Monday, December 08, 2008

Sleep Quiz

Morning! It's kind of fun -- my gmail theme is "beach" and it is timed with the hours in the day, and it has the sun just beginning to rise. :-)

It's WINDY outside... really, really windy. I'm a bit afraid that parts of the house have blown off. It makes it absolutely miserable to be outside -- I'd say that the winds are about 30 mph with gusts up to 50 - 60 mph!! Poor Dakota... times like these, it must be the pits to have your bathroom in the great outdoors.

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I know I normally do the Monday Morning Meme, but I couldn't answer some of the questions... really... I COULDN'T. Not one answer came to mind, so I stole something else from Karen's blog instead.

Since sleep has been much on my mind of late, this seemed very timely:

1. How long do you sleep each night?

How long DO I sleep? Or how long would I sleep if something didn't wake me up?

I sleep about six hours a night, when I'm lucky. I really need eight hours, and eventually lack of sleep will catch up with me and I'll go to bed at about 5 p.m. to play catch-up.

If I was in a quiet hotel room somewhere, and completely by myself? I'd sleep a good eight hours, easy. Oh well, it's not to be.

2. Do you fall asleep easily?

Mostly. But that's in great part due to the fact that I don't get enough sleep, so I'm absolutely wiped out by about 8 p.m. every night. I suspect it's less "sleep" than "unconscious". Back in the day when I was ... yanno... single and childless, I did have many times I struggled with insomnia.

3. Do you fall asleep at times not in your bed?

Not if I don't intend to. If I cross off those times I curl up on the couch on purpose, then... nope. We don't have a TV in our room (don't even have a cable outlet) and I don't watch much TV anyway, so don't fall asleep in front of the tube.

4. Do you listen to music or use “white noise” to sleep?

I can't sleep to music with words. At all. Ever. My brain GRABS the words and won't stop thinking about them. Quiet, synthesized music sometimes works, and in the summer we have the fan in the window, but to be honest, I prefer nothing at all.

5. Do you sleep through the night or get up a couple of times?

Okay... here's some TMI for you: I have a bladder the size of a pea. So, yeah, I get up at least once. That's when someone or something else doesn't wake me. My night usually goes something like this: bed at nine. DH wakes me up at eleven when he comes to bed. Dakota has to potty at midnight. Dakota has to potty and/or vomit at 3:30 a.m. Cat yowls at 4:30 (yes, even when I put her in the basement -- she has quite a set of vocal chords), and I get up. So, yeah -- I'm in bed 7 1/2 hours, but don't sleep but half or so.

Lately, I've taken to sleeping on the couch after Dakota wakes me up the last time, because the cat will come over and curl up with me (and the dog... and no, it's not a big couch, lol) and NOT wake me up yowling at 4:30 a.m.

Sometimes, too, I'll crash in the spare bedroom so I don't get awakened by DH ... a Dakota sleeps better in there, too. Those are the nights that I play "catch up".

6. Do you have trouble sleeping away from your own bed?

Nope.

7. Do you need an alarm clock to get you up?

Nope. Not the electric kind anyway... I have plenty of other stuff to wake me up! LOL... I haven't set the alarm in forever.

8. Do you ever take medication to help you sleep?

Not anymore. Back in my single, insomniac days I occasionally took Dramamine to sleep. Yes, really. That stuff totally knocks me out, which is a shame because I get motion sickness, but can't use anything or I'm gone. No point in boating when I sleep through it all.

9. Do you/have you slept with pets?

LOL... you guys know the answer to that! I've slept with critters my entire life -- cats, dogs... even my rat (yes, really -- though not often, he preferred his cage and cats didn't like to share). Back in my single years, ALL of my cats slept with me (at once point I had four). When Bailey got too old to jump up on the bed, she slept on a dog bed beside us, but that was the only time I can remember not having a pet to snooze with.


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I was going to get to Agway and finish my shopping, but I'm not going anywhere in this wind! So, DD and I will do massive amounts of baking instead -- and she can do school while stuff cooks. Cookies and fudge are on the menu -- several varieties of both.

Yum.

Do you bake for friends and family at Christmas?

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6 comments:

Ceri Hebert said...

My DH has to have noise in the room at night. During the summer its an a/c, in cooler weather it's a white noise machine and in the winter its a humidifier. I prefer to sleep with no noise or some relaxing music. Luckily with his shift I can get the quiet as we generally only spend 3 out of 7 nights a week sleeping at the same time.

No, I don't bake for people. Occasionally I'll make a cheesecake and share with my mom. That's the only decent thing I can come up with.

I haven't noticed any wind here in my part of the state. Hmmm...

Keri Mikulski said...

Yes, I love to bake cookies. Urgh. Sleep. So different since I had my daughter. :)

Dru said...

I can get by with at least 4-5 hours of solid sleep. It has to be completely dark in the room for me to sleep with no noise whatsoever and I sleep through the night. Nothing will awaken me when I'm in deep sleep mode and I get up fully awake without a need for an alarm clock.

It's 19 degrees here with wind blowing between 47-50 mph.

I bake for me and it's normally cookies which is simplier than baking cakes.

Have a great Monday baking.

I just love the aroma of baking throughout the house.

Jennifer Shirk said...

Your sleep pattern sounds like my hubby's. Sometimes I wonder if he's a vampire and sleeps at all. He's awake when I go to bed and up before I get up. LOL!

I bake cookies for the friends and family. Once in while some pumpkin or cranberry bread, too.

Brandy said...

Do you mind if I feel bad for you? Good grief! I'd be exhausted with your sleep schedule.
Thanks to thyroid hades my sleep pattern has changed,requiring more sleep than I've ever needed. I sleep with the ceiling fan (low in the winter) and soothing music, to drown out the sound of hubs breathing and my cat snoring. *G*

As for baking? I bake all year and share with the neighbors. *G* Especially my kids friends as their mom doesn't bake.

I hope you are having a good day and feeling rested!

Melissa McClone said...

I woke up at 2 am and could not fall back asleep. And I was exhausted. My dog loved it however. She just wanted to be rubbed.

I just got back from Target and bought an assortment of cookie decorations/candies/sparkles. I can't wait to get baking. But first I must get the house decorated. I love to give cookies and fudge out to people. Friends, family, whoever!