Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Insomnia! Arrrgh!



Oh my gosh. I am having the worst insomnia.

I have no idea how I'll function tomorrow. And be halfway nice, that is.

I think I have too much going on and I just can't settle down.

We go to Canada in THREE WEEKS, and I'm so not ready. We have water polo tournaments for TWO kids for the next THREE weekends, and two of the tourneys are out of town. I So Don't Do Mysteries comes out in FIVE MONTHS (on Wednesday!), and I still haven't done anything about a proper website. Or a launch party. Or bookmarks. I still have touch-up painting to do. At least I managed to buy a cute little brush this evening. I have boatloads of bills to pay. I'm supposed to meet my exercise partner at the gym in THREE HOURS. There's no way. With so little sleep, I'll be even less coordinated than usual and would topple off the treadmill, necessitating a trip to the ER. Which I don't have time for. And I have a new book that I wanted to get started on. It won't get out of my head. And I keep forgetting about the two-hands-free thing. So, I'm breaking the law by answering my cell while driving. Poor Child #4; I'm driving (no pun intended) her nuts. Plus, I don't want the $97 ticket. Yes, I have a blue tooth (thank you, dh), but it hasn't left the kitchen counter.

And then there are those darling children who are home for the summer and want to have fun. And I don't want to blow it off because, well, I'll never get this summer back again.

See. No one could sleep with all that going on.

Wednesday on this blog: a interview between KELLY Couric and Teri Brown, 2k8 debut YA author of Read My Lips. There'll be a giveaway of an unsigned copy of the book.

Next Monday on this blog: I'm filling in for Travis Erwin who's taking off for fun times in Vegas. So, I'll be coordinating My Town Monday. Any of you interested in posting about your town (you can look at my My Town Monday posts and/or check out Travis' and/or the links to some really fun hometown posts), let me know you did so in the comments of NEXT Monday's post here, and I'll link to you.

Off to do Tooth Fairy duties. Child #4 lost a tooth at the fair. Then, I'll try a mug of warm milk. Wish me luck.

27 comments:

  1. Ugh. Sleeplessness. I hope you were able to catch some zzzs eventually :(

    Heidi

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  2. Sorry to hear about the insomnia.. But, on the bright side, lots of time to write. :) Sending bunches of zzz's your way.

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  3. no fun with no zzzzzzzs :(

    wake up the ol man for some nookies, maybe you still won't sleep, but at least you'll feel less tired :O lol

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  4. I didn't sleep well last night either & I just keep looking at the word verification thinking "that's almost a word", osoimpq is not even close. I feel your pain.

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  5. oh man, not sleeping is the worse. I hope things get better soon.

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  6. Good grief! With all that going on, it's no wonder you can't sleep. Sending you lots of zzzzs :-)

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  7. harried schedule or not i've been haunted by insomnia since elementary school. it sucks. here's relaxation technique my HS therapist gave me. i still do it from time to time and it does help at least relieve the overall tension so i can relax.

    lay on your back, arms and legs straight, and starting with your lower legs, start squeezing all of your muscles as tight as you can, keep contracted moving up your body until you are squeezing every muscle right up to your head as tight as possible, hold for a 10 seconds and relax....repeat as many times as necessary.

    you'll feel a total body relaxtion if you squeeze really hard. although, i skip my feet because i get cramps in my arches. if anything, you'll feel really super relaxed and comfortable.

    hope that helps!!

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  8. Oh, I so know how this feels. I wish I'd been awake at 1:30 to post back. I hate insomnia.

    The only thing I have found that works is a hot bath with a light book. I think its because the book is the only thing that pushes (for long enough) all the anxieties out of your brain, so the hot water can let you relax. THe trick is getting yourself into that bath early enough (or giving up on getting to sleep without it early enough!) so you can get some sleep afterward.

    Hope your day wasn't TOO hard.

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  9. I can see why you can't sleep. This is the only time I get insomnia, which is very rare for me, but when I've got a million things on my mind. try to get a few minutes in for yourself, a little relaxation. And remember, it'll be over soon.

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  10. I know exactly you how feel. I just blogged about this exact thing. Insomnia just hit me suddenly recently.

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  12. I am an insomnia sufferer too and it's the worst! When I am really bad, I do these things in this order...
    1. Read
    2. Take a Simply Sleep
    3. Count backwards from 50 to 1 focusing on slowing my breathing with each descending number
    4. Writing everything that's filling my head on a pad I keep by my bed.
    5. Finally, if all else fails, it is usually because some character is bugging me and so I must get out of bed and just give in and write and deal with my fatigue later...

    Hope sleep finally found you!

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  13. I like Sheri's tips. I do hope you got your rest.

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  14. When I get desperate for sleep I turn to large volumes of Rum. Hope you get some rest.

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  15. I hope you finally got some good sleep. I've been having very irritating, sleep-walking dreams lately, and it's exhausting me! (Wow! You sure have a lot on your plate!)

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  16. Benadryl (2) does wonders. I've had it since I was seven. Also Valerian, red wine or dramamine.

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  17. See, it's the not being nice that makes it hard. You can fake it through a day (as long as you don't have a board meeting or distance to drive). But being nice too? Ain't gonna happen. Sorry your sleepless :(

    Maybe the Tooth Fairy knows the Sandman...Never hurts to ask!

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  18. Slep is so important and you are busy.
    Hope you get some sleep soon

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  19. wishing you a good night's sleep.

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  20. Deep breaths, Barrie. Deep breaths.

    And I can't wait to see you!!!

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  21. Insomnia once it gets started is very hard to stop. Take it seriously.

    Make detailed lists of everything you need to do. Assign days for each items. As you cross of your list... sleep should come.

    Take a mild med if you need to. Don't be afraid. Tylenol PM works wonders at 1/2 dose. Insomnia is sometimes a cycle that needs to be forcefully broken.If it goes on too long (days)you really have to teach your body how to sleep healthy again.

    Good Luck.

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  22. Good afternoon Barrie,
    SLEEP COUNTRY CANADA offers potential purchasers of mattresses FREE FLUFFY SHEEP 'DOLLS' as an incentive. This CANADIAN co. is owned by Christine MAGEE(no relation).
    P&D are looking forward to your visit in August.

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  23. I feel your pain. I suffer from occasional sleeplessness. It sucks. Hope you get some good shuteye soon!

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  24. Insomnia is the worst. I hope you get some shut-eye soon.

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  25. I've been there and find blogging works for me. If you have to be awake, it's a nice place to be.

    Thanks for leaving your comment on my earlier posting. You are very kind.

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  26. Hope you're getting some sleep! I have insomnia, too. Reading usually helps me.

    Yay for the Tooth Fairy!

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  27. Whilst drugging yourself will indeed work - it won't take away the root cause - which is that you're doing too much. Make some tea, sit down with your schedule and FIT IN RELAXATION TIME. It's impossible to chill when you're thinking about what still needs to be done. First write down everything that HAS to be done, then decide when to do it. Then think about stuff that's niggling at you, think about when it's convenient for you to do it and put that on your schedule. Then look at the other stuff - if it's not important - ditch it! Any gaps in the schedule are yours - write ME TIME in big letters and give it to yourself. Honour your time. Tell DH and children to do the same. And when it's done …relax.

    I am normally the BEST sleeper in the world until stuff gets on top of me - then it just churns around in my head and stomach keeping me awake (4am - is the worst!). I've found that yanking your schedule by the throat and organising the hell out of it is the only way to bring the chill back. If you knew me you'd laugh because I'm dedicated to being disorganised - but I swear it works!

    I send you buckets-full of calm - I'm metaphorically chanting as I type!

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Comments are always welcome!