Vicious Cycle?

I think I have found myself in a "vicious cycle".

I am naturally a "night owl". I find myself very sleepy in the afternoons, but around 7:00 p.m. I feel like a new woman! I am wide awake an full of energy. My problem comes when I don't get tired until 1:00 a.m. and I can't get out of the bed in the morning!! I hate mornings! I think it should be a crime to have to get up while it is still dark. So I ask myself, would getting up earlier help, or would it just make me a CRABBY, busy person? I think that it would be the latter.

Here is a basic schedule of my day:

8:30 a.m. - get out of bed, cup of coffee, breakfast

9:00 a.m. - start yelling at the kids to "get up!!!", get online...check messages, write down kids lesson plan for school for the day, (and to be honest) play a little Treasure Madness on Facebook.

9:30 a.m. - threaten kids with bodily harm if they don't "GET OUT OF THE BED THIS INSTANT!!!"

9:45 a.m. - start home school (while the kids are still eating breakfast, because I'm tired of waiting for them)

10:00 a.m.- (while kids are on the computer doing school independently) I practice my guitar, take care of my birds, do Bible study, help the kids when they have questions, and work on my Medical Transcription class.

10:30 a.m.- Walk on the treadmill for 1/2 hour, lift weights for 15 min. and do yoga for 20 min.

12:00 - 3:00 p.m. - listen to Rush Limbaugh on the radio, while at the same time eat lunch, clean house, pay bills, and do anything else that I need to do. (Oh, and take a shower...if I have time.)

3:00- 4:30 p.m. - Work on my Medical Transcription class

4:30 - 5:30 p.m. - Cook, eat, and clean up dinner

6:00 - 10 or 11:00 p.m. - Work on Medical Transcription class.

(9:00 - 9:30 p.m.) - start the process of getting the kids in bed. Kids in bed no later than 9:30.

11:00 - 1:00 - try to unwind and get sleepy so I can actually go to sleep.

I am finding myself a bit rushed and overwhelmed! I wish there were more hours in the day. I keep thinking that if I were able to get up earlier...then I could start the whole "process" earlier. My schedule is so tight, that I have no room for the unexpected, or if something happens to take longer than planned. I keep trying to look for things I can "cut" from the schedule...but they are all important! I find that the thing that gets "cut" most often is my exercise...which I hate to do because it makes me feel so much better.

Things are even more rushed lately, because I've FINALLY reached the practicum portion of the MT training. This is where I actually type reports. I LOVE IT! All of the things that I learned up to this point are finally in use, I realize that I have actually been learning, and it is all coming together! The problem is...I have 800 reports to type before I can schedule my final exam, pass the exam, apply for a job, and hopefully get hired and start bringing in some income. To this end, I've been devoting a lot more hours to my studies.

The vicious cycle is staying up so late, and getting up so late. I tell myself that in actuality I'm up the same amount of hours as most other people...it's just reverse of most other people. I have a friend who gets up EARLY!!! Like around 4:30 - 5:00 a.m., but by 9:00 p.m. she is toast...falling asleep on the couch. We are both up approximately 16 hours, but somehow, I still feel like a lazy bum because I sleep until 8:30...sometimes closer to 9:00. And, it stands to reason that my children would be on the same schedule as me, which makes me feel like I'm a bad mom.

So is it really a vicious cycle....no, I don't think so. I think it's just my "style". I would much rather be a happy night owl instead of a crabby morning person. Night owls, unite!