Polyphasic sleep schedule Day Nine

Well, almost at the end of another day. I find it funny that I persist in thinking of it that way, when so many other people sleeping this way very quickly start to think about time in terms of an infinite, rolling concept rather than a segmented one. Perhaps it's because I used to get up at 6:30am, and now that's the end of a nap, so I still think of each day as separate and whole unto itself. At any rate, the difference between my waking state between 6:30am and 10am as opposed to between 2:30am and 6am is vast to say the least.

I often find that latter shift a real killer - even if I have a terrific, energised day, I'll wake up at 2:30am and feel like I've been gored by a bull, or best case I'll have to dunk my head in cold water and slap myself around every half hour or so to refrain from falling asleep. The past few nights however, I found a temporary solution - baking.

The people I live with tonight dubbed me the "Midnight Chef", which is both superfluously flattering and incorrect. I'm clearly not a chef, and I do my cooking experiments at around 3am, not midnight. They do seem to be enjoying turning up for breakfast and finding treats cooling on the kitchen bench. Tonight was my fourth attempt. This is what I've completed so far:

1. Chocolate chip cookies - the one thing I've baked numerous times before, and probably the worst of the four. I didn't leave them in the oven long enough and they were a little soft. They also seemed to give me a very mild heartburn when I ate them. I should note that this did not prevent me from eating them.
2. Raw chocolate balls - these are awesome little round things made of raw food and coated in desiccated coconut. Angie wrote a little recipe out for me before she went to sleep and it was ridiculously easy. Angie's sister Daniella asserted they were "the best chocolate balls I've ever had in my life."
3. Lemon tea cake - I just started getting cocky here, and it actually paid off. I remember sticking the skewer in when it was due to come out of the oven and realising it came out clean. I couldn't believe it, and so reenacted the shower scene from Psycho, refusing to believe I could have actually pulled a cake off. Despite not coating it in syrup in the proper and timely manner due to an unfortunate clash of coating and nap, it was still really good. I just had another piece now to confirm it.
4. Chocolate beetroot cake - I hate beetroot. I always have and I suspect there's a good chance I always will. The smell sickens me, the texture disgusts me, the stains it leaves on everything it touches actually amuses me. But Angie has made this a couple of times and I swear it is one of the tastiest cakes in the world. I am also aware that beetroot is a super healthy vegetable, so I thought I'd give this one a go tonight. My cake mix looked pretty red, enough so that I kept checking I hadn't chopped a finger off into the bowl. I've just put it in the oven now, and it should be ready to come out when I get out of my 6am nap.

 I'm normally so uncomfortable in the kitchen, but there's something counteracting that in the wee hours of the morning. It may be the music or lectures I crank as loud as I dare, and the knowledge that nobody's going to walk in to see me singing into an egg whisk. It could be the sleep deprivation numbing me from my usual kitchen phobias. I don't really know, but I do know I'm quite enjoying myself, and it's one way to get through those 2-6am doldrums.