These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens . . .

Photo by P. Rickrode

Photo by P. Rickrode (my Fatso when he was a wee lump of fur)

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For No Reason At All

Do you ever wake up at night and wonder why in the heck you woke up? I sure do. Quite often. A couple of nights ago, my eyes were closed, it was dark, I thought I was asleep but it dawned on me that I was thinking random weird thoughts and wondering why in the world a certain odd song was playing over and over in my head, followed by “and why in the heck am I even awake?”

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Midnight Ramblings Of An Incurable Insomniac

Image courtesy Google Images

By now it’s no secret that I suffer from insomnia. I’ve blogged about it before, not too long ago in fact. Yes, I avoid excessive caffeine and alcohol after a certain hour of the day, I don’t overeat, I avoid excitement and video games before bedtime, I drink warm milk and swallow Valerian Root capsules, but none of that seems to work for me. I’ve simply come to accept the fact that sleeping is overrated and I do my best to make the most of those dark quiet hours when the rest of the world slumbers.

Morning conversations at my house usually start with something like, “How did you sleep?” And me responding with, “I didn’t,” or “Not very well.” One day last week, my hubby asked, “What do you think about while you’re laying there awake?” I responded with, “Nothing really. I just keep telling myself to go to sleep.”

But that’s not really how it is. It’s really more like what happened one night last week, Tuesday to be precise. I decided, as I lay there awake listening to the dog snore and the heating unit click on and off, that maybe if I could go to some remote awesome place in my mind, I might drift off into la la land.

Photo courtesy Google Images

The journey went something like this: I walked barefoot in the warm sand along the beach of my private island. Then I spent several, what felt like hours, mentally visiting every island I could conjure. I settled upon Fantasy Island and decided that from there I would build a raft and sail off to The Big Rock Candy Mountain aboard the Goodship Lollipop I’d created with nothing more than palm fronds and my own superior ingenuity.

Photo courtesy Google Images

Things were going well, but as I attempted to row, row, row my boat gently down the stream, the weather started getting rough and my tiny ship was tossed. I started regretting my decision to sail, wishing instead that we all did live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine. But then I remembered how I much I really do not like being under the water. Although . . .

I certainly wouldn’t mind being under the sea, as I hear they have a hot crustacean band and rumor has it they’ve got no troubles and life is the bubbles under the sea. Bubbles? Tiny bubbles. They make me happy, make me feel fine, make me warm all over. Tiny bubbles in the red, red wine, stay close to me, just one thing makes me forget – which makes me wonder if perhaps I’d be sleeping right this very minute if I had in fact had a glass of wine.

Photo courtesy Google Images

I never found out because as dawn broke over the horizon I realized, too late, that I should never have planned to leave Fantasy Island in the first place.

And so goes another sleepless night with an explanation to my husband that I don’t think about anything, because that’s just so much easier than telling him about my fantastical journey. I’ll let him read about it in this blog.

Does your mind ever wander into strange territory? Do you make up weird stories in the middle of the night? Please share so I don’t feel so freakish and alone in my midnight musings.

Word of the Day:  Zarf

Fun Fact About me: I have double-jointed toes.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, February 2015. Photos and images courtesy Google Images.

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Napping – Friend or Foe?

Naps. Babies take lots of them. Old folks take them. Lots of people take them and often refer to them as power naps.

Image courtesy Google Images.

I’ve never been one to nap unless I’m sick. Not that I haven’t wanted or tried to nap, it just doesn’t work for me. Many times, I’ve wanted to close my eyes and catch a few minutes of sleep. But, you see, it usually takes me about half an hour to simply fall asleep. If I only have 15 minutes in which to rest my eyes, I won’t fall asleep, I’ll just look like this.

Photo courtesy Google Images

I’ve never figured out how people can fall asleep so quickly. Or sleep with commotion going on around them. I have to have quiet for about half an hour before my body realizes that it should sleep. Even if I were lucky enough to fall asleep within that 30 minutes, I wouldn’t look like this while I peacefully nap.

Photo courtesy Google Images.

Nope, I’d look more like this:

Photo courtesy Google Images.

Yup, I’d be sprawled all over the bed, drooling or snoring, or both. It would not be pretty. And if I were to sleep longer than 20 minutes, instead of waking up refreshed, I’d pretty much be a zombie; sluggish and irritable. On the contrary, if I were to sleep longer than 20 minutes during the daylight hours, then you can pretty much guarantee that I’d be awake all night.

Photo courtesy Google Images.

Naps have always been curses for me and that pisses me off because I so often wish I could take a cute, little nap and wake feeling refreshed and perky until well past 8:00 p.m., when I really start longing for my pajamas and bed and dark and quiet.

How about you dear readers – are you nappers? Can you grab a few minutes of shut-eye in the middle of the day and still get a good night’s sleep? I’d love to know your secrets.

Word of the Day: Yaupon

Fun fact about me: I try to get at least 7 hours of sleep every single night.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, January 2015. Photos courtesy Google Images.

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Insomnia Sucks!

Photo courtesy Google Images

For the most part, I have been blessed with good health. Unlike a lot of people, I suffer from very few maladies and the couple that do plague me are easily managed. As I’ve gotten older; however, I’ve been bothered more and more regularly by a horrible condition known as insomnia.

Photo courtesy Google Images

I read up on this condition and tried to pay attention to the events immediately preceding its onslaught. I try to avoid all of the “bad” things you’re supposed to stay away from before bed: too much caffeine, too much sugar, eating too late, too much alcohol, too much excitement, blah, blah, blah. Nothing seems to make a difference. The only thing I can really blame for this bothersome condition is the dreaded “M” word. No – not marriage, although that does play a role in this condition from time to time. I’m referring to (cue scary music) menopause.

Photo courtesy Google Images

My doctor prescribed sleeping pills for those nights when dreaming seems to be an ideal rather than a reality, but I hate having to resort to chemical aids just to get a good night’s sleep. No matter how weary I am when I crawl into bed, at least twice a week or more, I wake up after a couple of hours and proceed to lay there – wide awake – thinking of everything under the sun whether it’s relative to my life or not. And it’s like my brain is on speed because I can’t even stay focused on any one topic. I flit from one subject to another faster than Mario Andretti ever crossed a finish line. It’s like the worst case of ADD imaginable.

Photo courtesy Google Images

I try not to complain, especially since there are so many worse afflictions that I could have, but after three sleepless nights in a row, I’m about ready to strangle someone. Seriously, how long does this insomnia phase last? I’m so ready for it to be over.

How do you, my lovely readers, deal with insomnia? Any tricks or suggestions for getting back to sleep? If I wake up after midnight I have to decide – soon – whether to take a pill or not. If I take one of those magic sleeping pills after about one o’clock in the morning, I’m useless until, at the very least, noon the following day. That’s not possible when I’m expected to show up at a professional office at nine o’clock looking fresh as a daisy and ready to put on my happy “let’s solve your problems today,” face. Most mornings I just look like this:

Photo courtesy Google Images

Do you ever suffer from insomnia? What’s your cure? I’d love to know. I thought about even trying this:

Until next week, here’s hoping you all have peaceful nights with lots of quality REM sleep. Sweet dreams!

Word of the Day: Obeah

Fun fact about me: I recently discovered that I’m quite proficient at corn hole. Who knew?

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, June 2014. Photos courtesy Google Images. Video courtesy YouTube.

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