Courtney S. Barr

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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

BAZINGA!

My sleep patterns had finally begun to regulate last week when all of a sudden the last five days I have been waayyyyy too sleep deprived.

My manuscript is coming along well, its just that there are scenes that are keeping me up - making me go crazy. I have been up at odd hours - working like a crazy woman only to discover the pages are not where I want them to be. Mind you this is not revision... yeah.

My hubby has been patient: Not asking me to come to bed at a reasonable hour, ignoring the snarky tone when asked silly questions like "What's for dinner?" and "Did you wash my jeans?" He has even caught on and began to do the dishes without a nod from my direction. But the dark circles under my eyes finally got to him last night.

He came into the living room where the laptop sat on my knees.

Hubby: "Let's go to the back."

Me: "Why?" continues to read & type furiously, never looking up.

Hubby: "You need to go to bed a little earlier tonight."

Me: "Why?" *tone is snarky again...run away*

Hubby: "Because I said so." Now this is new. Nothing from either of us is ever "BECAUSE I SAID SO." We don't have kids so this statement is rarely used and normally it is in complete and utter jest.

Slowly I look at him. He is leaning away from me and the couch. His eyes are a bit wary and it appears he is ready to bolt at any second. I know that he is expecting some snarky-mean-witchy-retort, but I surprise both of us with:

"But I don't wanna go to bed." The voice is soft, whimpering a little and more childlike than I intended.

We stare at each other and he chuckles.

Hubby: "Don't make me take you back there."

Immediately I grin. A flash of the Big Bang Theory crosses my mind. I press ctrl + S to save then close the laptop. I sit it on the ottoman, slowly inching over to the edge of the cushion. I stand up and stare at him.

Me: "You will have to catch me first!" honest to goodness I took off for the dining room and he followed suit. I slid through the kitchen (our floor is like a skating rink! We polished a few weeks ago) and slammed into the hallway. He stood back in the living room and eyed me for a second. Peanut stood between us, tail wagging, waiting to see what we were going to do next.

Then I could not help it...

Me: "BAZINGA!!!" I ran to the back, sliding down the hall and flung myself into our room and shut the door. I let him in after a few minutes of pounding & laughing. Then I collapsed onto the bed.

I slept like a baby.

This morning I woke up to get ready for the day job and honest to goodness think I may have figured out my scene issue. We will see when I work on it this afternoon. Either way, Sheldon helped me get a good night's sleep. ;o)

Do you ever work yourself into a tizzy over a scene or character issue, only to discover that if you would just let it sit for a while the answer just may come to you? How do you handle those moments? Do you fight sleep and try to force the answer; a la Sheldon?

22 comments:

  1. Oh BBT! I love bazinga!

    OMG
    WAIT!
    I missed last night's episode! :(

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  2. I LOVE Sheldon. I was so excited to see the title of your post. And your story is adorable. Sounds like maybe your hubby knew exactly what you and your writing needed. ;)

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  3. Your hubby sounds better and better! What a sweetheart - and he obviously knows what you need. Great story, Courtney! :-)

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  4. Have to admit, at first this sounded like a bit of foreplay (or at least in my house). Then I caught the Big Bang Theory reference and was actually a bit disappointed that you weren't venturing into the erotica genre. It's not that I'm a voyeur or anything - I just thought, "Ooh, this is getting interesting."

    Still, you made me smile ;-)

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  5. Juju - I know isn't he the best!!!

    Karen - yeah, just don't tell him. He tends to get a bit bigheaded about knowing me so well as it is. Isn't Sheldon just the greatest character?!

    Shannon - thanks he is by far the most amazing person on the planet!

    Wendy - LOL!! CANNOT STOP LAUGHING ACTUALLY! Yeah, I know it could have gone that way but honestly if you knew how tired I am ...yeah it just wasn't gonna happen last night! Erotica? Hmm. Well I did a murder scene...but I don't think I am ready to write Erotica. Glad to know you aren't a voyeur or anything *winks*. Seriously. Happy to make you smile... ;o)

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  6. Great story, thanks for sharing Princess.

    It sounds like you have a pretty good relationship ... with your husband and your writing. I wish I could get motivated enough to stay up late working on revisions, but my shift at "the day job" (love that) starts at 6AM, so it's tough.

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  7. I've yet to watch Big Bang Theory, but I loved your story, and that clip was funny! And then I watched another "bazinga" clip, and it was funny too. I'll have to wait for the first season to come out on dvd.

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  8. This post made me laugh. I can relate...on all accounts! I fight sleep, get snarky, and whimper and fuss like a little kid when Michael finally puts me to bed.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  9. Aw, what a great story! My husband is WAY worse than me when it comes to obsessing! He's a film-maker and has been chained to his editing machines for the past two (or three!? seems like forever) years. I go in for a kiss but I'd never try to drag him away.

    I wish I knew what bazinga was - it sounds cool! :)

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  10. Matthew - we certainly like to think so. As for my writing, I try really hard to have a good relationship with it. 90% of the time I do, that 10% and I are rarely on speaking terms... ;o)Sorry your dayjob calls for late shifts - yech. ;o(

    Summer - OMG! TBBT is awesome. Season one is out...you just gave me a prize idea for my 200 follower contest... thanks! - you should definitely watch it is hilariously smart comedy.

    Shannon - so glad to make you smile. Yes I get extremely snarky. I don't mean too and my husband says I still maintain a 'nice' snarkiness (i.e. not complete b***h at all) but the whining can get out of hand, lol. I have to work on that!

    Talli - yikes two or three years?! wowsers. Oh a Bazinga! is... well... its a Sheldonism. lol. The show is great...do they have it across the pond?

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  11. Sleep does wonders for the creative process! Glad you gave in!

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  12. More reasons I leave the writing up to people like you. I'll stick to reading

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  13. What a great hubby you have. And yes, it has worked that way for me. :)

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  14. That was so sweet. What a great husband!

    I get up at 5 am, so staying up late (beyond 11 pm) rarely happens. Unless I can't put down the book I'm reading. Though usually I fall asleep while reading . . . even if it's a great book. :)

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  15. Sheldon is a great character! Glad your hubby helped you out. I tend to be a little obsessive and really need to learn to let go. It's tough!!

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  16. If anyone can get you past your problem - it's Sheldon!!

    Glad to hear you got some good rest. Sometimes that's exactly what we need to continue on sanely.

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  17. Love that show! Thanks for reminding me of this scene.

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  18. thanks for the chuckle :) People keep saying I need to watch TBBT, but I have too much on my plate right now, so maybe some day...

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  19. Yes, yes, yes! Sometimes our wonderful subconscious takes care of the heavy lifting :-) Sounds like your hubby's a great guy, BTW!

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  20. My husband always passes out on the couch around 9pm, so he can't ever tell me to get to bed. I'm an insomniac anyway, so it wouldn't do any good. :)

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  21. This response is to aid everyone's suspicions:

    Sorry ladies the hubby is real.
    Sorry he is taken and I believe quite happy.
    Yes he is silly & crazy like me.
    Yes we really did do all that is typed in this entry.
    Yes we are more like 29 year old children rather than grown ups.
    No the dog was not injured during this event.
    No I did not in any fashion have the energy for more than sleeping that night.
    Perhaps he really does know me as well as he claims...

    He truly is my #1 and he goes beyond that status every day.

    As for the creative juices - the sleep did help. I was able to begin the process of cleaning up the scene and have rediscovered the light at the end of this short tunnel ;o)

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  22. My husband's question has always been, "Do I have any clean socks?" He's so obsessed about socks, geesh! And the dinner one is, (said with some trepidation) "Is it leftovers for dinner?"

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