Just to clarify, by 'stay out late' I mean get home around 11pm - midnight. I can't even remember the last time I stayed out/up past then. Narcolepsy makes me so laaaaaaaame.
The first few weeks of term are going to be absolutely absurd. The school is doing a production of Jesus Christ Superstar - I'm actually not involved but the rest of the faculty is and it's raising the stress frequencies bit by bit every day. I have parent/teacher interviews for the first time ever in week 2. Argh!! As well as this, and, you know, having an otherwise normal-ish life, I'm playing in a production of West Side Story. First time doing a musical in a long time... 2 years maybe?? Surely not... Anyway. I am really looking forward to it, but I'm very apprehensive about the late nights. We'll see how it goes.
This term I really want to make an effort to be calm, organised and give myself the best chance to teach well and be happy. These past two days have been actually quite exhausting - days of pretty much 8.30am - 3.30pm non-stop teaching development stuff. No naps, but lots of frustrating sitting quietly which is immensely difficult. My timetable has changed slightly from this term - I get 3 full days off per 14 day cycle, which is great. I still have to come in at 7.30am for rehearsals even if I have the day off, which is a bit crap, and 3 of my other days are now a little bit longer, but I think it's worth it for the sleep and reduced pressure. I've planned all my lessons for the this coming week already, so the only thing that is going to be a big stress will be the driving. And we'll see how that goes!!!
On a related note, I've found a few other narcolepsy blogs after a bit of a fossick about the Interwebs. One is Confessions of a Narcoleptic, which is about a woman living with narcolepsy, as well as juggling a job, a family, lupus and fibromyalgia. The general gist is sort of the same as mine - documenting her life and the obstacles she encounters. Narcoleptic Knights is another self-discovery blog, written by a guy this time. He's a total nerd too!!! Awesome. The final one, The Narcoleptic's Wife, is a great one written from the perspective of one living with a person afflicted with narcolepsy. What a great woman!! If only all narcos had that kind of immediate support.
The thing I love about all three of these is seeing within their writings elements of my own life. A desire to live as normal a life as possible. The stress of something as simple as getting to work on time!! How to juggle narcolepsy with everything else my life holds. So check those 3 out. And report back!!!