The FOTC fans among you will have figured that title out, while the rest will be wondering what FOTC stands for (here). Let it never be said that I leave people hanging!

Ah, nighttime. Staying up and pondering life, wrapped in a blanket with the cold gradually stealing into my extremities until finger cramp forces me to stop typing or reading, and the fear of being discovered comatose in a chair the next morning forces me to go to bed.

I miss these times. I have them so rarely these days. Life is busy and work is busy and there's too much to fit in for me to indulge my owl-like tendencies of yesteryear. Gone are the feverish essays at 2am, Roxette in my headphones but Woolf on my mind. I don't get to do this anymore and live to tell the tale the next day.

But every so often, I just can't help it. My mind is so awake, a thousand possibilities presenting themselves, or maybe just one really good one. Sometimes it's a cake I need to make, or a letter that needs to be sent the next day. Sometimes it's a conversation with a dear friend, only because they're asleep I have to play it through in my head and then make a note to actually call them. But more often than not, it's the urge to write. It's why I've kept a notebook by my bedside since my late teens - I never know when something will demand to get out of my head and onto paper, and until I've scribbled it out the urgency doesn't subside.

Tonight I was all ready to go to bed - I walked 5k today, did the grocery shop, baked some apple rose thingies and played wife to a good level (i.e. made food and kissed injuries). But, something was niggling at me. Lo and behold, into my inbox drops the reason I've stayed up. So here I am, an hour later having typed typed typed, sent that off and then cried my happy tears at what it represents. I can't disclose all as yet, but lovely people, my heart is so full. This was worth staying up for.