Tag Archives: lack of sleep

Night Owl or Morning Lark?

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Originally posted in 2015

hands up

I don’t know about you but for me, one of the least desirable aspects of getting longer in the tooth is lack of sleep. Gone are the nights of 10-hour slumbers like in my teens. In my 20s-30s I often achieved a steady nine hours. In my 40s-50s, eight hours hit the spot. Ah, those were the days.

Now that I’m in my 60s, my snoozing time lasts about as long as an Oliver Stone movie, generally just over three hours. I’m then awake for two, followed by another hour or two of semi-consciousness. I tell ya, if I keep going like this, when I hit 70, the act of a prolonged blink will constitute a nice little nap.

dear 3 a.m

I suppose it doesn’t help that I’m a night owl. Now don’t get me wrong; it’s not my fault. I blame my mom. Like my sister and me, she stayed up well past midnight, needing to force herself to sleep around 2:00 a.m. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for a visit from the Sandman, does it?

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My Pets’ Abundant Quirks and Endearing Qualities

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We all have our quirks and endearing qualities that help make us well- rounded individuals. For instance, one of my quirks is if I see something on the floor that one of my pets dragged in from the yard, even the tiniest twig, I have to stop and pick it up. No pretending it’s not there. So with 10 pets, my quirkiness is a daily occurrence inside my home. An endearing quality of mine? I’d say…

Turns out pets also have certain idiosyncrasies, as you well know if you have pets. I happen to find their quirks are much quirkier and their endearing qualities, well…downright endearing. Take Skip, my oldest mutt. He has so many quirks I could fill this entire post with them and still need a Chapter 2.

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Mr. Sandman, Where Art Thou?

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I’m screwed (so to speak). And mostly because I don’t sleep. Well, I sleep, just not enough. And therein lies the problem.

You see, I read recently that lack of sleep could result in heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, memory loss, stroke, anxiety, obesity, and a higher chance of injury. But that’s not all. There’s more, but I’m depressed now. Uh oh, that’s one of the symptoms!

Turns out I AM injury prone and my memory isn’t what you’d call stellar. Not even close. But I noticed they didn’t mention crabby and I’m here to tell you, that’s definitely a symptom. Just ask my pets after I’ve had 4 broken hours of shut-eye.

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Daylight Saving Time

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I don’t know about you but daylight saving time always throws me for a loop. As you already know, I’m a night owl. I don’t do mornings well but I’m sorta forced to by my animal menagerie. They see to it I don’t reach the recommended 8 hours of sleep per night. In fact, they are quite adept at it.

I ask you, does any woman over age 60 get 8 hours of sleep? If so, I have yet to meet her. And if I ever do, I’m pretty sure I’d hate her. Wait, hate is too strong. Let’s say dislike immensely. But that’s only because I’d envy her. Then I’d dislike her because I envy her. Confused? Me too…

Now don’t get me wrong; I was unaware of the time change last Sunday. Can you believe it? (That was rhetorical.) Only caught my mistake when I glanced at my phone early that morning. Talk about being oblivious…

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Animal House

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what was I thinking

I promised you in a March, 2014 blog (Here We Go Again), that I was perfectly happy with my 3 dogs and 2 cats. No way was I going to adopt another 4-legged creature anytime soon.

But you know what they say about best laid plans

You see, I foster “challenging” cats in an attempt to make them adoptable. These felines are what I call conflicted. I think that sounds so much nicer than psycho, don’t you? Turns out cats are just like people in how they can be a tad unbalanced.

Not what I meant

Not what I meant

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