Call Me, But Do It Before Midnight

It's 11:31 p.m., I could take my sleep meds right now and still be on schedule. The deal is that I go into the sleep clinic every once in a while to get hooked up with fifty million wires so they can monitor my brain wave patterns as I sleep and when I wake. While there I take my meds at 11:30 p.m. and then its lights out at midnight. It was determined that, on average, I go to bed around midnight or shortly thereafter. And so I try to follow that pattern as closely as possible when I'm at home. If I decide to go to bed at 10 p.m. then I could also take the meds a half hour before, but the trick is to take them everyday when I know that I can get at least 7-8 hours of sleep. I missed last night because of the brownies.

I think it might also help if people stopped calling me at night. I guess that would be easier for them to understand if I didn't answer the phone but when my children call from the west coast, if I'm awake it's only right for me to answer the phone and see what they want. I'm always curious though when someone local calls me. My mind thinks the worst at first, like someone got hurt, there's an emergency and I need to get dressed and rush down to the hospital. I'm usually relieved to find that nothing is wrong. On the other hand, they knew I was awake so they wanted to catch me before I went to sleep. They need to find out what my schedule for the next day is because it fills up fast, even when I have nothing planned.

There was a study that revealed people retained more of the information they learned if they took a nap afterwards. Well, that's not the case with me, I'll still forget whatever it was I was told. Half the time I look at my caller ID, call that person and ask them what we talked about. Anyhow, it's now five minutes to midnight. I just got off the phone with my oldest child who needed information from me. This information would require me to go to my files, which are in the other room and dig through things to find what they needed. One, it's too late at night for me to care. Two, it's not urgent enough for me to stress myself out trying to find said information. Three, I don't want to do it anyway so my motivation is nil.

It's time for me to turn off the radio now. Lionel Richie is singing to me, telling me how close he wants to be to me...he wants me to take his hand. ;-) Time for me to take my dinner plate and rinse it off. Brush my teeth, take the pill I should have taken 30 minutes ago and climb into bed. If anyone calls I won't be quick to answer. I'm sleeping or trying to people. Help me out.

Girls with Hair & Me...Oh my!

Today started out okay, seeing as how I didn't go to bed until some time after 4 a.m. I woke the kids one by one, starting with the one who is the hardest to get moving. There was a kid in every room. Showers were taken, teeth brushed, and clothes put on. Things were going smoothly until it was time for the girls to do their hair. I always groan when it comes to that part.

Not only does it take forever for them to decide what style to wear their hair in, often the chaos of those decisions are evidenced by the things left behind. My bathroom sink, which really can only hold the toothbrush holder, the rinse cup and the liquid soap dispenser, is often overrun with hair care products. Spritz, oil sheen, combs, brushes, rubber bands, head bands and any other number of things that perch precariously on the edge of the counter. Things that can't find any available space on the counter might end up on the floor next to the sink or bath tub. Did I mention that my apartment is very small? My bathroom accommodates two people very uncomfortably, unless that other person is standing in the bathtub.

If only it would end there...the hair things spills from the bathroom and ends up in my room, their room, the living room and EEK!, the dining area. Ugh. That sends me on a rampage of the major league kind. But do they care? Heck no, all I get are looks, sighs and the response of "Mom, I'm gonna get it, just chill." My once clean and somewhat tidy apartment then looks as if it were invaded by aliens disguised as hair care products bottles, can, jars and whatnot's (my own version of Decepticons). It takes a while before I can unclench my jaw as I try to take deep breaths through my teeth. They call it OCD, I call it keeping stuff contained to one area, and especially out of areas where people eat.

So anyway, after all of that and them picking up after themselves ever so enthusiastically, we got out of the house 15 minutes later than we needed to be. I tried my best not to drive down the highway like a mad woman because I talk about drivers like that. I'm doing my best not to be the kind of driving I rag on. We make it to the appointment 6 minutes late and once I kick everyone out of my vehicle at the door, then go park, I can finally breathe normally.

Can you believe after all of that they still didn't finish what they had planned to do for their hairstyles? When we get back to my place they intend to break out the curling irons, flat irons, straightening combs and all the things I had fussed about before. I think I will take that opportunity to take a walk with my nephew. We can go to the local library or park. Anywhere, as long as there aren't any girls there doing hair.

Still Awake...Not good.

I figured I'd be asleep by now. I had no intentions on being up at this hour and yet here I am. But I'm determined that I won't see the sun rise. Like a vampire, it's not a welcome sight. ;-p

I couldn't take my sleep meds because I ate like, five brownies that my daughter made for dessert. I don't usually do chocolate but I do have a weakness for brownies. It's a good thing they didn't have nuts in them because I probably would have eaten half the pan. I can't even say this is insomnia at this point. I really believe that I'm choc full of caffiene and who can I blame? Only myself, because had I not messed around earlier, I would have had a nice cup of decaf and that would have quelched any desire to eat the brownies; or so that's what I'm telling myself.

So here I go. I'm going to drink a little water and go lie down for about what, five or six hours? Even without an alarm I'm going to wake up a few minutes before 8 a.m., so that's about right. It's a good thing my first appointment for the day isn't until 2 p.m., I can't imagine having to drag my sorry behind out of the house before noon at this rate.

I have started yawning in the past ten minutes so I must be getting sleepy. I read an article that yawning doesn't necessarily mean boredom or being tired. It can also be a sign of arousal. I kid you not. I read it in a magazine, it has to be out there on the net somewhere. I can't really see that in my case though. I mean, I was thinking about someone but for Bob's sake, it's 3:25 a.m. and there's absolutely nothing I can do about seeing that special someone so I'm gonna say I must be excited about going to bed.

Once again, goodnight and pleasant dreams. ;-)

C'mon is it really an addiction if I like it?

I have a pain in my neck and I would suppose that it's from sitting in front of this computer for the past few hours. I got caught up playing a game, then someone starting instant messaging me (that made me fall behind in the game). Then it was time to eat dinner and I got a phone call and then people decided to chat online with me. I guess I could have ignored them, but I was happy to hear from them. I decided to continue playing the game and even gave my uninterested niece and daughters some pointers on how to successfully win at the game. I was so into it that I forgot to make myself coffee before it got too late in the day.

So let's talk about addictions. I don't do drugs although I did enjoy taking my friend Vic Odin for a while when I had hurt myself moving. I'm not an alcoholic, don't particularly care for chocolate or shopping and I'm not a sex addict either. But you have to understand that I really love coffee. When I was younger I couldn't understand why my grandfather would drink it all the time. Morning, noon and night I remember him drinking coffee. Once he gave me a sip and I did not like it at all! Now I can't understand why anyone wouldn't like coffee. If I don't have coffee I feel like something is missing from my life. Doesn't really matter if it's regular or decaf, I love the flavor. I'm a DD fan, Dunkin Donuts baby! Toasted almond with two creams and three sugars is my favorite. Two cups a day is all I need, on those really stressful days, maybe I'll have three.

My real addiction is to a certain FB game (Facebook). I love this particular game, I think of strategies as soon as my mind is clear enough. That's usually after a few sips of coffee in the morning. I can't wait to touch my keyboard and mouse to play it, I check it like a school girl waiting for a phone call from a boy she has a crush on. Some of the language I use when I find out that my butt has been kicked is very similar to the language I use when I'm on the road and some idiot driver does something that makes me wonder how they even got a license. I've been given "the look" several times by both friends and family when I mention the game. I was thrilled to find out I could follow it on Twitter and I actually look forward to decimating as many players as I can. I have a Napoleon complex in this game, doesn't matter how big you are, I'll still pick a fight with you.

My confession, if you can call it that because its no secret to those who really know me, is that I've even convinced my children to sign up so that they can help me. I harass my family and friends to join my group online so that I can gain more money and move up levels. (I'm under M Kristen Troy, if you want to look me up and add me as a friend...put VC in the request and I'll send you an invite for the game.) I've even asked friends of theirs to join me, it never hurts to ask, right? I suppose I ought to be ashamed of myself but I figure its better than drinking and not as bad for my health. Maybe a little harsh on my eyes but that's why I turned down the brightness on my screen and my bifocals work just fine when I wear them.

Well folks, it's past my bedtime now. I have appointments in the afternoon, I have three teenage girls and one 8 year old boy that I have to contend with in the morning. Seeing as how I can't seem to drag myself out of bed before 9 a.m., it'll be fun trying to get them up and at 'em. My insomnia seems to have eased up, I don't stay awake until the sun rises anymore, but I still wake up two or three times during the night and wake up a few minutes before 8. I have family and friends that like to call or text me first thing in the morning and I have to keep reminding them that I'm not really coherent so any questions or answers I may have or give will be subject to review.

So that's my post for this evening. I'll try to do better tomorrow. Goodnight and pleasant dreams.