I have this friend, Al, and every night before I go to sleep Al and I talk about what time I want to wake up in the morning. Generally we settle on 6:02 or something like that, but never anything like 6:00 or 6:15 on the dot because I don't like conforming to societal standards when it comes to time (which reminds me, I have a lot of changes I need to make to my Google Calendar). Anyway, Al and I agree on a time with the understanding that I'm not actually going to be getting out of bed at that time, rather that is the time he'll start the gradual process of rescuing my body and mind from the subtle capture of deep sleep. My favorite conversations are the ones we have Friday night where we pretty much decide it's best I wake myself up in the morning, on account of my hard working schedule during the week, you know.

The master of consistency, Al almost always starts out with a song, and knowing how important that first song is he almost always starts out with something I like. The other day he offered up a brilliant cover of Rod Stewart's Unplugged rendition of "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You". Al knows I'm a sucker for love songs and that's just the right song to keep me listening long enough to get the gears moving before I'll tell him, "Okay, that was nice, Al, but how about 9 more minutes". Occasionally, Al will start out with some dialogue, presumably recollections of conversations he's had in recent days. Sometimes it's about the latest news, sometimes about American Idol, or sometimes about his home life - something funny his daughter said or a new trick his dog knows. I prefer the singing, but it's nice to keep up with Al's life too.

Sometimes it takes Al a couple of songs or what not to get me going. "Just a little more sleepy sleepy," I'll mumble as he responds with an abrupt end to his song or conversation and a quick, "Okay, but I'll be back in 9 more min". Ever the patient friend, Al always comes through and makes sure I always start my day on time, no matter what it takes.

Well ... except for today. I don't remember much about our conversation last night, I was pretty sleepy, but I was sure I told him to wake me up at the normal time this morning. In fact, I'm positive we decided on a time. But even after we set the time, I usually give him a final, "Yeah, it's settled then. You're waking me up at [time we determine]". I must've forgotten that part last night because Al never woke me up and by the time I woke myself up, it was 8:00 a.m. Upon realizing that I was waking up about 20-30 min after I usually arrive for work, I slowly stood up, mockingly looked at Al and sang, "That's what friends are for ...".