another "chronicles" excerpt

Thursday, January 6
S. didn’t snore at all last night, but tonight all I hear is his breathing. I have one more day of work before the weekend and all I can think about is all the things that I have planned, how there will never be enough time for it all so that I can relax before Monday comes again. On this swirling list I have included things that have been left standing for months, like canceling the credit cards I cut up three years ago but are still out there as accounts, floating there.
Why is the house so quiet? Usually there are many sounds, like either the dishwasher or the laundry machine running, or both. Or the heat is usually on, but I guess it has not kicked in this week because it is so warm outside.
Why can’t I be happy that tomorrow is Friday?
And why is the breathing all I hear?
I have latched onto this sound and only this sound, and know that it’s over. I will have to sleep in the other room, and the most annoying part is that the bed in there has plates and miscellaneous other breakable crap that I plan to sell on Ebay over the next few months or so. And it is dark, and even if it weren’t dark, I still wouldn’t be able to see. But there are mere hours left in which to sleep.
"I’m going to have to go in the other room," I announce loudly, in a huff.
Poor S. starts and says, "What? Why? What’s the matter."
"You’re breathing," I accuse him. "It’s all I can hear."
I snatch my pillows, the alarm clock, and slam the door to the other room. The plates come down off the bed, crashing into a heap. I am such a bitch, a klutzy bitch.
And the next day I wake up, for a minute thinking I am in the Right Bed, the one with my snoring husband who I love, but then I remember that I’m not, and that I’ll have to apologize for being such a jackass, because I really should.
"I’m sorry," I say, as I lay across him. The dogs lay on other side of him, his morning harem.
"It’s okay," he says. "In a few years, it’ll be one of those noises and you won’t be able to sleep without it."
"Like train tracks, or airplanes?"
"Exactly."
Hmmm.