Is there anything worse than sleep deprivation? I guess there are a lot worse things, but without delving into the Very Bad Things In The World, I would say that sleep deprivation is up there, Steve.
The thing about sleep is that it is so important for overall health: lack of sleep can be tied to a number of medical issues, memory issues, mental health issues, and issues with judgement and motor skills. The other thing about sleep is that knowing all of those effects that can be brought on by poor sleep can actually lead to stress about poor sleep and then poor sleep itself. Who among us hasn’t looked at the clock and panicked, calculating how much sleep we would get if we fell asleep right now, oh, dammit, now it’s a minute less, omg, I am never getting to sleep, I am going to be so exhausted, okay, fall asleep now, now, NOW?
We’ve all been there. When my children were small I was basically a zombie. I do not remember 2004-2007, let’s just put it that way. When my younger son was a colicky newborn, and I had two babies under eighteen months, my friend Tara (HI TARA) said to me Forget drunk drivers, new mothers are the scariest drivers on the roads. She’s not wrong, with all the crying and stress of motherhood, on top of the whole no-sleep thing, new mothers can be a menace behind the wheel at any hour of the day.
Other than external forces like small children and significant work stress, my sleep has always been fairly decent. Perimenopause definitely has caused some issues, although I will say that I have been sleeping so much better lately, and I credit the consumption of branched-chain amino acids for this development. Am I becoming a BCAA Evangelist, as well as a Sleep Evangelist? Kind of? I feel like I’m giving off MLM vibes and my dear readers will start worrying that I’m going to message them in a Hey babe, I wanted to talk to you about this great opportunity…but I swear I’m not getting any kind of kickback from Big Amino Acids. Or any sized amino acid company. Nor am I, needless to say, any kind of medical professional, what works for me may not work for you, etcetera.
Because I think sleep needs to be a priority in my life, I have no compunctions about using what I refer to as Sleep Helpers, such as sleeping pills, nighttime Advil, or melatonin, as necessary. I also have a fairly structured bedtime routine and very strict rules about what happens in my bed: sleep or sex, and that’s it. I don’t read in bed, I don’t have my phone in the bedroom, and I definitely don’t leave my bed if I wake up at night, other than to use the bathroom. If I wake up with a hot flash, I’ll starfish myself on top of the covers and visualize the heat leaving my body in waves, like a cartoon drawing. If I wake up and find I can’t go back to sleep, I will tell myself soothingly that even if I’m not sleeping, my body is at rest, and I will count my inhales and exhales until I lull myself into a bored stupor and fall asleep.
I also start my bedtime routine well in advance of when I actually go to bed, which is generally about 8:30 pm. I have a naturally early wake time – 4:00 am – and so I go to bed early as well. I need about seven and a half hours of sleep to function well, and I get a bit more on the weekend.
What do you do to get ready for bed? If it’s summer, and I’ve been barefoot and covered in sunscreen, I will have a quick shower. I always shower in the morning, but sometimes a second one is necessary. Aside from those summer days, my first step is to put on my jammies. I know that I could just put on something old and comfortable, but I like matching pajama sets, I like them to be pretty, and I like them to be seasonal.
After that, I brush my hair out, wash my face, and apply eye and face cream. I also put on foot cream and then socks on over top, so I don’t leave lotion footprints all over the house. I have enough to do with paw prints, I don’t need to add to the problem. I then floss and brush my teeth, and go downstairs to hang out with my husband. I often read while he watches sports on TV, and sometimes we watch a show together. By 8:30, I can barely keep my eyes open, and so I make my way to where the magic happens.
How do we feel about making our beds? I always make mine, including decorative pillows, and not just because it’s a sixty-second way to having a more pulled-together bedroom. I cannot stand getting into an unmade bed at night. I like to slide between clean, neat sheets; it’s better for my dreamtime.
Speaking of which! Friends, I have to tell you about the dream I had a few weeks ago, and YES I KNOW that there are few things less interesting than hearing about other people’s dreams, but bear with me. The dream involved Barkley, who was here with us. He and Rex were just hanging out together; Barkley was be the Cleanup Crew when food dropped on the floor, while Rex lay in a tangle at my feet. Barkley in my dream was the dog that he was for most of his life: not sick, not blind, not deaf, not demented, just fuzzy and friendly, piggy and affectionate. His coat was fluffy and brown, and he did not have the lump that he had in his later years, that prompted my son’s friend to affectionately call him Old Lumpy, and that prompted complete strangers to meanly and rudely comment on his appearance. He was just the Barkley that I knew and loved for fourteen years.
I woke up so happy, remembering him in that way. I often remember how it was at the end, with him unable to go up and down stairs, with me in tears every day when I walked him while strangers asked me what’s wrong with your dog, with him walking underneath the coats hanging up and getting lost. But now I remembered how he was for most of his life, and I was so happy. It wasn’t until later, when I was writing in my one-line-a-day journal, that I realized that it was his birthday. Isn’t that wild? I like to think he was visiting me, and his fluffy little soul was happily bounding around somewhere.
Weekly Reading
The Three Lives of Cate Kay. This is a very buzzy book, and what I liked best about it was the writing style. It reads like watching a biography on TV, with a variety of people from the Cate Kay’s – a pseudonym for a writer of a blockbuster trilogy-turned-movies – life and history. I really enjoyed the different voices and such a fresh writing style, even if I did find myself confused a few times with a bit of a complicated love storyline. I liked the general message that you can’t run from your past, it makes you who you are, and I loved the line “The trick of life, as I see it now, is to make what’s around you beautiful. It’ll grow from there.” What a great line! A very fun, entertaining read.
Sky Daddy. We all know that I have read and enjoyed some really bizarre things, like Bear, the 1976 Governor General Award-winning book about a woman who has a sexual relationship with a bear. Not a big hairy gay man, an actual bear. I have also read books that involve sexual relationships with sentient doors, balloon animals, and Santa Claus, and so when Birchy (HI BIRCHY) mentioned this book about a woman sexually obsessed with planes, I was all in. But what was different about Sky Daddy, the plot of which involves a woman whose greatest hope is that a plane will “marry her” and in a fit of passion, crash so that they will be entwined together for eternity, is that this book is a literary gem. It is honestly one of the best books I have read in a really long time. On a line level, it is absolutely incredible, on a plot level it is absolutely incredible. It is so witty and clever and creative – every single word is chosen perfectly – and I wish I could go back in time so I could read it again for the first time. It’s weird, it’s wonderful, I loved it.
Speaking of exhaustion, I’m back from my road trip! It is a ten-hour drive each way, and by 8pm last night I was pretty much done. We had perfect driving conditions on the way there, but the way back it rained hard for over half of the drive.
On our way we stopped to embrace our anti-TLC and chase waterfalls.
Shortly after that photo was taken, we were on the Icefields Parkway, just past Bow Lake, when an EMS sped by us. Later we found out that there was a rockslide in that area that led to two fatalities, including a yoga student of teacher friends of mine. What a sad tragedy.
It’s going to be a busy week for me, catching up. How are you doing, friends? It feels like an evergreen statement to say the news is bleak but here we are. I hope you are all well and nourishing yourselves in these very despairing times. xo
Oh thank you for sharing the dream about Barkley! That sounds so wonderful, to enjoy him in his healthy, happy state. And for him and Rex to be together! So sweet.
Birchie’s review of Sky Daddy got me intrigued, and your review has tipped me over the edge into needing to read it. It’s now on hold through my library.
Gorgeous photos. I’m glad you’re back. xxoo
Thanks so much, Suzanne – it was such a great dream.
I love love LOVED Sky Daddy! It was so funny and smart.
Oh how fun- Rex was on the road trip with you!! And, I love the dream about Barkley. I feel like I didn’t really know him, because he was already in his later years when I started reading your blog. I love the photo of him in his youth.
I didn’t realize Sky Daddy was THAT good! Now I’m intrigued! I’ll have to see if they have it at my library.
I’m happy to say that my sleep has improved. It’s still not perfect, but I’m taking it more seriously. I do read in bed, but I have a rule that as soon as I feel a wave of sleepiness, I have to put my book down RIGHT AWAY and turn off the light. So far it’s working pretty well.I’m not the Olympic level sleeper that you are, but I’m improving slowly but surely.
I’m so glad you’re sleeping better, Jenny! I know you went through a rough stretch there.
Sky Daddy – I don’t know if you’ll like it but WOW I enjoyed every single word of it. I want to buy my own copy to read anytime I want.
What a gift that dream sounds like. Also lovely scenery from your trip.
I do not deal well with sleep deprivation, even being short a couple hours leaves me feeling useless the next day. Both of my kids were terrible sleepers– neither regularly slept through the night until they were five years old and they are five years apart– so it was a decade of bad sleep. I think that’s what made me so crazy strict about bedtime when they were younger.
Steph, same! If I get six hours of sleep instead of seven, I can really feel it. And less than that? Forget about it.
My younger son started sleeping through the night when he was four and a half so I feel you. Mine were so close together though, so it made for like six years of sleep deprivation, rather than a decade.
I absolutely cannot get into an unmade bed. And even though I make my bed every morning, at night I will give the fitted sheet an extra tug before I get in. I do read in bed but it’s usually just a few pages before my eyelids start to droop.
Pearl! We are twinsies! Ugh the thought of an unmade bed…I just could not relax in it!
I’m going to assume Sky Daddy isn’t an Elisabeth book, but you let me know otherwise.
I have BCAA in my cart and I just texted you to get a few more deets. My sleep has been deplorable lately. I thought it was because I had been having a square or two of dark chocolate in the afternoons and the caffeine was messing with me…so I stopped the dark chocolate and I still CANNOT get to sleep. I even took some drowsy antihistamines a few nights and that didn’t work (which always works). WHAT IS GOING ON?
I watch things (when my husband is home) AND read in bed almost every day and I always feel guilty and think immediately of you. I know I would definitely be better off with your rule of sex and sleep, but I love reading in bed. Plus, because my husband is often jetlagged, he generally goes to bed quite early and if I want to spend time with him I go to bed at the same time. But then I read after he’s asleep. Clearly #FirstWorldProblems, but still.
I make my bed every morning. My kids don’t always make their bed and I no longer insist they do it, but inwardly a piece of my dies when I see their jumbled blankets. How? Why? It takes mere seconds.
I mean, it probably isn’t a book for you *scans mind quickly* I can’t remember how you feel about sex in books? I would say that the sexual descriptions of planes are laugh-out-loud funny – for me! Maybe not for you!
Oh I am so sorry you’re not sleeping well! I hope the BCAA helps.
What a lovely dream about your dear Barkley. I sometimes dream of my sweet dog, Spud. I’m sure they’re happily frolicking in doggy heaven. I’m starting to cry just thinking about it – and I think my high level of emotion is partly because I am SO SLEEP DEPRIVED. I’ve been having so much trouble. I sleep for 3 hours and wake up and can’t go back to sleep. This has been going on for months, and you’re right that the more you fret about it, the worse it is. I have scheduled a sleep study this week, even though I don’t think I have sleep apnea. It’s a place to start.
My instinct is telling me that it’s anxiety…my sleep has been awful since January.
It sure could be anxiety, Michelle. I’m sorry you’re sleeping so poorly! It really does affect your emotional state.
On another note – your postcard arrived today and I was absolutely thrilled!!! I love it so much, thank you!!
Oh, Nicole! That Barkley dream… on his birthday! That most definitely was a visit! How absolutely lovely. <3
My sleep is most definitely fucked and keeps getting more and more fucked as the date stamp on some of my comments on people's blogs might show. I keep thinking I'm going to take it seriously, but then I don't. It's not that I can't go to sleep… I keep wanting to stay up later and later and do all the things (and still wake up at 6 or 7). Ok. I really mean it this time–I'm going to set an alarm and take myself to bed at midnight today (baby steps).
I'm so intrigued by your review of _Sky Daddy_, I'm going to go look for it. And adorable pics of you, Rexie, Barkley, & waterfalls.
(I'm so sorry about your friend's student though.)
Isn’t that dream amazing? I had such a sense of peace afterwards.
Did you feel that? It’s me gently wagging my finger at you telling you that you don’t need to do all the things, you can give yourself the gift of sleep. Midnight is a start!
I cannot even believe how good Sky Daddy was. I wasn’t expecting it to be so brilliant!
So much to talk about! Sleep is rocky for me. When it’s good it’s good, and when it’s not…’nuff said. It has definitely gotten worse in the past few years. My guess is that menopause is probably a factor (TMI: I take the pill continuously so I have no idea what’s going on with menopause, but c’mon I’m 50 so obviously I’m somewhere in the process), and also life stress. The only “assist” that I use is to listen to sleep meditations, and I know it’s bad when they don’t work. So far my philosophy is that there are only so many bad nights that I can have before exhaustion will put me to sleep, but I may look at something else down the line. Melatonin is where I would start.
My bed is for sleeping, sex, and reading! Three things that give me great pleasure. Also for randomly snuggling with the dog during the day, since she often naps in our bed.
My nightly routine is a quick shower, tooth brush, and then reading and/or NYT crossword until I’m sleepy or until Hubs turns his light out. It’s 50/50 which one of us turns in first.
I often imagine Stepdog and Doggo hanging out. In many ways they are opposites, but I like to think that somehow it would work. Their biggest difference is that Steppie loved people and was scared of other dogs, and Doggo loves dogs and isn’t sure about people. Maybe they would have balanced each other out?
Last but not least SKY DADDY!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3
OMG Sky Daddy! It was SO GOOD. I did not expect it to be a brilliant piece of literature! But here we are.
Have you ever tried that podcast “nothing much happens?” It’s just a super boring, but pleasant, story read in a very soothing monotone voice, and then it’s repeated at a slower cadence. It is extremely soothing!
I’m so very sorry about that rockslide. Tragic. I mean, you just don’t think of those things happening. (at least, this girl doesn’t)
I love that Barkley visited you and honestly, I’m surprised this is the first time. Maybe it’s not? I dream of Cocoa so much; our boxer that we had for thirteen years. She’s always young and healthy in my dreams too.
Sleep is one of my favorite things and this morning I said to the coach: I slept so good. Which isn’t always the case for me, so it was exciting.
I’m also in my Matching Pajama Era and I think it’s awesome. Yes, I always make my bed!
MATCHING PAJAMAS AND BED-MAKERS!
I’ve had dreams about Barkley before but they have always been when he was an elderly dog. This was the most vivid and honestly healing dream I have ever had.
A good sleep is such a wonderful thing!
One of our librarians ordered our library a copy of Sky Daddy, “for me,” because I liked Shark Heart. I laughed and thanked her but said no thanks, in part because she also ordered Blob for me and I didn’t much like Blob. But now I have added Sky Daddy to my Nicole Recommended reading list, which is going to thrill this librarian.
Okay, Swistle, I have heard so much about Shark Heart and I said NO, no, I don’t want to read about a man turning into a shark. BUT MAYBE I DO. Do I? You know what, I’m going to just go ahead and request it at the library.
Yes! Read Shark Heart! I loved it- beautiful book!
All right! I will! Hold requested at the library!
I’ve always believed sleep is the answer to so many issues in our bodies. When I had my babies, I felt absolutely awful in the beginning—even though I was so happy to have them in my life. But once I finally got a good night’s sleep, it felt like someone had given me a literal shot of something.
During perimenopause and lockdown, I was struggling with sleep again, and it often led to migraines. My first migraine doctor put me on an antidepressant and started me on magnesium—for both sleep and pain. Once I began sleeping well again, everything changed. I felt like a human again.
And bed making—YES. I make my bed every morning, and it feels so restorative. I don’t love the idea of getting into an unmade bed at night. I have some sensory issues, so that might be part of it, but also, I just love the feeling of a crisp, ready bed waiting for me. It takes just a few minutes, and it makes such a difference. I really think it’s one of those little secrets to a happy life: make the bed every morning.
I agree, Kari, sleep truly is the answer! Almost anything that goes wrong, I feel like it can be solved with sleep.
I also totally agree on bed making! I just can’t imagine sliding into a crumpled pile of sheets and blankets. It feels wrong!
Good old Barkley! And to dream about him is sweet. No wonder it made you feel good, whole. I don’t have much in the way of a pre-sleep ritual. I show up in jammies, play a few games of Candy Crush Soda Saga, put it aside then fall asleep. Nothing exciting which I guess is why I fall asleep.
Ally, you have a very streamlined routine and I like it!
Sweet Barkley! It was such a great dream.
I have been sleeping really well the past month or so! No idea why but I’ll take it. I get a solid 6-7 hours then wake up briefly (to go to the bathroom) then fall into another good sleep for another couple of hours. But I seem to go in cycles and for the previous cycle I had that “hello 3:00 AM my old friend” thing where I’d toss and turn and finally give up and get up around 4:30 or so.
And I am the luck lady whose husband makes our bed every day! He also changes the sheets out every Monday. (I do the laundry and fold them though.) He has always been the bed maker ever since we first lived together many many years ago!
How wonderful for you to have such a sweet dream about Barkley. 🙂
Wow, Dulcie, that’s great about your sleeping AND your husband! I like to change the sheets weekly as well, it feels so fresh!
Barkley was such a good dog! It was a healing dream for sure.
Admittedly, branched-chain amino acids sort of evokes blockchain – wait, that’s not bitcoin. Never mind, I’m sick and not sleeping. Your pjs are ADORABLE. I love cute pajamas – I just bought Eve a new pair – but I don’t usually wear them for various assorted reasons, let’s not go into it. I ALWAYS make my bed. I have to be super terrible late for work before I won’t take that last thirty seconds to make my bed.
I did not love Cate Kay, but I will give Sky Daddy a whirl. You were so near the rock slides! So sad. I will chase a waterfall any day.
We literally just passed Bow Lake! It was crazy to find that out later.
I hate the look and feel of an unmade bed!
I was told by Birchie that Sky Daddy is NSFL so I am avoiding it but I am glad it worked so well for you!! I just finished ‘You Think It, I’ll Say It’ by Curtis Sittenfeld and I really liked it. And now I am reading ‘You Are Here’ by David Nicholls. I have loved all of the books by him that I have read. The sentence level writing is sooo good!
I’m very curious about BCAA! I’ve googled a bit but haven’t pulled the trigger. More energy sounds great!
I prioritize sleep, too. I do read in bed but I do not use my phone in bed. Years ago I had awful insomnia and had to kind of go through what I call ‘sleep training for adults’. I worked with a cognitive behavioral therapist to tackle it. If I was awake for more than 5 minutes, I had to leave the bedroom and do something else until I felt tired. I would usually go to the couch or guest room until I felt sleepy. I hated it but it did work! Now I usually sleep well unless the boys wake us. I love that Barkley visited you in your dream! I had a dream this summer about my uncle that passed in March. I dreamed he was at this annual Julia child themed dinner I used to host with my aunt. So I texted my aunt and mom about the dream and my aunt said it was uncanny because they were hosting friends for dinner that week and were making the first dish we ever made for JC night (paella).
That sleep training for adults sounds terrible, Lisa! It feels very unintuitive – but if it helped you, yay!
I really liked You Think It, I’ll Say It! I have her latest on my library pile right now – it’s a series of short stories, which I love.
What a wonderful dream about Barkley! I have struggled with sleep for the past 20 years & will be looking into BCAA’s. I have an appt with my ND coming up and it’s on my list. I have to say I’m surprised you don’t read in bed? It’s how I wind down and fall asleep. However I realize I often fall asleep then dream I’m reading, wake up to put my kobo down and realized I’ve already done that so maybe it’s not the best? Hmmm how to change a lifetime habit?
Pat, I always read before bed, but on the couch in the living room. Never in bed!
I think you might benefit from BCAA as you are so active! I really think I was missing a key component in my diet, being plant-based for so long.
At various times in my life I’ve struggled with sleeping. Perimenopause has been a big problem but my sleep has been mostly great (when I’m not travelling) for a few months now. I might have a week of poor sleep in the week before my period though. I usually have a bath before bed and read my book in the bath. If I’m somewhere without a bath I’ll have a warm shower. I hate getting into bed dirty. I also love a made bed and make it almost every day. It is unmade at the moment because I wash the sheets on Tuesdays, and at the moment we only have one fitted sheet. I love getting into bed on Tuesday nights with my fresh, clean sheets.
Melissa, I wash the sheets on Tuesdays too! Twinsies!!
The week before my period was always the worst for sleep, but now I’m seeing a huge improvement, so that’s something.
The older the more I prioritize sleep above everything else. One night of bad sleep affects me now while before it takes a few nights sleep. I try to control what I can control like putting phone away early and not in the bedroom, take magnesium, stretch, read if possible, keep the room cold, etc., but sometimes the mental stress is hard to control, especially when need to work up to late. When it happens, I prioritize sleep even more the next few days.
I love your cute Pjs. i have a preferred set in different colors too and only change it closer to sleep time.
That’s so smart, Coco. I have noticed that as I’ve gotten older too – I’m way more affected by poor sleep than I was in my youth!
I’m generally a good sleeper considering. And I’ve always had a bedtime routine, long before getting to be a dinosaur. It started as a recruit in basic training in the military. When you work weird shift hours you need to prioritise sleep above all else, other than maybe food.
I also learnt early on not to stress about things I have absolutely no control over. And then, learning to sleep anywhere through anything (the military does that) helps tremendously.
Good tip. Keep your bedroom cool, your PJs cool, your bedding cool, and don’t over do it with heavy blankets or comforters.
Oh, I didn’t realize you were in the military! How interesting! I am sure it did give you some great habits for life.
I have been trying not to stress about things that I can’t control, and I’ve been successful to some extent…but then sometimes not.
OMG, this is the third time I’m leaving this comment because WordPress HATES ME. GAH. Usually, I always copy the comment before pressing “Submit” just in case it gets eaten but I keep forgetting to do that. Third time’s the charm, maybe?!
ANYWAY, I sleep fairly easily these days. I do think being on CPAP therapy has helped. There is just something about getting that extra oxygen in my nostrils that soothes me to sleep. I also always listen to ASMR videos on Youtube to go to sleep, and I don’t know if I know how to go asleep without this routine!
SKY DADDY. So many people rave about this book! It might be a little too “far out” for me but I’m willing to give it a try!
Stephany, Sky Daddy is far out for sure, but it was SO good, I can’t even. Although now that I’ve typed that…you know that we are book opposites…you might hate it.
I’m so glad you’re sleeping well! It sounds like a good routine!
Wordpress has been tricky lately – I had a lot of issues with Kae’s blog, and before that Suz’ and Coco’s. I don’t know what’s going on but then the issues magically disappear.
NICOLE!!! Sky Daddy is a big old nope for me. I just know myself. Have you read Shark Heart? A brief search of your blog says no, but you don’t blog every detail of your life. I’ve not read Shark Heart (BIG NOPE), but a newly married dude gets diagnosed (?) with turning into a shark. How do these authors even come up with these premises? I NEED TO KNOW.
We “make” our bed every day, which is to say we put the sheet and duvet back up. But there are NO DECORATIVE PILLOWS allowed in our house. (Grumbles about dust and more things to clean.) We also do not have a television in our bedroom, but that’s because my favorite place to read is the bed and I don’t want my husband to ruin my reading time with the noise of a television. I am an awesome wife, obviously.
I have not read Shark Heart, I immediately dismissed it when I heard the concept…but then a few commenters said maybe since I loved this so much I would like it. I’m going to give it a try. I shall report back!
I love your dream about Barkley and Rex! I love that they were together. And it makes sense that it was his birthday, your brain remembered before you did. That happens to me often on various birthdays. I like to think of Mulder, Genevieve, and Samantha all together (Samantha was my childhood dog, and just a darling darling girl…Gen was our dog from 2002 – 2012, and yes, another darling darling girl…they would have love our darling boy). Sigh.
I had a real rough patch of sleep in my mid 50s, and it felt like nothing I did helped, and it lasted a long time. I would go to sleep OK, but wake up at 2 or 3 and be awake for hours. It was miserable. Maybe I’ve outgrown it? I’m sleeping a lot better now, which is a relief. I get up early (though not as early as you, usually between 5 and 5:15) because I want to get my exercise in before work, plus I need a bit of time to wake up before I exercise. So I go to bed earlyish, usually between 9:30 and 10, though it’s not unheard of be asleep at 9:15 either. I do read in bed, but so little as to be pathetic. It helps my brain turn off from the day, and it is rare for me to read more than a page or two. No computers or TV in the bedroom though.
Maybe you did outgrow it! I’m glad you’re sleeping well. You and I are in the early-to-bed, early-to-rise club!
Dogs! They are so precious.
I know you will love this Nicole…I was thinking about this post yesterday, and about my sleep. I have been sleeping better for about 1.5 years now. Do you know what else I’ve been doing daily for the past 1.5 years? YOGA. Sometimes it’s 5 minutes, sometimes it’s 45 minutes, usually about 25 or 30. I do the yoga in the morning, so not sure if that’s what is different, but yeah, there we are.
I DO LOVE THIS! I love it so much!
Nicole! I am finally catching up and saying hello from Russia (with love).
Sleep… I am 44 and have started to experience sleep disturbances for about a year and a half. Mainly, night sweats, exacerbated by stressful periods in my life. I noticed that when I manage my stress- yoga, meditation, journalling, then night sweats are not as frequent. Mainly I sleep just fine, unless- night sweats or my period (which tends to be heavy and makes me sleep lightly in fear of leakage). TMI sorry.
When kids were small- omg. That time was really hard and plunged me into a depression. I think many of us been there…
Hugs to you again! (your sleep clothes are so cute!)
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE!!!
There is no such thing as TMI over here, Daria! I understand completely! Gosh, sleep deprivation is just awful for the mental health. I’m glad you’re sleeping well!
&%*%& I know I commented yesterday again, and I came back to check and it is gone. What am I doing wrong!? GRRR. I think my comment talked about rockslides and how fortunate it was that you were not before it or in it! Where my parents live, they have had people we know die from rocks falling into the canyon, or come close. Their neighbor had a huge rock come down the mountain into the bed of his truck, but he survived!
I think wordpress has been glitchy lately, I’ve had some trouble on certain sites.
Rockslides are so devastating and so unpredictable! I’m glad your parents’ neighbour is okay!
Your bedroom looks so peaceful! I’m solid Make Your Bed! It takes so little time and effort but makes a big difference. I’ve gone through so many phases of life with good sleep and bad. Fortunately, I’m in a good phase right now!
Yay for good sleep, Bijoux! Yes, it takes such minimal effort, for such a big effect – making the bed!
Nicole, I love your “living my best life” posts. I do not sleep well and have not for years. I don’t anticipate that this will change, alas, so I make the (caffeinated) best of it. That said, how do people not make their beds? Does not compute.
I love your happy dream about Barkley, and on his birthday. What a lovely gift from the universe. <3
It does not compute for me either, Anne! A made bed is so easy and so much more comfortable, not to mention it looks better!
