If it’s your job to eat a frog

My day started at 5:30am.  I know there’s lots of people who get up that early, but I am so opposed to this practice that the whole idea of anyone who lives this way regularly fills me with pity.  Anytime after 7:30 seems reasonable to me, but Jen and I are starting our training rides now that it’s finally warm, and we have to get a 40 or 50km ride in before work, and that? That means getting up at 5:30am and I can’t tell you how noble it made me feel to set my alarm.  You know that feeling? That “A am such a good person” feeling? I was awash with it.

Now though, now I’m just tired, because at 5:30am my alarm went off, and at 5:32 I realized it was raining, and I spent the next minute lying there hoping Jen could hear the rain too, and hoping that she was lying in bed thinking “hell no.” Her text came at 5:33, and it essentially said “tomorrow?”   If she was here I would have kissed her on the mouth. So – there I was, awake at 5:30, and I decided to embrace it. (I also decided to overlook that the rain means I’m getting up two days in a row at 5:30, I’m happier when I don’t focus on details like that.)

As much as I hate getting up early, let me tell you something about it. It’s super productive. It’s early afternoon here, and my to-do list isn’t just finished, it’s obliterated. By the time Joe was out of bed at 8:30 I had half of it done and I’d done a load of laundry, and I’d packed (mostly) for my trip to the Buffalo Guild this weekend, and it was all I could do not to look at him as he came down over the stairs and not think about what a slacker he is. (He is not a slacker. He works very hard, but when you’ve been working for three hours while someone sleeps, it’s very easy to enjoy that feeling for a moment.  I didn’t say anything to him – just let the feeling live gloriously in my heart for a minute.) I’ve got so many things done that this afternoon, well – I can do as I like, and here’s what I like.

nunbatt 2014-05-13

Pretty, yes? It’s a nun-batt from Inglenook Fibers and it’s the thing going onto the wheel today. Wait, let me open that up for you.

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It’s a great colourway called “Tardis in flight”. (Check me! Spinning two Tuesdays in a row, by wool, I will have this done.) I’m going to spin it up into the next pretty skein for a Karmic Balancing gift, as the one from last week, that pretty seaglass green cotswald from Nistock Farms is now a finished skein.

yarndone 2014-05-13

It’s about 200m of a very pretty fingering weight, and I hope that Beth R loves it, because I’m mailing it to her house.  It’s not soft, but it is gorgeous, and strong and will make something hearty. (I really hope Beth likes it. Cotswald is a rare breed, and there’s fewer than 5000 purebred sheep in the world that claim that name, and that makes it a real treat to run into.)

Also today, I’m so close to finishing that freakin’ Color Affection that I can smell it. Every day I think I’m going to finish, but today might actually be that day, and I can’t wait.  I upsized it a little – sort of by accident, because I did that knitter thing where you just sort of glance at the pattern, and decide you know what it wants, and don’t check back in again until things seem a little wild? Yeah. That one.

obsessionnotdone 2014-05-13

It’s going to be big, I’m sure, already there are more than 400 stitches on the needles, and I think I’ll end up adding about 24 more before I cast off, and we’ll see what I end up with. The bind off is going to be a haul. One of those real endurance games that are best tackled with a glass of wine and something good on the telly so that you can’t really feel what’s happening.  It should be a productive day for sure… a very pleasant side effect of the early start, and I just have to remember there’s an early bedtime on the other end of it, because tomorrow, we ride at dawn. (I love saying that. It makes me feel like I’m in a cowboy movie.)

How about you? Did you get up early? Do you like it?

180 thoughts on “If it’s your job to eat a frog

  1. I used to be an early riser, and I’m still basically a morning person. But this morning, I woke up at 6am after having not gotten to sleep until after 2am. Now, at 10:20am, I am eating vanilla ice cream with berries and thinking of a nap. It is that kind of day.

  2. I get up (almost) every day, even without setting the alarm, at 6:30. That includes on holiday days. Only if I go to bed late, I might wake up at 7. Sometimes I wish it was different, but I get to sit, knit, drink my morning coffee, and of course catch up here and on Ravelry!

  3. I am constitutionally opposed to getting up early, but when I do it, it’s AMAZING how much I can get done. I’d still rather sleep in though. 🙂

  4. While I’m not a fan of getting up early, I like the productivity. When I don’t have children to run to school and the like, that is. C’mon summer break!

  5. Hi,

    I leave my house at 5:50 to jump on the GO transit system either bus or GO train. One nice thing about being up that ; the sunrises are spectacular. I’m not distracted by rushhour driving. I enjoy and knit a little most mornings.
    In the fall, I enjoy sunsets on autumn colours. Life is good; it’s just particularly early each day, for me.

  6. Like you, I am not a fan of the early morning, but I was supposed to get up early and ended up over sleeping. Don’t you just hate that?

    I love those colors! I’m sure that is going to be a lovely pit of yarn. 🙂

  7. I come from a long, long line of early birds, so we’re up at 5:30 every morning and usually by 6 (!!!) on the weekends. I’m in bed by 9:30 at the latest.

    You’d think we were running a sheep farm around here.

  8. Early mornings are an abomination, usually because I was up really late the night before. I like seeing sunrise occasionally from that side tho.

  9. Not naturally an early riser but have a 2-hour commute each way so end up setting the alarm inhumanly early; sometimes this carries on into the weekend and smugness ensues…

  10. I get up at 6 on days I’m working, but I briefly had a job where I had to get up at 5, and that was so much harder – I couldn’t even eat breakfast that early. I’d much rather stay up late and get up late, but we can’t always get what we want. Happy spinning!

  11. Woke up early – that’s not the same thing! However glad to hear it is ‘finally warm’ as my husband and I are coming to Toronto next week – that’s next week – at the start of our 30th wedding anniversary trip from Toronto to Vancouver. From England. Did I say that’s next week?

  12. My days usually start between 5 and 6 as I have two little boys (2yo and 7mo) that wake me up. Sometimes it is even earlier. I have to say after two years I have gotten kind of used to it. However, my husband and me plan on getting back at them by waking them at 5 AM on a weekend when they are teenagers. I think it is mostly due to this thought that I am not too annoyed at having to get up this early 🙂

      • My parents DID this! My dad thought it was the greatest thing ever to mow the lawn a 7 am. Or run some other piece of noisy power tool right outside out the window when I was a teenage. he kept saying the we “had it coming”

        • My dad got his trumpet out on Saturday and Sunday mornings. He still does it now when I visit. I’m trying very hard to think of this as endearing.

    • Oh! we swore to do that when the kids were little and waking us up so so early, every day. But now we are there (they’re 20, 19, and 14, and we can’t bring ourselves to wake them up because we so enjoy that little bit of quiet in the morning, having coffee on the porch, or by the woodstove. Funny how things change!

  13. I am constitutionally unable to sleep past 6 a.m. at the latest and am fortunate to be married to a man with the same constitutional quirk. Of course, that means when the sun goes down, our eyelids drift toward closed, so we rarely stay up late. Since I’m up anyway, I use the time to go the gym for my workout. The bonus is that the gym is nearly empty, so I can use whatever machine I want, and I get to feel smug all day that I worked out.

  14. Up just about every morning at 4:50 and on my bike by 5:30 for 20 miles weekdays and longer distances on weekends. It’s peaceful at that time of day.
    Gary

  15. 5:30 is an abomination. I’ve done it, but never liked it. And it generally doesn’t help much for me to get up early (unless I can go do something like shop for groceries or work in the yard) since my adorable spouse is a very light sleeper, and I try not to do anything noisy when he’s sleeping. Good time for knitting though.

  16. If allowed to follow my body’s natural rhythm, I wouldn’t get up before 10, but then I also wouldn’t go to bed before 1 am…. Alas, most employers don’t appreciate it when you roll into the office around 11, even if that does mean that you stay until 7 pm.

  17. for me, 5-30am is sleeping late. i’m usually up by 3-30, and that’s without an alarm. it works for me, though, as i do all my housework that depends on electricity at the off-peak rate, so i save money on my electric bill. i do wish, however, that i could re-wire myself to get up later and be able to stay up later. i start to not make much sense around 8pm. i channel my earliness by going over to a friend’s house to wake her boys up for school. i make sure they have breakfast and i take them to the school bus stop. this works out for her as she is able to work the overnight shift. her husband leaves for work at about 5am so this is convenient for all of us.

    • You are an amazing friend! What a gift to have someone to help raise your children in this manner. It truly takes a village to raise a child and you aren’t afraid to be part of the village. I was at the other end. I liked being up late, so I would sit up by the bonfire until the last kid left.

  18. I want to want to get up early. I know that I am much better off if I wake up at 5-5:30 every morning, that having that extra bit of time makes me calmer and unrushed and feeling like I know what I’m doing. Plus it’s nice to have a little extra time to get stuff done.

    But I can’t seem to get out of bed …

  19. Stephanie, I think it’s wonderful that you have a finite to-do list that can actually be finished before the end of the day. Scratching off the last item is so much more satisfying than scratching off the same number of items off a longer list. And now the sun is shining on your spinning. Enjoy!

  20. I’m usually an early riser and enjoy it 🙂 Up by 6 and in bed by 9:30…I can pull a late night or two if I get to sleep a little later than 7.

  21. I got up on time this morning, which means 10:15 and it’s a huge deal for me. I consider anything before 8 borderline abusive. That being said I will wake up early for special occasions (air travel, disney trips). Coffee needs to be procured swiftly and frequently on these rare occasions. Kudos to you for getting up amazingly early and still managing to be a functional human, I couldn’t have managed it.

  22. Great to see your entry! I’m a chronic early-riser and love it. With animals to tend to, 3:30 is the best time to start my day.

    I’m really delighted to see Nistock Farms’ roving on your blog! isn’t Cotswold amazing? She has a huge array of fleece types, including very fine wool, and she makes really sumptuous blends with her alpaca fiber. That’s a small-family operation, and I’m really glad to see it supported. (And hasn’t she got a wonderful color sense?)

  23. I was with you on the 5:30 wake up this morning not by alarm or choice there are some very noisy birds outside my window so I’m always an early riser at this time of year. Even when I don’t wake up early I wake up earlier than my family so I’ve come to enjoy that hour or three on a weekend morning when everyone else is still asleep and I can tuck into a project that requires lots of concentration or get nasty chores like floor washing out of the way leaving the rest of the day free for fun.

  24. Yep, after 31 years of hubby being at work at 5:30 (1 hour commute time, and 45 minutes of prep work, thus getting up at 3:30), and then me starting at 0630 with an hour of commute and AT LEAST one hour of prep, we’re used to it. Of course, everyone in our group knows the phone goes off the hook at 5 pm (don’t plan on reaching us in the evening),and bed is 8:30. We are “those people” who watch the sun come up.

  25. If I don’t have to work, I am up with the sun. Which is awesome because my sweetie sleeps late and I get several hours of quiet knitting time while he slumbers. If it’s a work day, I need the alarm clock and I have to drag myself out of bed.

  26. I think there are vampires in my blood…I have no liking for the dawn unless I come at from the night before. Unfortunate circumstance #1: I married a lark who springs from bed before dawn and starts talking almost immediately (and definitely before coffee, the elixir of life).
    Unfortunate circumstance #2: My job in reality requires morning hours (I really should have found a job in the after-dark economy). So, I force myself to bed between 10-10:30 pm and, with the help of said lark, drag out about 6 am.
    There will be major negotiations upon retirement as to what are “suitable hours”…but none will involve rising before sunrise!

  27. 4:30 every weekday morning. Feed the cats and jump in the car to get to the gym before work. It sounds way more impressive than it actually is, but it’s an effort to stave off old age and fat. They’re both winning though.

  28. It’s going to be SO entertaining when it rains buckets during the Bike Rally. Wouldn’t you rather thwart me by practicing riding in the rain when there’s a hot bath (and Joe) at the end of it?

  29. I’m an early riser – up before 7 everyday when left to my own devices. And to be and asleep before 10.
    My husband, though, he’d rather sleep from 1 – 10 am. He wakes up groggy and slow and does NOT think that singing is an appropriate or “normal” morning behavior.
    This actually works out really well for distribution of labor in our house. I get up with the kids if they wake up after 4, he handles the before 1 am shift and we only need to negotiate for the 3 hours in the middle.

  30. Getting up at 5:30 am used to sound early to me but I get up at 4 am for work these days due to freeway construction (not bragging). I hate sitting in traffic so I get up this early to avoid commute traffic. The great thing is I get to leave work around 2:30 pm and have more time to myself during the day. Waking up early takes some getting used to. Wish I could be outdoors exercising instead of going into an office though. I would love to go for a morning run instead. I’ll be thinking of you on your training rides. 🙂

  31. Getting up early is such a connundrum for me. On the one hand, I hate getting up early with a firey passion. On the other hand, I hate dealing with people and crowds and they tend to sleep in. So getting up early means a small fraction of people in the grocery store, department store, etc.

    I take it as a sign of maturity that I have decided getting up early is worth it not to have to deal with hordes of people. Yes, that means I’m mature…not a curmudgeon.

  32. I commute by bicycle from Bainbridge Island to the University of Washington in Seattle, so my day starts at 4 am to make sure I have enough time to walk the dog and ride to the ferry. The unfortunate side effect of such an early hour is when I manage to sleep till 6:30, I feel like I’ve been extravagant sleeping in.

  33. For 10 years I have gotten up at 5:30 to feed cats, get ready and tackle my 1 1/2 hour (each way) commute to San Francisco, so I feel your pain. It is NOT my body’s idea of “normal”…..but I semi-retired 2 months ago and have been able to make my own schedule, which is lovely. Having said that, this week I’m temping at my former office and am back to the 5:30 start time. Arg….at least I have the blessing of a train commute so I can knit (if I’m not napping). Maybe you should get up one day a week at 5:30 to obliterate your to do list, especially close to the Christmas deadlines.

  34. I get up every day at 5 am and I love it because that is how I get my knitting time! I drink my tea and knit before going to work! It’s lovely! 🙂 (And then I also get alot done – that’s a plus as well!)

  35. Is it just me or did those pictures look like they were taken in a sunny backyard? Where is that so called rain?

  36. I love getting up early and going for a run before the sun is up. It means that a) nobody can see me and my goof running/shuffling gait and b) I get to see some beautiful sunrises that make me want to spin my own yarn just so I can dye it to look like a sunrise. (Plus I’m getting married in less than 2 weeks and if I don’t do something quick, my “arse” isn’t going to fit in that dress).

  37. Haha! Here I am, reading your post about getting up early as I sip my coffee, desperately trying to ignore that nagging feeling of wanting to go back to bed. My husband & I are vampires. We freak people out at our regular haunts when we show up with the sun still shining, lol. But life requires that I start bright & early these days, & I don’t know how people do it! Maybe I lack stamina? But I too love the productive side effect of it.
    Good luck on your cycling practice! Don’t stress it. You can do it, Steph! 🙂

  38. No, I do not like to get up early, but most days I have to get up between 6:00 and 6:30. Once in awhile I see a pretty sunrise or moonset that makes me feel it was worth it, but mostly I’d rather be in bed.

  39. I get up at five a.m. for work. I do not like it. Not a bit. Even now that it’s not pitchdark for the drive in.

  40. I get up every weekday morning at 4:00 AM and no I don’t like to but it means I can get into to work early and leave work early. Keep cycling!

  41. I have a 6 month old who is an early riser. He gets up for a feeding around 4:30am then if I can convince him to fall back asleep, he is usually up for he day by 7. I would rather sleep in but looking at his smiling face makes it worth it. That and coffee.

  42. Actually, I am one of those that do it most days. I like the early morning quiet, and productivity. I’ve been like this since about the age of 3 per my mother. She was not a morning person and usually adds rather quickly, “Thank goodness you were a good child.” Two days in a row? On your way to a new habit. ;^)

  43. Early bird catches the worm! Personally I prefer an Egg McMuffin…

    Yes, I got up early, my alarm goes off at 5:10 every a.m., but I don’t actually get grumpy until I’m at work 2.5 hours later.

    Oh my Stephanie, that yarn! Seaglass! Oh I’m sure the Karmee will love it! And that batt! Lord Almighty that is just GORGEOUS. Can’t wait to see what you spin, I can tell already it’s going to be amazing.

  44. I find it impossible to stay in bed once I’m awake, and have always been an early bird! Saying that, I’ll rarely get up before 7am… hmm, may have to try it though and see if it helps with productivity! 😛

  45. I thought I was a morning person until I met my husband, who regularly gets up at 4. I forgive him the alarm going off at that ungodly hour because I can go back to sleep for another two hours until 6, when he brings me coffee in bed.

  46. I got up at 4:30 a.m. because my daughter ate at Subway last night and it made her sick, and she needed me to hold her hair while she puked. Not fun.

  47. I almost never see 5:30. Well that’s not true. The only time I see 5:30 is from the other direction. Screw waking up early!

    The main question I have is… how do you spin/ply that batt without it looking like a muddled mess?

  48. I am a firm believer that there exists only one 5:30 in a day and it is definitely NOT in the morning. Why, then, did I marry Mr. Morning Sunshine, who is so cheerful in the early hours he puts the birds to shame (he is of course asleep in front of the TV by 9 pm). But, last week we returned from vacation in Europe and the jet lag has caused us to awaken well before dawn every day since. I do confess to getting a lot done before I had to leave for my daily commitments, but the afternoon naps and 9:00 bedtime are cancelling out my progress. Soon I hope to return to my vampire ways…..

  49. My whole life I have been a late sleeper, naturally waking up around 11:00 or noon (not great when working and have to be there by 8, what a drag) It wasn’t a case of laziness or not going to bed early enough, it was simply my inner clock working – if I went to bed early, I just laid there staring at the ceiling, bored to tears. Over the past year, however, I have been naturally getting up early – 7:30 – seriously?! for me that’s impossible! And the amount of work I have been getting done – I love it. I don’t know what happened, what bridge my inner self crossed, but I am loving this! And I will never go back! So I can relate to this post (as I so often relate) – I have one question tho: what does this have to do with frogs?? I don’t get it!

  50. I got in the habit to go walking 4.5 miles each day with the dog, because as everyone knows a tired dog is a good dog! However I realized that now I have created a monster! True, the dog is much better behaved and happy but all I have really done is built up her endurance. Ahhhh the bar… It moves ever higher! The colors are gorgeous!!!

  51. Most days I like to be up early and take on the world.
    Last night’s thunder storm was right above our house for at least an hour.
    Today I just want to nap.

  52. Yep-Sunday-Friday up by 5:20. Saturdays I sleep until 6. During the work week I have to be at work by 7, and combined with a 45 minute commute it’s just easier to keep it the same time. I’m more productive in the morning than afternoon.

  53. I tend to wake early naturally, but not always get up. It’s easier to get up and going when I know the sun isn’t far behind me. And there is something truly lovely about moving around when the world is still and quiet, watching the fog burn off and the first chorus of the birds…
    That said, in winter when it’s cold and dark, I am less likely to rise with good humour.
    Oh you’re (second?) Colour Affection makes me want to start mine. I have struck out twice with colours I thought would work and I have two gift knits to finish in a week, so I’m trying to be strong!

  54. Definitely an early morning person. I like the sunrise and it also gives me an hour or so all to myself before starting the day. I’m up most mornings at 5:30. Except for the dead of winter, it really is a lovely time of day

  55. Married to a night owl and with lupus I need my sleep–I’m glad you can manage getting up at that hour, but I sure can’t.

    Although I’ve done it to catch a flight to see the grandsons, flying back late the same night because the cost of a hotel room equals airfare to come back and visit again. When the incentive is good enough… (Pro tip: if you can, wear a cashmere sweater so the baby wants to snuggle into your shoulder rather than thinking you’re too much a stranger.)

  56. I like you do not generally enjoy getting up at 5:30 AM. As my MIL used to say – the only people up at that time are burglars and bad women. That being said, when I do get up at that time, I do get a lot accomplished. I just don’t make a habit of it. I was up at 5 yesterday to go to commencement for my oldest son, but didn’t get to bed until 1 AM because of my own school work. Power through to the end. That’s what moms do.

  57. The rule is ” do not call between 9pm and 6am unless someone needs blood “. Sleep from about 10 pm to 5 am or so. Also NPO ( nothing by mouth) after 6 pm so I don’t have to get up in the middle of the night.

    Last night I finished Different Lines pattern and for the last few rows, I used the kitchen scale and weighed the yarn after every row because I didn’t think I was making any progress and I thought I would never finish. The scale was a great help.

  58. My husband is up at 3am (starts work at 5am, home by 2) and these days I’m up at 5. I don’t work late I work early(the joys of being self employed) Having a child did this too me and now I just feel like I’ve wasted the day if I get up later. I’d have laughed in your face if you’d told me 25 years ago that I’d do this willingly.

  59. I am most definitely NOT a morning person! Early for me is 7:30. My husband thinks I’m a late sleeper but the truth is I just stay in my room quietly waiting for him to go to work so I don’t have to be social. Does that mean I’m a bad person? Not really. If I did appear amongst the living at that time of day…let’s just say it wouldn’t be pretty! So actually, I’m being super nice by sparing everyone from my morning wrath.

  60. I’m up at 6am every freaking weekday morning and I don’t function like a normal person until that first cup of java. Everyone said I would “get used to it”, but after nearly 20 years of it, I’m still waiting for the “used to it” part. I so admire you and Jen for your commitment to the ride – especially the early morning rise.

  61. For 25 years I got up at 5:30, Monday through Friday, and went to my job teaching high school math. I’ve been retired since 2011, and I hope I never ever EVER see 5:30 a.m. again. I am most definitely NOT a morning person.

  62. I get up at 5 am 4 days a week so that I can be at the gym by 6 am. Did I mention that I am retired? It has been good for me and I have lost almost 1/3rd of my previous body weight.

  63. When I was your age I got up at 5:30, did a half hour of exercise, and then woke my husband and two sons to start their day. I had an office job and was at work by 8:00.

    Now I’m retired and sleep until 7:00, when I get up, let the dog out, turn on the coffee, and knit.

  64. I think getting up about 7:30 is pretty civilized. For over a year though, I had to get up at 5 A.M. for work and I hated it. Especially in the dark dead of winter. Last night I was up in the night for a few hours with my dog, who was trying to dig a hole and bury herself (inside the house) every time the thunder rumbled. I’m really not used to being up in the night anymore. I eventually got back to sleep, but I can sure tell that my days of tending to babies in the night are long over. I need my sleep.

  65. I drive a school bus, so I am working at 0600. Love it. I am such a morning person that even when I have a day off I still wake up at 0430, cook the oatmeal, drink the tea, start the day. The problem I have is at the other end, when people want to get out and about at 10 PM. Many times I pass my son on the stairs going to bed at 0330, when I am starting to feel it is time to be up and busy!

    It is a balancing act, to honor what your body wants and what the job/family/world want. If we are fortunate, we can make it work.

    Blessings on your race prep. Mad props to you and your team. THAT is something beyond my imagination.

  66. BTW.. I don’t tweet, but hope many people picked up on the quote by Max,from Where the Wild Things Are!!!!!

  67. There is only one 5:30 in my day, and it happens in the afternoon. I’m not a morning person or a night person. I’m at my best between noon and 12:15. If you miss that time, oh, well!

    Still, my hat is off to you and Jen!

  68. I am an early riser (alarm rings at 5:13am) because I like how the day feels/looks/sounds at that time of day. The plus is, like you found, much can be accomplished in the early morning hours.

  69. I used to get up at 5:15am to get my kids to the daycare and myself to my job by 8am. I’m not sure how I did that but thankfully life/job/kids/me evolved and now I get up at a respectable 7am. HAVING SAID THAT, these days the birds awake me between 4:00 and 4:06 am every morning with their glorious singing. I lie there thinking .. I love you spring birds but please go back to bed/nest.

  70. Nope, not a morning person here. I come from a family of night owls. 7:30 is about the earliest you’ll see me up. I cherish the late hours after dark when work and chores are done and I can relax and knit.

  71. I get to work at 7:30 (about 1/2 hour before everyone else). I get more done it that 1/2 hour, than I do the rest of the day.

  72. When I was working, I got up about 4:00 am and was in my office by 6:30. (I’m on the west coast and my company is in all four mainland time zones.) By the way, I allowed about 20 – 30 minutes to gather my thoughts and knit before I left for work.

    However, I retired about 8 months ago. Since then I have set my alarm clock exactly Once. That was to catch a train to go to Vogue Knitting Live in Seattle. One of the best things about being retired, besides Lots more time for knitting, is getting up when I wake up, not when some #*! alarm tells me I must.

  73. I agree with you, I work a very early shift, but am a night person. I love to stay up when every one has gone to bed and watch tv and knit!
    Lovely fiber!
    Vicki

  74. There are those righteous beings who crow about rising early and enjoying the sunrise. They are the same ones, often, who are so punctual that they arrive while the hostess is still in her undergarments. I am not that person. I am married to that person.

  75. I have been a third-shift worker for 39 years now, up at 2PM and a nap at 8PM, to work at 10PM and home at 8AM. I think sunrises are much prettier from the other side – preferably with a scenic mountain in view!

  76. Yes, I do get up early, and I usually don’t mind much. Later this week, however, I have to be someplace 30 minutes away by 5:30, and it’s a medical kind of thing that gives me no choice in the matter. That (and without coffee, no less) is a horse of a different color. At least I don’t have to pedal there, right? Beautiful roving!! Such rich colors.

  77. Do you know what? I’m just going to say “I have a baby” and leave it at that. I think you’ll understand, right?

  78. Yes, I got up at 3 a.m. with a wicked sore throat due to allergies (I hope) – and no, I don’t like it. Drinking more water with lemon than anyone should all day, not adding honey because I’m doing a Whole30 and can’t have any sweeteners. Between running to the bathroom and watching all the Call the Midwife’s that I missed (Yes, Amazon, I love you again), I pulled out about 10 rows on the socks that I was making too big, wrestled them back onto the needles (at least they’re two-at-a-time, so when I’m done, I’m DONE), and have almost caught back up to myself. Hoping I don’t wake up at 3 again tomorrow…

  79. I don’t often get up early on purpose — but the times I do, I like it best when I want to get things done at home and it feels so nice and cozy and like no one else is up to bother you. And the sun looks pretty in the early morning.

  80. A few of those Cotswold sheep live at the Waldorf School in Chimacum, WA just up the road for Port Ludlow. Pay them a visit when you are out for a retreat. I don’t know what they do with their wool.

  81. I got out of bed early this morning and hada baby! No joke, my son was born at 5:40 this morning, in my bedroom.

  82. Gosh, congratulations, to the new Mom! It would be difficult to top that level of creativity!!!
    I am an early riser, too, even on weekends. Have been a nurse for 35 yrs and it is an ingrained habit. It is nice on weekends. I get so much done and then, I can knit, guilt free!!

  83. Yup. Up at 5am today even though the alarm was set for 6:45. Just went with it and got my blog challenge posted before I went to do a talk on Waldorf Education. Then I helped the grade twos fix their knitting mistakes…tinking, picking up stitches, helping to cast-off, changing knits to purls, and purls to knits. I do this once a week and LOVE it.
    Early mornings seem to be my thing lately. Not sure if it is old age, or the birds in the trees. Either way it is amazing how much you can get done before noon. Hope you have a good ride tomorrow.

    • I’m not near retirement but I’ve always thought that my “retirement job” would be handwork teacher’s helper at our Waldorf School!

  84. Love the early mornings! The house to myself, my little wake up/warm up routines include checking my email and Facebook with a cup of coffee, time to look out the windows and watch the dawn give spectacular shows quite often, listening to the birds do their thing–THEY know it’s the best time of the day, etc., etc.

  85. I get up at 5:20 every day that I drive to work. I leave the house at 6:15. When I take my bike to work on the bus and ride it home, I have to leave the house at 5:15. It is very difficult to do; I prefer to sleep the extra 15 minutes.

  86. I’m more of a night owl, but since I don’t need much sleep, I will get up with the sun when I want to enjoy the nice weather. It all depends on the season and whether it’s sunny or not!
    Otherwise, I turn back to being a teenager and hide under the covers!

  87. Post menopausal. Don’t sleep any more. Just giving you a heads up. It could happen to you 🙂 I knit when I used to sleep. Peeps I know now have lovely sweaters and other lovely things they wouldn’t have if I were a person who sleeps, like I once did. It’s all good. The universe is unfolding as it should. You did ask…..

  88. I leave for work at 5:40 a.m. weekdays. For me it is a big treat to sleep “late” on the weekend until 6:30 or 7 a.m.

    Your handspun Cotswald yarn is gorgeous! I’m looking forward to seeing how “Tardis” turns out. Happy spinning. 🙂

  89. I’m definitely a natural morning person, always have been. I LOVE going for a walk around 6:30 each morning, listening to music and stopping for coffee down the street.

  90. I’m a professional baker, and a mom of a 1 year old who still like to get up in the night. Most days I’m awake and baking scones by the time 5:30 rolls around. And of course even on my days off I’m usually awakened around 6 by my beautiful son. Now all I have to do is teach him how to make scones.

  91. I almost always get up early – during the week I get to the office at least an hour before anyone else and I get a TON done. On the weekends, I just love the quiet.

  92. Laughing at your “asleep in front of the TV by 9:00 pm” husband. If I were an unkind woman I would take a picture and post it of my husband who is sitting beside me sound asleep since… yep, 9:00 pm. But I’m not unkind, of course.

  93. Yes and no. I am seldom grateful to see the sunrise, but find it is my lot in life to witness it more days than I care to. I totally blame the morning people for waking up early and taking over the world. Now the rest of us have to get up early too.

  94. When I have to get up early, sometimes it is OK if I am going somewhere or my sister is here and we want to talk over coffee and see the sun come up. Mostly I never want to get up – and it does mean going to bed earlier too 🙂

  95. No! No, no, no, no, no. But since my dog had surgery last week on his leg (ACL tear) and he’s a big dog and is not supposed to be going up stairs (2 floor house-bedrooms upstairs), I have the honors of sleeping on the couch next to him in his bed. Otherwise, its non-stop crying and barking for attention. So for almost a week now,,, I’m getting up when he noses me to tell me he wants out, which is quite a lot. So by choice, no way am I an early riser,,, but I’ve been doing it no problem for my furry baby.

    Now to do something about the dark circles under my eyes.

  96. My goodness there are a LOT of early risers, if commenters here are representative of the general population. I, on the other hand, am a nightowl, preferring to stay up until 4:00am (or later [earlier?]) and sleeping until at least noon. Late at night is when I do the laundry, knit, read and relax. It’s so quiet and peaceful then; even the birds are quiet.

    My mother was a nightowl, sleeping 2am to 10am, and researchers have found that nightowl-ness tends to run in families. Also, I was born in Hawaii in the afternoon, when it was evening on the US east coast, where I live now, so that is when my clock started. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it!

    I somehow managed getting up early when my son was young, but once he headed out the door for school I’d often go back to bed. It’s not fair that the rest of the world (looking at you early risers) often demands that I be somewhere early in the day.

    What gets my goat is that many early birds are smug and feel that nightowls are degenerates. We night people are awake and accomplishing things during the same number of hours as early birds are, it’s just at different times of the day/night.

    We should start a movement for equal respect!

  97. Like you–and Bartleby the Scrivener–“I prefer not to” when it comes to waking early. But here I am at 6:10, awake for a half hour, out of necessity for today. Like you also I enjoy that productive feeling. But it’s hard to say if that is sweeter than waking up at a more civil time, isn’t it? Lovely wool there! Good luck training!

  98. I get up at 5:00 AM every work day morning. Mostly so that I can have a relaxed cup of coffee (or two), do a brief workout on the treadmill, tidy the house, shower and dress. I look forward to retiring in about 4 years and being able to sleep a bit later!

  99. Those of us who are morning people can’t understand how the rest of you function after 8:30 PM. That’s when the stockinette project comes out for a final few minutes of knitting relaxation before passing out!

  100. I grew up in a family of early risers. That doesn’t actually guarantee that you too will become an early riser, I certainly wasn’t. I went on to have a job that required me to be out the door at 6a every morning but I did it under protest. Then I had kids. And I realized that if I wanted to have a bit of time to myself, just a bit mind you, I had to school myself to get up early. Otherwise things might get a bit dicey and I might end up in prison. So, after all those years of getting up at 5:30a…I just can’t stop myself now.

  101. I have a newborn so I’ve been getting up at about 3-4 am everyday. I agree with you though-between this and the late pregnancy insomnia I felt like I got a ton done before anyone woke up. The end of my workday really sucked though because I got sleepy. Being home for a bit is nicer as I can take a nap around 4 pm.

    Love the knitting and spinning!

  102. I’m guessing that the frog of the title is the one you would have to eat if it was your job to eat it; in common with all the other things we hate to do, but do anyway, if it were your job to eat a frog, you would hate it, but do it anyway (or change jobs).
    Which is exactly the way I feel about 5:30am starts. I’m semi-retired, working part time as a reporter for a local newspaper. I still end up working like a dog but the difference is, now that my kids are adult kids, my life is my own and I make my own hours, except on the rare occasion I have to be somewhere far away at some stupidly early hour.
    The only time I’ve ever broken my own rule is when I was doing some very complicated knitting and had a very chatty lodger who like to “keep me company” while I worked. I resorted to early rising in order to finish the work and simultaneously avoid committing homicide.

  103. Mornings are my time of day and I love the peace, and quiet. I love walking the dogs early in the mornings, seeing the northern lights or radiant sunrises. Dew, flowers, green grass or first snows, walking on crunchy leaves . . . my family is horrible to go on vacation with—off to bed early and up at 5:00. I am up between 5-5:30 almost every day. Fresh coffee and slow peaceful mornings on the deck/porch is bliss . . . or watching snow . . . falling strait down. Yeap early mornings are the best!

  104. 5:45 a.m. seems to be a natural rising time with or without an alarm. Sadly, I’ve been forgetting lately that that means that I need to be in bed AND asleep by 10:00 p.m. in order to not be cranky. I’m a 7.5/8 hour girl! There so much productivity at that hour!

  105. I can get up at 5:30 for a run or bike ride, no problem. However, getting up by 6:30 for work is a god-awful chore. Priorities, I guess? Too bad that in the early morning I have trouble remembering that the work thing pays for the running and cycling things. There is a nice joyful feeling when I go to church on Sundays knowing that I’ve already gotten up and ran 10 miles before even getting to church (I stop at home to shower first, of course), and most people have just crawled out of bed.

  106. I did get up early on Tuesday. At 4:23AM the Cat (usually addressed as the Lovely Layla) brought a sparrow into my bedroom. A living, flying, crashing into things sparrow. It was some time before the poor thing found it’s way out of the open window and by then I was fully awake. I did not like it.

  107. Steph, Is it possible to pledge over an entire year for instance? While I could only afford $____ now, I could send a nominal amount 12 times over a year and increase my pledge. Budgetary wise, this would be easier.
    If you see this message, just make a remark about it in your usual column, as others might be wondering as well.

  108. I would rather STAY up until 5:30am than GET up at that hour. I’ve learned to wake up in the morning but I’ve never embraced it and it only takes me 1 day off to get back into a sane pattern of sleep.

    Love the batt. What a great reward for being so virtuous. Just remember that when 5:30 rolls around again. 🙂

  109. As a lifelong early bird (and by that I mean 5:00 am) I can confirm how productive I am. I can get more done before 10:00 am than the rest of the day and night combined. the only drawback? Not being able to stay up past 10:00 pm which makes me the object of ridicule in my family!

  110. I have a two-year old Cairn terrier who refuses to let me sleep past 06:00 AM, except on rainy days when he goes kicking and barking at 8 AM.

    It just gets me so much closer to a hot cup of coffee.

  111. I get up at 0530 every. single. work. day, and I HATE it. I always feel tired. However, the paying job requires me to arrive at work on time, and to make that happen, 0530 it is. Saturday is my glorious day, when I don’t rise until I want to (and contrary to popular belief, I just want somewhere between 0730 and 8, I’m not asking for half the day, mind you.) I used to work 3-11 pm shift….it was perfection for my body…didn’t work with a child.

  112. Yes, I am an early riser. I worked in schools for 20 years so I was one of those people waking up at 5:15 every morning so I could be at work by 7 am. I loved working in high schools because when you start work that early, you’re done by 2 pm and you have the rest of the day to yourself. Awesome. Now that I’m no longer working full time, I still wake up early. I’m used to it. If I sleep later than 8, I feel like I’ve slept the day away. So, I get up at the crack of dawn and go to the gym before I start my day. I’m really tired by 10 pm but I like that. “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. Smart man, that Ben Franklin.

  113. I set my alarm everyday to 4:30. I need my morning time alone before I go out to work. This is the time when I think, write, read. I very often work (afternoons are never good for intelectual type of work, even if I slept for 12 hours) and I also knit. Very often I wake up a bit earlier: today I got out of bed at 4:07. I made my bed, took a shower, got dressed and ready, made a ver nice cup of coffee and sat with my knitting until 6:15. Then I had breakfast and took off to work.

  114. I’m not a fan of getting up early. It takes me a couple of hours to get going though I will push myself to move if I must (such as for an early flight or joining peeps on a fiber jaunt). On a regular basis? I will happily sleep to 9 am and be in bed by midnight.

  115. I get up at 5:30 because kids. ‘Nuff said. (I had typed a more wordy comment but your “human verification system” regularly claims me a failure.)

  116. As a new mom of a 3.5-month-old (you saw him in Pennsylvania when he was 6 weeks old) and who is spending her second day ever being alone with him and the dogs for 12 hours at a time, I’m having my own sleep-related adventures. Thankfully, the kid went to sleep again after his second feeding this morning, or else I would have had a pretty groggy day. I did lose some time changing clothes though, since he seems to be peeing on himself and me a lot recently.

  117. I seemed to have so much yarn left from my colour affection it seemed a good idea to add more rows – but good luck with the cast off? (I wish I could get up early and get all my jobs done)

  118. Yes, because I (secretary) had to get to the office before my boss. No – never until I had my first cup of coffee.

    Lovely colors, Stephanie; I could fall into them.

  119. I completely agree with you on the early morning thing. I did it when I had to work (for 25 years) but now that retirement has set in I can do what comes naturally to me and that is stay up till midnight and wake up whenever. It never is past 8 though so I don’t sleep the entire day away.

  120. I’m not a morning person, but when I do have to get up, I love how much I get done. Right now I’m caught in between – I’m not quite a night owl anymore (like when I was a student), but I’m not a morning person, either…there’s just so much for both sides that I can never decided, it seems!

    Katie =^..^=

  121. Every. barkin’. morning since January. That wouldn’t be so bad except I have been up late every evening as well (new professor workload). My semester is over tomorrow and I plan on sleeping.

  122. That batt is gorgeous. Getting up early for myself is a lot more fun than getting up for work. I prefer to be more civilized…

  123. Monday through Thursday, I get up at 5:33 a.m. It is my way of playing with my head. If the alarm isn’t set for 5:30 then it doesn’t seem that early. On Fridays, I get up 15 minutes earlier to sort and start the laundry.

    On the other hand, my sister gets up at 5:00, so she can get an hour’s worth of spinning done before she gets ready for work.

    Ha! Another reason that I don’t spin . . . that extra 30 minutes of sleep on Mondays through Thursdays.

  124. Usually, I’m up between 6 a.m. – 7 a.m. Tomorrow, I’ll be up at “dawn:30” for an early board meeting (for which I take minutes…and they have to be coherent, too). And I work on Saturdays, which is always a “dawn:30” rising.

    If, for some reason, I’m NOT up by 7 a.m., usually, there’s a dog breathing in my face making sure I’m alive…

    Love the “Tardis” fiber!!!

  125. I’m not “naturally” an early riser, but these days I get up at 5:30 every weekday. It’s the only way to get regular exercise, and while I don’t like getting up that early I do like the way I feel after my morning walk/run/stairs.

  126. I’m not a morning person, but the alarm goes off at 5:30 every school day… I usually roll over and smack my husband because it’s his alarm and it’s his turn to walk the dog. And the dog is the reason the alarm goes off at 5:30.
    I get up at 6:00. By then the coffee is made.

  127. I get up at 5:30 twice a week for my exercise class at the gym. If I’m riding my bike to work I get up at 5. If I’m driving to work I get to sleep until 6:10, but still wake up at 5:30. On those days I refuse to get up even a minute early. On the weekends when I get to sleep in, naturally I wake up at 5:30. It’s not so bad in the summer when it’s light outside, but in the winter it’s really brutal.

  128. Normal weekday wake-up around here is 5:30am, but I’m usually up between 4 and 4:30 even on weekends. Soon as it even approaches light-ish, my internal alarm clock goes off and *bing!* I’m awake. It’s all good, though–I like seeing the way the light changes as the sun comes up, listening to the birds start their morning songs, the house-rabbit gets extra pets and I get the first cup of fresh coffee.

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