Field Trip to Narcotics Anonymous

My day began with my son waking me up at 5:15am announcing that this was the new time that the family was getting up each morning. Considering that I only went to bed at 3am, this was not exciting news, so I went back to sleep. That is until he annoyed me to the point that it was easier to get out of bed and just sleepwalk. I must admit, it was nice not having to sprint to get to school before the door slams and you have to wait in line for a late pass, at least it would have been nice if I didn't forget the kids backpacks. How can you forget the kids backpacks, you ask? Have a six-year-old wake you up at 5:15am after only 2 hours sleep. So I ran back home and delivered the backpacks--glad to finally be on my own.

Thursdays are my day off from working at the rec center and it's the day I get most of my writing done. Today was my "Narcotics Anonymous" day. Many of you know, I've been writing a book for/about "The Kielbasa Queen" (Denise Peretti) who regularly appears on The Howard Stern Show. Anyway, she's spent many years trying to kick her crack addiction, so today I thought that I'd go to an N.A. meeting to get a better sense of addiction to better understand her struggle. I did an internet search to find a meeting, and in-between getting lost, not being able to find parking, and being a little bit afraid, I finally arrived at the meeting and explained to the moderator why I was there to see if he'd mind if I sat in. He took one look at me and said, "You know how you can tell when an addict's lying? Her lips keep moving." I laughed until I realized he was talking about me. "No, No, No..." I kept repeating. "I'm clean," I pleaded. "And I'm Jesus Christ," he said. He directed me to a seat where hanging on the wall was a mirror. I could see the reflection of an addict in it--then I realized that I was looking at my own reflection. "Holy Crap" I thought--"Look at me!" My hair was shoved into a cock-eyed ponytail, my eyes were heavy with having only had 2 hours sleep; my posture was slouched from exhaustion;I had no make-up on; and the clogs I was wearing had caused a huge blister to form on my foot and it was now bleeding. Also, I hadn't eaten anything but had drank 3 really big mugfuls of coffee and I was wired. I looked like I needed to score. The few people who were there looked upon me with pity and felt it necessary to congratulate me for coming. Their stories were horrible, their daily struggles unimaginable, and I did walk away with a sense of feeling grateful for my life and the phone number for a sponsor.

Next stop is visiting some of the strip clubs she's worked in. That should be a fun field trip! Right now, I need to get some sleep--5:15 comes around fast!