What a difference some sleep makes

Oh, feeling so, so much better. Suddenly life seems manageable again. I've been doing yoga. Tonight is the last night of private investigator class for this quarter, and I cranked out my long-delayed final paper in a single evening last night. I'm getting my job done, though my listlessness last week is going to exact its price this week.

I pretty much have two bosses at my current interim executive gig, both of whom are wonderful men, sharp as whips to boot. It's funny, I think of myself as preferring to work for women, and at my last few jobs as an employee I worked for women - but as an interim executive I've now worked for five different board chairs, all of them men, each of them a genuine joy to work for.

One of my current bosses I've known for a number of years and he has a certain no-nonsense, big-brother quality that I find reassuring. "You want me to kick that guy's ass for you? 'Cause I'll kick his ass, if you want me to." No, thanks, I'm a big girl and I can take care of business - but I do appreciate the sentiment.

The other one is a Texan whose easy-going style can at first mask his very keen intelligence. It's a lovely combination to work for. Yesterday he asked me how I was feeling about the big deadline this week in preparation for next week's board meeting.

"I'm fine," I said, thinking of the lost hours I spent last week in a sleep-deprived fog, "but I will admit, this is one of those times when I wish the world could just stand still for one day while I keep going, so I can catch up."

"Oh, my," he replied, "If the world stood still for a day and left you to do whatever you wanted - there are much better things you could do with that gift than work." True enough. Isn't that a great boss?