"These happy golden years are passing by, these happy golden years." Laura Ingalls Wilder

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Early To Bed (Not)

Insomnia .. loud crickets .. change of life (two years and counting) .. summer rush in the garden .. have all been contributing to my lack of sleep.  I settle down on the couch for a little TV at night .. usually an old movie .. then doze off.  Usually I'm already for bed so I can just shuffle half asleep down the hallway to bed.  Once there, I toss and turn a few minutes.  Still tired.  Then it hits me.  I need to check the front door, take the pooch out for a potty run, get a glass of water, and heaven forbid if I've forgotten to brush my teeth and decide to use the electric (bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) toothbrush.  I get back in bed and have a hot flash, which makes me get up to turn on the fan and put on cooler jammies.  Settling back in .. I am WIDE AWAKE and thinking I should go bake the bread dough slowly rising on the counter.  This is the dough I forgot to add yeast to yesterday so hastily added it after I noticed it wasn't rising.  Humm .. I must have been distracted (again).  Adding dry yeast to bread dough is not a good idea.  But now it smells all yeasty and like sourdough .. so I don't want to waste it.  Time to turn on the oven and finish baking bread.  Smelling the yummy goodness makes me hungry so I make a pot of coffee and wait for the bread to finish.  My day today is going to suck.  I'll need a nap just after Nathan gets on the school bus .. oh, I forgot, it's Wednesday and I have my little grandson ALL DAY.  I really need to mature and better order my day!

Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise .. Ben Franklin

11 comments:

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Oh Dear Mrs. Mac ~ Hot flashes are the pits. I don't have a hard time falling asleep, I wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking of a thousand and one things and that's when I have trouble going back to sleep.

Valerian is a wonderful herb we have taken to sleep a relaxing sleep at night. One capsule does it. You wake up feeling refreshed, and there are no side effects.

Our little cottage is so small that I really can't get up to do things that make any noise, as that would wake up DH. So, I usually lay there thinking about things, I talk to God too during those time, and eventually I fall back to sleep.

I hope today is a good day for you. Maybe you can take a nap when your grandson does. Naps work wonders too.

Hugs ~ FlowerLady

Sandy said...

I agree with Flower Lady that Valerian
is a wonderfully relaxing herb. I used
Motherwort throughout the change and
found it helpful in many aspects. And
also, of course, praying to the Lord
and pouring out your heart works
better than anything!
Hope you feel much better soon! Just
keeping telling yourself that this too
shall pass!
Hugs,
Sandy

Dani said...

Mrs Mac - I am long pased the hot flushes stage, but still wake every night - and am awake for 2 - 3 hours. Easy to do in our town house, but on the farm - not possible! (We only have one large room at the moment.)

What is it with all these thoughts which decide it is time to rush round my head? And it's normally negative / panic / problematic thoughts which cause me to wake up - my subconscious at work, obviously.

Maybe I should follow the advice of Sandy and FlowerLady and take some Valerian...?

Maggie Ann said...

What great advice you've already gotten. I too struggled at times with the change, and hated how emotional I'd feel. But it lessens over time greatly. A dear friend once told me to get outside and work in the soil with my hands. And there is a solace and peace that comes with that. Outdoors is a beautiful largeness of God's beauty and tranquility. That is if you don't get sunburnt or bug-bitten. Another bit of advice that comes to mind is the old saying....'don't sweat the small stuff' and remember, this will all come to pass. Pretty much. Well, I'd better run, our daughter and her sweet boys are flying in Saturday and I've windows to wash and and....

Deb said...

Lol---this is my life!

Trish said...

I do this often...except I don't bake bread in the middle of the night! Lol.
Last night I woke up at 2 a.m. and didn't go back to sleep until 5!!!
I think I'm going to need a gallon of coffee, to jump start this ol' grammy...zzzzz.

Jada's Gigi said...

this is also MY life...except for the bread baking part....wish I could have a bite....can almost smell it!

Diane said...

Oh merciful Lord, I am so sorry to hear that so many are experiencing this! I have been on and off this road since I was in my late 20s. I keep thinking "surely this will end soon", but it lingers! Momma never told me it would take a lifetime to go through 'the change'! I keep thinking "Ok, change already! I'm done with it!" Like others, I don't bake in the middle of the night but then, well, I don't bake in the middle of the day either! ;-)

Many hugs..............

Diane

Anonymous said...

Oh.Dear.Friend!

Hoping you have caught-up on your sleep by now. Another solves-all-problems remedy is exercise. Just saying. ;) Barbara

Felisol said...

I like your kind of productive insomnia.
I usually find a boring book to read. ( My night-stand table is full of "boring" books, that is anything which isn't about crime or love. If it's crime I get wide awake, if it's love I have to read it through to see if it's a happy end.Imagine me at the age of 14 having spent 24 hours reading "Gone with the Wind."I was crushed. Still it's on my list of best love stories.)
Gotta make dinner for the three of us.

Saija said...

you certainly are useful with your sleeplessness!!! i just tend to toss & turn!!!

i never did get many hot flashes ... thankfully ... i'm 9 years into that menopause (probably post menopause now!) ... best years of my life i think ...

hope you have gotten some rest by now!!!! blessings on ya!