Energy.

In my humble opinion (or, IMHO, to those of you acronym-savvy readers), energy is a very strange thing.

For instance, it is currently 2:25am, and I am buzzing with it. Ok, so I had a fun day. I was productive at work, got to mix business with pleasure (went to New Orleans for a vendor meeting and got to hear my favorite band and hang out with a best friend), and feel good about life. But for real. 2:25am. No medical assistance, just me, as flittery as a butterfly, hopping around and getting things done. (I know. You're jealous you're not my neighbor. Anyway...)

Also, there's the tiny (pun intended) subject of calories. Much to my surprise as an adult whose metabolism has clearly slowed (and a former student who clearly has zero memory rentention), calories are supposed to equal energy (?).

For me, calories generally equal fat rolls. So what's up with that? I mean, sure, if I consume less, I guess I feel more energetic since there's less of me to move. But if I consume more, I feel the overwhelming urge to crawl into the fetal position and nap on the couch for 7 straight hours. Which really makes zero sense. More energy = more energy, right? Wrong.

And then we move onto the "youth is wasted on the young" theory. If I watch my nephew for an hour, I am sort of jazzed, but if I watch him for 3 hours, I am wiped out.

The nephew is 6. The aunt is 33 1/2.

He wakes up ready to go, does not understand the concept of caffeine, and has not, to my knowledge, developed a taste for coffee. Two of his first words were "Go!" and "Play!," and that's pretty much the gist of what we still talk about.

"Hey Bekah. When you gonna come to Alabama so we can play again? I have some Wii games that you'll have to work really hard at. You'll love 'em!"

"Happy birthday, Aunt Bekah. Did you get any fun toys?  Oh... You got some cards and phone calls and a picture? Well....that's nice. At least people called you because they love you. Happy birthday." 

"Aunt Bekah, this big bouncy ball that I play with every time I come here.... What do you do with it? I mean, when I'm not here? EXERCISE? Oh. You don't ever roll it down your stairs for fun when I'm not here? Oh..." 

"You know, if you take a nap, we won't get to play as long. Really. I have all KINDS of cool army men to play with. You don't wanna miss this." 

"My teacher? Um, well, yeah, she's nice and all. But kindergarten is a LOT of hard work. The best part is play time. Huh? Yeah, we do math. But better than math is P.E. And recess. We can PLAY then. Yep, I did good on that test, but guess what else I'm best at? Climbing that jungle gym you saw in the playground. And the TALLEST POLE out there. I slide down it. I'm not scared at ALL."

And exercise, speaking of. It's supposed to give you energy, yes? Well, I can occasionally get the oft-rumored runner's high, but not always. (Why not always?) And if I exercise in the morning (like is constantly insinuated all responsible adults should do), I'm zapped the heck out by 3pm. No lie. If I exercise after work -- 6pm-ish -- I'm good till 10 or 11, and can go to bed at normal time, like a normal person. But if I exercise later -- 9pm or so -- game over. I'm up all night. Sometimes.

So you can see how energy is a conundrum for me.

I'm not really blogging about this to get any answers, though if you have them, feel free to share. I'm sort of typing all this out because I feel I'm jittery at now nearly 3am for no reason at all, and I might as well do something semi-productive with my time.

So, in summary, here are my thoughts:

• Calories are not defined correctly.
• Calories are mean.
• I will never get the calorie = energy thing.
• Youth IS wasted on the young.
• ....Except it's super-fun watching my nephew enjoy his youth.
• ....Unless he's waking me up with it.
• Exercise is clearly out to get me.
• Those who exercise early in the morning have issues.
• I do not.
• I could go on forever but must make myself stop.
• ....Because NO ONE else is awake right now.

Hmmpfh. So. I just yawned. How 'bout that.