Is Sleep Overrated?

Monday’s Meme

How Do You Sleep?

1. How long do you sleep each night?
During the week, I sleep anywhere from 3-6 hours a night. Ugh. No wonder I sleep anywhere from 8-10 hours on the weekends. Can you say “poor sleep habits”?

2. Do you fall asleep easily?
Nope. Well, typically not. Sometimes I’m just so darned tired I fall asleep before Gil’s done with his hour of reading. Other times, I’m so darned tired I toss and turn until about midnight before caving. I often have to read to make my mind get lost in the story and forget everything else there is to think about. Gil has often taken a fallen book out of my hands and turned the light off for me.

3. Do you fall asleep at times not in your bed?
On the couch in the evening if I haven’t forced myself to go to bed by 9:00.

4. Do you listen to music or use “white noise” to sleep?
I used to have to listen to music; I would set a CD on repeat. Now there’s enough white noise in the sounds of my husband’s occasional snoring, the dogs shaking and rattling their tags at 3:00 in the morning, the sounds of living in the middle of a neighborhood with people driving and yelling outside, and a train tooting its horn at 4:00 in the morning, and sirens at all times of the day and night. Well, maybe that noise isn’t exactly “white”.

5. Do you sleep through the night or get up a couple of times?
I wake up frequently, usually 2-5 times a night, but never allow myself to get up. I don't wake from having to go to the bathroom until it's time to get up in the morning.

6. Do you have trouble sleeping away from your own bed?
No. I get so little sleep that to lay down anywhere for respite is a welcome.

7. Do you need an alarm clock to get you up?
Yes but unfortunately, sometimes, I fear sleeping through it so I unwillingly sleep light and wake often in order not to miss it going off. I also wake every time one of the furbabies starts moving around.

8. Do you ever take medication to help you sleep?
No. I won’t be able to function at all the following day if I do. When I’m sick, Ny.quil’s totally out of the question unless I take it on a Thursday night when I have a 3-day weekend ahead of me. At the request of my doctor, I tried a Tyl.enol PM once – just one pill, not the two she suggested – and couldn’t wake up the next day until after noon. I was a walking zombie until about dinnertime and was definitely ready to go back to sleep that night. The doc said that was the lightest and safest thing on the market. Don’t know why I react so strongly but it makes me fear taking anything to help, even herbal.

9. Do you/have you slept with pets?
Unless my furry husband is considered a pet, no. The husky furbabies do sleep on the floor of our bedroom, though. I have to be careful when I wake up at 4:30 in the morning to stumble into the bathroom… 1 small bedroom + 3 medium-sized dogs + bedroom furniture = no floor space and I run the risk of stepping on tails or noses.

"How Do You Sleep?" meme courtesy of Saturday 9.