THE CURE FOR INSOMNIA

Well I haven't written in awhile. Seems like life has been busy. Of course I had to do my taxes last Tuesday. I will have you know that I was actually done Sunday night but had to double check a number with our human resource person. So I totally finished Tuesday night and it wasn't even near midnight. Four hours early for your information. I had the best intentions of finishing them months early, but you know, life happens, and it's always more exciting than doing taxes. BTW, I'm very excited to be getting 3x as much as I usually get.

This weekend, I inadvertently had a 3 day weekend. I would say I woke up sick Friday morning, but that would imply that I actually slept. I rarely get insomnia. I can fall asleep within minutes and sleep like a baby any time of day or night. In fact sleepiness has been a real problem for me lately. So it was weird to hit the hay Thursday night, feel exhausted, and have my eyelids rebel. They were wide awake, as was my mind. Couldn't shut it off. It was one of those predicaments.....Do I stay here in bed in hopes that I'll finally drift off, or do I get up and do something productive? Here's what I tried...

• 15 minutes of laying awake worrying about stuff. I don't advise this.
• 20 minutes of reading my book until I felt so sleepy I couldn't stand it. Turned off light and was suddenly wide awake. Guess I should have finished the book while I was on a roll.
• 15 minutes of doing a crossword puzzle. I do love these, but I tend to do them at night when I'm sleepy and I usually can't finish one (b/c I'm sleepy, not b/c I'm stupid....though I will say I'm not at my brightest when I'm tired. It's amazing how many skipped answers I'll go back and get right off the bat when I have my full faculties). That didn't work.
• Another hour or so of laying awake, knowing that Murphy's law says that insomniacs usually fall asleep right before the alarm goes off. (Shoot. I didn't try setting my alarm for 10 minutes later....next time.) Gave myself an ultimatum. If still awake at 2:30, it's time to pull out the big guns and move to the couch.
• Moved to the couch. Watching TV when I'm sleepy always does the trick. Let's just say I finished the entire first season of Lost, using up all my Netflix discs I had intended to watch over the weekend.
• Decided around 3 that I probably would not be going to work Friday. Thought maybe with the pressure off I could get some sleep......that didn't work. As Murphy predicted, I fell asleep somewhere between 5:30 and 6. The alarm went off shortly after 6. There was no question at that point that I was unfit to drive 40 minutes in the car, let alone deal with screaming kids.

Wouldn't you know it, I slept like a baby off and on for most of the day. Turns out I think I had a bad reaction to some herbal tea.

Maybe next time I should try some reverse psychology on myself. I tried everything that usually puts me to sleep. So perhaps I should have tried everything counter-intuitive to falling asleep. I could have started with a 2 liter of Mountain Dew. I could have turned the air conditioning on full blast, started exercising, sung along with the radio and called a friend and chatted (any volunteers?....gotta be a good conversationalist so it will keep me awake). Just my luck it would work like a charm, I'd drift off into sweet slumber with nary a care, dreaming of kittens and bunnies when my bladder would wake me up screaming from all the Mt. Dew. That would be a rude awakening.

But I digress....The rest of the weekend was pretty good. I did the exciting and glamorous things that I'm sure all you married folks did when you were single and free.....You know, stuff like reorganizing your files, cleaning house, sitting around moping. Nah, I didn't really mope, but there were a few unproductive moments. Went to dinner and a movie at the cheap theater and even stayed out until 10:00! Whewee! Such a rebel.

Today after church I went over to my parents. We had my brother's 40th birthday celebration. Hard to believe he's going to be 40 within the week. That means I'm not too far behind. That just doesn't seem possible. Forty is supposed to be old. Let me tell you, it's looking younger every day. My uncle from Colorado was in town, so it was good to catch up with him. On the way home, I swung by and got my friend Michelle who was in town from Georgia. We sat and visited for a bit. (Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you her story. It's interesting and ironic all at the same time.) Spent a little time with her and then had people showing up for life group. By the time I went to dinner with a friend and wrapped up a few things here at the house, here I am wondering (as I do every Sunday night) where my weekend went.