I'm jealous of people who go straight to sleep. I can't do that without drugs. Sometimes I'll fall asleep on my own after an hour or so, or I'll stay awake half the night staring at the ceiling.

I've had some form of insomnia all my life; there has always been at least two nights a week (and never the same two) where I would be wide awake until 3 or 4 AM. It's just gotten worse as I've gotten older.

When I visited my brother in September, I found that one glass of Wild Turkey put me to sleep like magic. I just really don't see that as a healthy every-night option, y'know?

When I visited my brother in September, I found that one glass of Wild Turkey put me to sleep like magic. I just really don't see that as a healthy every-night option, y'know?

How big a glass? Because really, I don't see that as any worse than .5mg of Ambien or something.

then sleep soundly until maybe 3 minutes before my alarm, when I would awaken refreshed.

Oh, god, that used to be me. Now, with the trazadone I've been actively and OOCly mad at the alarm clock every morning. Even with the Ambien, that never happened (I would wake up before it, or wake up cleanly). And before the sleep disorder, I would fall asleep in under 30 minutes, and always be up shortly before the alarm. Good god, I miss those days.

Today I realised that "taking meds at 6" means that on school nights I can have no life. Hell, today it was just a messy ride home and I slid in at 6. And that was with working what doesn't even count as a late night.

But don't listen to the part about bugs, or you'll never sleep again.

Especially if you live where lisah and I do. But I did, and have been able to write it off as "not that corner of the city!" Which is kinda the happy-with-neighborhood Baltimoron's mantra. Like in my old apartment, we apparently had a bad mouse problem. Me, with the 1-3 cats, did not. OH! I don't know if I mentioned it here, but turns out, my old apartment? In the last huge storm, roof pretty much failed and flooded. Top floor. Flooded. I was starting to see leaks when I left (roof was only 6 years old or so) and they weren't doing shit. SO GLAD I have a mortgage. And a new roof.

My old apartment was infested, not as bad as that lady, but bad. I can't believe how long I lived there! I kept everything I used in the kitchen in the fridge.

Listen to him on the rerun This American Life from last week. But don't listen to the part about bugs, or you'll never sleep again.

I heard bits of that but not his segment. I'll maybe have to check it out? Now I'm afraid it will too creepy for me!

I'm a little afraid I'll try to punch through the window next to my bed sometime. I've hit the windowsill but that's it so far.

Speaking of bedbugs, though, my friend's dad wrote a hilarious entry in her sister's blog this week about bedbugs and what wusses modern folks are having to deal with them:

[link]

I don't have much trouble getting to sleep, but since the advent of parenthood I tend to have a fairly light sleep and am easily roused.

The idea of going to sleep and sleeping a solid eight hours (which used to be my norm) is completely ungraspable to me now.

For those of you who have trouble going to sleep, I'm curious if you consciously try to redirect your thoughts from verbal to visual? In my experience, wordy thoughts make my brain spin and miss sleep, but images make me drift off.

if you consciously try to redirect your thoughts from verbal to visual?

That implies they start out verbal, which mine don't.

I have to focus the words, so I sing boring songs to myself. Sometimes I hum out loud, which also helps regulate my breathing.