Life is what happens while you are sleeping (or not sleeping and fully awake in the middle of the night)

So last night Mia decided that she didn't want to sleep. I'm not sure what went through her mind, but whatever it was, it was not running parallel with our thoughts. I know this because both Andrea and I really, really, really, really wanted to sleep. And this I am sure of because when we woke up, in the middle of the night, we were not happy. Further, I also know that in the morning, after seven hours of sleep, we feel more rested then we did today, where we lacked seven hours of sleep. So the only conclusion that I could come to was that we didn't like being woken up.

First she woke up around 1.30 then again an hour later. It was the later one that caused the most havoc. Mia decided, for reasons that only she will ever know, that she was going to stay up for the next two hours. Now, this would have been alright had she also decided that she could spend the time alone. But ohhhhhhh nooooooo, that wasn't going to be the case. She decided that she just had to have her mummy with her. She must have thought that if being up alone was fun, then just think how much fun it would be to be up with mummy. So mummy, with all the grace and kindness that she could muster given that it was 2.39 in the morning, went to see our precious little darling. And there she was with eyes wide open, half smiling, wanting who knows what (actually what she wanted, in no particular order, was the toilet, food, cuddle, to play, and almost certainly ATTENTION).

The good news is that this is not a regular occurrence. The bad news is that I fear we are going to go through this again tonight. But, I need to remember that the glass is half-full and that a positive outlook will help. For if we do go through this again, I can just remind myself that I have been wanting to spend more time with Mia!

On a gardening note, nothing is working. Well, actually the peas are starting to grow nicely. But everything else that I planted for the winter harvest, to help us get through the cold, to save us money, to prove to the slugs that I could and will conquer, has failed. Yes, I do believe that the slugs and snails have indeed won the most recent battle; however the war is far from over. And yes, while they are taking no prisoners and disseminating my crops, I am taking a few of them too. It seems that my beer traps are working... for the slugs only. The traps don't work for the snails. I don't know what the difference is between slugs and snails, only that the shell on the back of the snails help them avoid being taken prisoner by the my beer traps because the opening is too small for them. The result is that on the way PAST the traps they give a little giggle and then start to devour the carrots, beets, lettuce, and spinach... and still not a thank you .

I will not give up. I am NOT going to be labeled a defeatest. I am going to dig in, hunker down, and prepare for the next stage of the assault (don't worry, I am going to start to seek counselling because as Andrea says this obsession can't be healthy). I have now created more beds and will hopefully be able to confuse them varmint. I figure the more beds, the more they will wait to see what's being grown. It's sort of like Christmas. There are all these beds and they don't know what's being grown, so they'll wait to see what comes up. Before they only had one or two beds and they could just wait right there ready to pounce, or more accurately, ooze and slime and slither, to the food. But now they will have to wait and hopefully won't make it to the food until it's too late, meaning that I'll get them first.

So for now I have planted potatoes and am hoping for a bumper crop in a few short months. If not, well, once again the slugs and snails will have a good feast. Maybe this time they'll invite me.