I didn’t sleep for this shift. At all.

I had a migraine on the 3rd, and I went back to bed at 4:30 pm (after waking up at 2:30pm) and slept until 9:30pm. The migraine was gone (and again I wondered how I had forgotten what life was like before the migraine — this one had lasted four days), and sunset was still happening. Before I could light my candle and say my beginning of shift ritual prayer, I got a call from my best friend. In tears. Panicking. She asked if she could come over, because she just needed a hug. Obviously I agreed, seeing immediately my main task for this shift.

I lit the candle, said a prayer, put on some pants. JV showed up and I gave her a good, long, hug, sending out calming energy. Got her to sit down and talk it out. Family issues — her mom and sister are treating her like a little girl, making plans that JV had had for months, and then acting like when she gets upset about it she’s overreacting (when she works fulltime and doesn’t have the time to just rearrange things on a whim — things are set in stone for months beforehand because they have to be).

So we talked for a while, I gave her some advice on how to deal with shitty family problems (I have loads of experience, after all), and then I asked her if she wanted to watch some Firefly to cheer up. Answer was obviously yes.

After she went home, it was very late, but I didn’t go to bed. I wasn’t that tired. I’d slept all day. I ended up chatting with my boyfriend and vegging out until the afternoon of the 4th (well, not talking to my boyfriend that long — he did need to sleep). My candle went out at about 1pm, which was impressive, to say the least. I started one of my battery operated ones because I can’t reach my candle supply at the moment.

In the afternoon I was feeling exhausted but I didn’t want to sleep in the afternoon and mess up my schedule. So I decided to clean — a Brighidine activity if there ever was one.

Lit the Brighid candle that sits on my stove for my cooking and cleaning occasions and set to making the kitchen somewhat usable. I have new dish-washing gloves that say “Queen of Clean” on the cuffs; I’m hoping if I wear them enough it’ll become true.

The rest of the night is fuzzy on the details — but I did manage to stay up until nightfall, when I turned off my battery-operated tealight, said the end of shift prayer, took a blissful shower, and then collapsed into my bed for a much needed sleep.

And slept for over 15 hours.

Homework? What on earth is that?