful, wonderful kiddos smiling at me with love & adoration.  I exchange hugs and kisses with Ariel, and then walk around to the other side of the car where Braden is awaiting me with outstretched arms, straining against the straps of his car seat.  We exchange hugs and kisses (both my children give the best) and he says, "bye bye da-dee".  Then the ritual is completed by Jen & I exchanging warm hugs & sweet kisses.  After I start walking towards the building, I'll turn around one last time to see Braden and Ariel giving cute waves and then without fail, Braden will blow me one last kiss.  Ahhhh...the Things I Look Forward to Each Day.  :)

On the days that I drive myself, aside from looking forward to the end of the workday (I look forward to that *every* day), I so do love coming home.  Not the actual business driving home, but what actually transpires when I open the front door and set foot inside the house.

I'm always greeted with an excited, elated, overjoyed "da-dee!!" screamed by two childish voices, usually followed by, "mama!  da-dee's hom!  da-dee's hom!" by Braden.  It's in that moment that I feel so loved - it's such an indescribable, wonderful feeling.  Ahhhh....the Things I Look Forward to Each Day.  :)

Other Things I Do Not Look Forward to Each Day:

• Cleaning out the kitty litter box
• Having to help with housework (hey..I said I helped around the house, but I *never* said I liked it. ;)
• Finally having to go to bed when I have other things I'd rather stay up doing

Other Things I Look Forward to Each Day:

• Email from friends/family
• Office visits/chatting with my good friend/co-worker buddy
• Getting the mail after I get home
• Watching Seinfeld if I remember or have time
• Writing my journal entry

Deals of the Day

• Entertainment Books 2002 (normally $20-$25) for $5 shipped each!  (Coupons expire in Nov 2002) - Discounts show up when you put them in your cart. 
• Disney DVD/Video Club - Get 7 DVDs/Videos for around $11 each.   Essentially, buy 3 for 1 cent shipping, with only 4 more to buy ($20 each).  But ppl were buying all of them up front so they got 1 cent shipping on all the movies.  Discussion#1