7/12/10 Psssst! You Asleep?

I spent the evening catching up with my old friend insomnia last night, so I'm a bit tired today. That means that today's resulting post-o-pointlessness is going to be one of the old stand-bys...meme or random bulleted list. And since I secretly enjoy reading other people's meme answers, I'm going to go with meme. Feel free to answer along. The best part is when I realize that I'm not the only one who does [insert bizarre action here]. Then we laugh about it together, and a bond is formed. See how that works?

Anyway, my favorite are the themed memes as opposed to the ones that just ask random questions like "What's the closest thing to you that is red?", so I did a little digging and came up with one that actually ties into last night's insomnia: the Sleep Meme. (You see how I did that? Tied in the part about insomnia above and the meme? That's talent, my friends. They don't let you on the Internet unless you can do that.)

Anywho, everybody ready? Pencils sharpened? Then here we go:

The Sleep Meme

1) Are you a heavy sleeper?
I'm going to start with some ambiguity right out of the gate and go with "I'm not sure". I guess it depends on what is going on around me. Like, Tony can get up, take a shower, get ready and go to work, and I'll never hear a thing. But one cat can make the slightest hair-ball hack and I'm instantly alert.

2) Do you fall asleep quickly?
Heavens no. I wish I did. Tony can fall asleep before his head hits the pillow, but it usually takes me hours to quiet my brain enough to fall asleep. It's really annoying actually, especially when I know I'm supposed to get up early. I just lay there, watching the clock, going, "Any time now, brain". I usually trick myself into sleep by making up elaborate stories in my head. Eventually the stories segue into dreams, and then I'm off to the races.

3) Do you walk or talk in your sleep?
I talk. hoo-boy, do I talk. Sometimes I remember them the next day, and sometimes I don't. (Tony told me the other day that I had woken him up to tell him that the rice was burning. We hadn't cooked any rice that night, but I kept going on about it until he told me that he took it off the stove. I don't recall this AT ALL, but apparently I quieted right down after that). I also remember a time when I fell asleep at the end of a date with a boyfriend. We were having a discussion about something, and I was arguing a point that I wanted to make. He finally conceded that maybe I was right, and then I said, "Besides, it'll never fit under your cape." That's about the time he realized that I was asleep and talking (and winning a debate!), so he took me home. (Never let it be said that I'm not an exciting date). So talking, yes. Walking? Not so much.

(PS-I also occasionally do the hypnagogic hallucinations, i.e. waking dreams, but I've mostly figured out when those are happening, so I don't bother anybody with them).

4) What size bed?
Queen. Every now and again Tony will say something about wishing we had a bigger bed. But I'm a snuggler, so it doesn't really matter what size we have, I'm never going to stay on my side. Plus the headboard fits a queen, and I'm not about to try to hunt up new bedroom furniture.

5) What kind of sheets?
I told you about the satin, right? Well, about two weeks after that, I broke down and bought some more plain cotton sheets. In addition to being less slippery, they breathe a lot better for summer sleeping, so we're currently on the cotton. Maybe we'll go back to the satin for the winter, but for now? Cotton sheets. Also of note: We only use a fitted sheet, not the top sheet. I've never used a top sheet (I tend to get tangled up in it during the night), and neither does Tony. Just one more of those odd little things that we realized we had in common when we met. We sleep directly under the duvet, and that's all.

6) Do you wear pjs?
This is probably going to fall under the category of too much information, but the answer to that is...sometimes. If I'm visiting someone else, or someone is visiting us, I do. Otherwise, I get tangled up in pj's during the night, so I tend to avoid them. (Apparently, I toss and turn a lot). Even at night, clothing will find a way to annoy me.

7) Do you sleep alone?
Nope. I share my bed with Tony and 5 cats. It sounds crowded, but the cats tend to rotate in and out throughout the night, and with the exception of Dixon, they all like to sleep on Tony's side anyway. (Dixon sleeps on his own pillow next to me).

8) What time do you usually go to bed?
I try to make it to bed between 2 and 3am. Sometimes (like last night), it's later, but usually between 2 and 3. Any earlier than that and I'm definitely not going to sleep. The joys of being a night person, I suppose.

9) How many hours of sleep do you get?
Ohhhh. Here's the benefit of being your own boss and working out of the home. I usually sleep until 10 or 11am. (I have an alarm that goes off at 11). Usually I'll wake up before it though. So 8 or 9 hours a night, with it stretching into 10 or 11 on weekends (just because I can).

10) Do you remember your dreams?
Yes. I'm a very vivid dreamer, and can control the majority of them. (Although usually I like to just sit back and watch where they go...my dream stories are often much better than the stories I made up for myself to get there in the first place). I dream best in the mornings, and will deliberately try to stay in them for as long as possible. (For me, dreaming is like being in a cloud bank. Sometimes you can hang onto it for a while before the mist dissipates and you're back to reality). Dreaming is the best part of being asleep for me.

11) Do you snore?
Don't think so. No one has ever mentioned it. (Although I'm sure that if I did, they would be very cute little lady-like snores).

12) Do you have a night light/leave a light on somewhere?
Nope. I like it as dark as possible when I sleep. It's hard enough for me to get to sleep without having some light distract me.

13) How many pillows?
When actually sleeping? One for me, One for Tony, One for Dixon (although to be fair, Dixon's pillow is really just my second pillow...he just appropriated it). During the day we add five decorative pillows on top of those three.

14) Do you read/watch tv to go to sleep?
Yes...kinda. I know you aren't supposed to do that in bed because it confuses your body as to what the bed is for, but if I didn't read or watch TV in bed, I'd never spend any time in it. I don't use the tv or books to fall asleep though. Unlike virtually everyone else in the world, I cannot get sleepy when reading or watching tv. (My parents are masters at this...the tv goes on, and they both go out. I, meanwhile, cannot seem to disengage from a plot line, no matter how stupid it is. I have to finish the book or the show out to the very end. Turning it off mid-story would keep me up and wondering for the rest of the night. You would not believe how many late night fishing show reruns I've been stuck with because of this).

15) Do you have a ritual before bed?
I'm assuming this question means a standard bedtime routine as opposed to draining the blood out of chickens or something. I guess my ritual is read/watch tv/play on the computer until the natural ending of the book/show/blog reader falls sometimes between 2 and 3. Then I'd go to the bathroom, put a night moisturizer on my face, get into bed and tell myself stories until I fall asleep. I used to use a white noise machine to play sounds of the ocean, or rain, or crickets (the crickets made Tony crazy) when I went to bed, but the noise machine only had a 90 minute timer and it takes me longer than 90 minutes to go to sleep. So I'd be allllllmost asleep when suddenly the room would go silent, and then I'd be all alert again. Turned out it was more trouble re-relaxing than it was worth. I'm not really into the warm milk thing though, if that's what you're asking.

So. What do you think? Do any of my answers match yours? Is there anything you do that's different? Is either one of us crazy insane? (Maybe don't answer that last one). Let me know. These memes are only fun if you share your answers too.



Edited to add- The spellchecker jumped all over hypnagogic (as expected), but the only alternate suggestion it could come up with was "spongecake". I was like, "Oh spellcheck. Epic fail on that one".