Several things were conspiring to keep me awake. First, my stomach/gallstones were bothering me (AGAIN -- and they've been pretty calm/nonexistent for the past several months). Guess that burger & fries for dinner at Five Guys wasn't such a good idea after all...!
Tummy finally settled down around 3:30, but (second factor:) my brain was working overtime. There were several different family matters that I couldn't stop thinking about. And I was excited about the (then-upcoming) premiere of season 2 of "The Handmaid's Tale" last night (Sunday), and wondering what they were going to do, since they came to the end of the material in Margaret Atwood's book at the end of season 1. (The show was on Hulu in the States a few days earlier, but we don't get Hulu here in Canada, and so we have to wait a few more days to see it on Bravo -- which is, happily, part of my cable TV package.) And of course, thinking about "The Handmaid's Tale" got me thinking about the current sad state of the world, and how uncomfortably close fiction can sometimes be to fact and to possibility, at the moment... :(
And of course those darn midlife hormones were probably at work too. :p It's right about my usual midcycle/ovulation time (besides the time of the cycle, other signs were pointing in that direction too). Plus I was hot -- so I'd kick off the covers -- then I'd be freezing, so I'd pull them up again. Lather, rinse, repeat... :p ;)
And so I tossed and turned -- & finally gave up and turned on the light and read my book & scrolled through my phone for a few hours until it started getting light outside. Dh came back to bed around 7 a.m. -- and that's when I got up & made my breakfast -- by then, I was hungry too. ;) (And then I was hungry for the rest of the day... nights like this always completely screw up my eating schedule...!)
Thankfully, we had nothing on the agenda yesterday -- although I didn't nap or go to bed until after "The Handmaid's Tale" season 2 premiere (the first two episodes) ended, after 11 p.m....! (And even though the show was -- once again -- highly, highly disturbing, I actually did manage to fall asleep fairly quickly, lol. ;) )
Thank goodness I'm (a) retired and (b) don't have kids to send off to school in the morning. ;)
What do you do when you just can't sleep? (Please tell me you can't sleep sometimes too, lol.)
You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.
Ugh, that sounds awful, especially the gallstones/stomach issues.
ReplyDeleteYou are definitely not alone in the can't sleep sometimes. So, it's worth mentioning that I work in healthcare, because the first thing I start doing is imagining ECG strips of a nice, normal heartbeat (really) and count the beats. Yep, weird, I know. But failing that, I usually give myself a certain amount of time to fall back asleep, then if I can't, I get up and read something soothing for about 30-60 minutes, then try to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, sometimes those nights just are impossible and no sleep.
Glad you were able to get some sleep the next night!
I try to do some yoga breathing... sometimes it helps, sometimes not...
DeleteI can't tell you the number of times that has happened to me, and the number of times I've been thankful I haven't had to a) go to work after a night like that, and/or b) look after kids.
ReplyDeleteDH rarely has difficulty sleeping, and I get restless leg syndrome, so I get up so as not to disturb him. I either go to one of the spare beds, or I end up on the computer. Though I've been a lot better lately - perhaps because I've been going to bed really late and I'm so tired I just sleep through. Not that I'd recommend this - I'm trying to break the habit. Without a lot of success, may I add.
When I was working, I would sometimes wake up at 3 or 4... my alarm was set to go off just before 5, and I would inevitably finally doze off JUST before that point! Ugh!! I get restless leg occasionally too... I get up & stretch & walk around. Sometimes it helps, sometimes not. :(
DeleteOh man...that sounds miserable! (Is it bad that I also kind of want Five Guys now, even though it didn't make you feel good at all?) I haven't started the new season of The Handmaid's Tale yet, I'm saving it for when Bryce is full swing in his qualification exam work, since he abandoned it about halfway through Season One (which was a shame since in my opinion it got REALLY good in the second half). I'm glad you could sleep after watching it! And that you don't have to get up to go to work or put kids on a bus.
ReplyDeleteI have problems falling asleep sometimes if I'm all wired up on a Sunday night, and I've been having a lot of difficulty with interrupted sleep lately, where I can fall asleep, but then I wake up multiple times starting at 2 am but can get back to sleep pretty quickly, it just happens in cycles maybe 5-6 times until the alarm goes off. Ugh. Truly not being able to sleep is miserable, and I usually lay there trying to deep breathe and then give up and go in the bathroom and read until I'm sleepy again. Tart cherry juice is supposed to be good to drink before bed to help you sleep though...it's a natural source of melatonin. In case that helps!
LOL re: Five Guys. ;) It was good (especially the fries), although there's a local chain called Hero Burger that dh & I like even better. Be forewarned, Handmaid's Tale is just as dark & chilling as last season, if not more so.
DeleteCherry juice, eh? You've reminded me, I have a "rollerball remedy" (essential oils blend from Saje, in a little roll-on bottle) that's supposed to help with sleep issues. I haven't tried it yet, but maybe I will next time insomnia strikes!