Sleep

Oh, how I miss it.  I used to sleep like a rock.

I don't have a problem falling asleep.  I pretty much fall into bed each night and close my eyes on the way down.  But, the next thing I know, it's 1am.  Then 2am.  Then 3.

Each night is different.  The worst are the nights where I just feel like I lay awake all night long.  When we were in Charleston for 2 nights last month, that's how I slept both nights.  Just waiting for it to be light out.  I'm not surprised that it happened when I was away from home, but I have nights like that at home, too.

Other nights, I'll just wake up at random times during the night.  I go back to sleep pretty quickly, I think. But I used to totally be able to tell the difference between a night where I'd woken and nights where I slept through.  (I don't have a good "control" any more.)

On average, I'd say I wake up 3 times a night.

For a while, I blamed the mattress.  When we "upgraded" to a king and got a new mattress, I hated it within a few months.  I still hate it, but I don't think that's the cause of my restlessness.

Of course, I don't know what the cause is.  Yes, the girls still sometimes come in at night.  But usually they go to Greg first (because he's closer to the door).  Sometimes they'll come to me, but it's not a direct correlation with my sleepless nights.

I blame my mental lapses on lack of sleep.  It's not forgetfulness - it's more things like not being able to find the right word.  Getting halfway through a sentence and having to stop and remember what I wanted to say.  Wanting to just sit and stare into space (or at the tv).

I run out of steam physically around 9 or so these days, usually once the girls have gone to sleep.  I'm usually up until 11 or midnight.  Get out of bed again between 6:45 and 7:15.

I don't want to sleep through smoke detectors (or worse, screaming children who wake other children, who then begin screaming), but oh, to get a full night's sleep.  I can't remember the last time.