Done

Stick a fork in me, because I'm done.  Passing out fully clothed, on top of the covers (or in the armchair), with the lights on isn't something that is unusual for me to do.  Falling asleep like this for almost a consecutive week - now that is unheard of.  Clearly it's been a busy time with the new job but this is just getting ridiculous!  Off to drag myself into my actual bed for the rest of the night =s

HP Day

I'm in recovery mode after the awesomeness of last night.  It's took three coffees to get me through the day without passing out at my desk and tomorrow is the big day for Kristal and Ben which means I'm leaving you all (semi) high and dry again tonight.  On the bright side, it's more time for you all to go watch Harry Potter this weekend - win/win for all of us! Just kidding of course...the real bright side is that aside from the up coming review, my Potter Mania is passing and you'll soon have something new to read about. =)

Nightmare

Since Sunday is the designated "sleep in" day of the week, it only makes sense that I have a nightmare and can't get back to sleep at 7 am.  I don't even get up that early for work but here we are, two loads of laundry in, getting a leg up on the day for once instead of running to catch up.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that I have a lot on my mind right now which would explain why all I can remember of this dream was that I was running for my life, away from something I couldn't even see.  I'd love to insert some sort of monster or crazed psychopath as the thing I was running away from but I seriously have no idea.  All I can remember was the fear of not running fast enough because that's what always happens in nightmares; your legs feel like lead and you're slowing down instead of speeding up.  If only it was a funny running away like Zombieland or Shaun of the Dead since I tend to assume that Zombies would be the easiest to run away from for some reason.

With all this talk about Zombies, I think I'll go watch some while the rest of you sleep away this Sunday morning for me =)

EDS

Sometimes coffee isn't enough

If you're like me, you suffer from at least one type of sleep disorder like narcolepsy, insomnia, or apnea.  If you're extremely unlucky (like me), you suffer from all three of the disorders I've already listed.  To clarify, I've never actually been officially diagnosed with any of these because I didn't think it was necessary. 

Insomnia seemed pretty self explanatory and would usually strike during periods of stress and/or increased caffeine intake.  I had short bouts of it in high school and throughout university, with frequency increasing as I slowly reached the end of my academic rope.  These days I'm usually too exhausted to stay up late as evident on Monday when I failed to post.  I passed out after sitting down in bed after working an 11 hour day but I was still ahead in posts so it was all good (as per my agreement) unless someone actually missed having something random to read!

These days, I fall more towards the narcoleptic end of the sleep disorder scale. While this can prove to be even more inconvenient than insomnia, it is also significantly scarier (now that I've actually done some research).  I used to think that narcolepsy meant you could fall asleep anywhere at any time.  Can you see the appeal for someone who suffers from insomnia?  The most common symptoms of narcolepsy (as listed on the PubMed Health website) are:

1) Periods of extreme drowsiness every 3-4 hours during the day - also known as EDS (extreme daytime sleepiness), or sleep attacks (short naps) that can happen at ANY time, occurring most often after eating

2) Dream-like hallucinations during the stage between sleep and wakefulness

3) Sleep paralysis - when you are unable to move when you first wake up or when you first become drowsy

4) Cataplexy - a sudden loss of muscle tone while awake, resulting in the inability to move for less than 30 seconds or as long as several minutes.


This looks cute/funny but what
about passing out while driving?



Freaking out yet?  I did when I realized I have the first two symptoms!  I had to think about the sleep paralysis one because I'm extremely lazy about getting out of bed and do tend to just lay there as my brain slowly wakes up which is a voluntary decision (or so I'm continuing to tell myself).  Aside from drugs that can keep you awake or put you to sleep, there is no cure for sleep disorders.  All you can really do is climb into bed and hope for the best - which is exactly what I'm going to do tonight!

Friday Night Lights

Got home tonight past 9 pm and assumed everyone was home by the number of lights still on in the house.  Got inside and realized I was all by my lonesome.  I had to wonder, was this a bout of forgetfulness by everyone or am I being made fun of?

It's no secret that I'm scared of the dark.  My imagination runs wild which causes my heart rate to spike.  I'm not sure why I have a 5-year old mentality when it comes to the dark but there you have it - my number one irrational fear.  One thing I will clarify though is that I'm much better when I know I can turn the lights back on (i.e. at bedtime).  My mom will tell you that I close my eyes before I turn my bedside lamp off at the end of the night but in truth, I haven't done that since I was in elementary school.

My sister will tell you that I sleep with the lights on which is true, but not because I don't want to turn them off.  Sleeping with the lights on happens for two different reasons: 1) I happened to fall asleep with them on while working in bed (which happens fairly often) or 2) I did it on purpose to help me wake up the next day (key for extremely early mornings during the winter months). 

Everyone knows that it's much harder to pull yourself out of bed when it's still dark out.  By having a light on, I trick myself into thinking it's already light out and find it easier to get moving.  This tactic actually works 85% of the time which makes me think that I'm not as smart as I thought since I continually fall for this trick much like setting the one clock over my closet an hour ahead and believing it.

Two things to take from this post? You're never as smart as you think and there's nothing wrong with irrational fears.  I'm off to ponder tomorrow's post and play with some different blogger features =)

UPDATE: So in playing with the post options yesterday (the 11th), I accidentally set this to post a day late!  Oops...that's what happens when you do things half asleep =s I've corrected the posting date (which has been approved by the keeper of my promise but just this one time) and will be back later for today's (the 12th) posting!