Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Sun Lite for March 29, 2004

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, March 29, 2004 | 8:11 a.m.

Sound the alarm clocks

At this time next week, don't be surprised to find your groggy, sluggish self shlepping around the office. It's a scenario bound to play out at workplaces across this great land, given that April 5 will be the first workday after we've "sprung forward" an hour in honor of Daylight Saving Time on Sunday and, coincidentally, will have lost 60 precious minutes of sleep the night before.

At least you won't be alone in your slumber-deprived misery. According to numbers provided by the makers of Maxwell House coffee, 91 percent of Americans report feeling "cheated, disoriented and tired" as a result of the lost sleep (yet they'll still be allowed to operate heavy machinery go figure!).

How to fix the bleary-eyed blues? Some 50 percent of people say they'd rather clock in at work an hour later on Monday like the Boss Man/Woman is going to let that happen. Dream on, desk nappers.

Button down the hatches

Of course, Sunlite's easier-said-than-done advice is to simply hit the hay a bit early on Sunday night and avoid the exhaustion. After all, when you're well rested, you're better prepared to take on the world and support important causes like crusading to keep Martha Stewart out of the slammer.

Case in point: Sharon Young. We figure the Smithville, Mo., resident got up pretty early in the morning to beat other capitalists to the punch by creating "The Martha Stewart Debacle" line of campaign buttons that are sold on Young's website, www.PoliticalShop.com.

The limited-edition, 3-inch-round buttons ($5 each) come in several designs, sporting such slogans as "Martha ... She's a Good Thing" and "I Still Love Martha" and "Don't Cook Martha's Goose" against plaid, cross-stitch, doily, faux-print and striped backgrounds. Young is aware she's probably "swimming against the tide" of public opinion, but says, "As a businesswoman, I am inspired" by Stewart.

Egg-cellent idea

Felony convictions aside, here's hoping some youngsters have also gained inspiration from Stewart at least in terms of her craft creations and are able to transfer that energy onto their Easter-egg creations this year.

Food-dye maker McCormick is sponsoring its Egg-citing Easter in Washington, D.C., contest, asking kids under age 18 to put some imagination into their egg-coloring escapades this holiday. One grand-prize winner (selected based on the "creative use of color," originality and with the child's age in mind) and his/her family will be awarded a trip to the nation's capitol to take part in the 2005 Easter-egg roll on the South Lawn of the White House.

Contest entry forms are available at www.mccormick.com. Along with a color photo of the decorated egg and a supermarket receipt proving the purchase of a McCormick food-color product, entries are due by April 30 in care of the contest, P.O. Box 6724, Saddlebrook, NJ 07663.