Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

It's well before 6 a.m. and here I am. Up. The dogs aren't even awake. The only sounds I hear are the birds, which is nice, and the noise of my keyboard. I'd like to say the milkman woke me but he didn't. I was awake before he came this morning. (Yes, we have a milkman. He even delivers our milk in glass bottles. I know. How very 1950's.)

What I wouldn't give to be able to waste a few hours away in the morning sleeping late. I saw a newspaper article about organizing your life starting with the morning. It went something like this: When your alarm clock goes off, do you hit the snooze button and sleep another 10 minutes? When it goes off again, do you hit it again for another 10 minutes? Do you hit it again 10 minutes later? When it goes off again do you jump up in a panic realizing you only have 20 minutes to get out the door?

Oh I wish. I would love to sleep late, to laze in bed until 10 or 11. But I can't. I haven't set an alarm clock in at least 15 years. That is unless I have an early morning plane to catch and then I set two and wake hourly because I'm sure I have set them wrong, overslept and missed the plane. On those nights I probably shouldn't even go to bed.

Otherwise, I never set an alarm clock. No matter what time I go to bed or in what condition, I wake up at 5 o'clock. It's a curse. As soon as I become conscious, my mind starts to go. As hard as I try to distract myself, to clear my mind, I can't go back to sleep. Most mornings I give up after 30 minutes and get up.

The only good thing is that during that first half hour when I'm still in bed, I think I write my best stuff and come up with most of the topics for blog posts. Or at least that's when my creative juices seem to flow more easily. But oh how I would love to go back to sleep and wake to find it's 9 o'clock. Never happens. I suppose now it's because I'm old or going through menopause but that wasn't so 15 years ago.

Paul laughs at me because if I lay down on the couch in the evening to watch television, I fall asleep. It doesn't matter if it's the most fascinating program I have ever seen; turn on the TV and Sandy is asleep. But I've been up since 5 a.m., I'm tired! Fortunately I seldom have trouble falling asleep, just staying that way.

Last night was particularly short because I was up until nearly midnight. Four-thirty this morning I was looking at the clock, thinking Oh gawd, not already!

This afternoon I have a company lunch to go to. I received an invitation to a Top Producer Luncheon with the president and CFO. I think I better find some cucumber slices to put on these eyes so I don't look like something the cat dragged in. Falling asleep in my salad wouldn't look right either. Or maybe I could just go back to bed and try to sleep. Nah, where's that cucumber?

12 comments:

Katherine said...

I'm up by 5 am nearly every day, as well, because work mandates it. I, however, do not wake up spontaneously. I do the setting 2 alarm clocks and then check them throughout the night, because I'm sure I've overslept. This goes on nearly every night. Ah, I'm exhausted. But my days off, you bet I sleep until 9.

~Kristen~ said...

First off, love the 80's wham reference in the title! :-)

I have found that as I get older I wake earlier and earlier. Why is that?!? Though on work days I do need the alarm because though I can wake early on my own if I lay there long enough and put off getting out of bed I can fall back asleep. Then on the weekends when I have the time to sleep in, I can't! Oh, well, I look at it as at least I am making the most of all the minutes of the day! :-)

Michele said...

I do this all.the.time! Hate it. If you find something that makes you not look like a hag please pass it on. I could use it.

Unknown said...

I have never been a morning person, I believe my natural body clock would be something like up at 8 or 9am and asleep by 1am. I tend to nap if I am sedentary late in the afternoon.....and it drives me batty, makes me feel like a senior citizen.

Debby@Just Breathe said...

You sound a lot like me. I don't need to set an alarm. I do set one once in awhile but I always wake up before it goes off. Always!
I never hear my husbands alarm and he is a snooze button pusher. I don't get up at 5:30, usually 7am.
I usually stay up until 11:00.

"Cottage By The Sea" said...

I've waited for all my kids to grow up for the past 30 years so that I could sleep-in again. Now for some reason I can't stay asleep for more than 2 hours in a row. Cucumber, please?

Anonymous said...

Wow. I could've written this. Except for the milkman part...we don't have those, but how incredibly nostalgic!

Anyway, I have sleep issues. I, like you, am up bright and early every single day. It does not matter when I fall asleep, I'm still up before the sun and birds make their appearances. I am famous for turning on the TV and falling asleep within 30 minutes. Almost every night my husband has to put me to bed. Which we both sort of like.

I still haven't figured out how to reduce the baggage I sometimes wake up with under my eyes. I tap, tap, tap and put a cold cloth on the little guys, but alas, only time is the remedy that unpacks those suitcases.

Pam said...

I'm a little late to the party, but better late than never. Right?

I've never been a morning person, but as I've gotten older I find that I can no longer sleep late. Even on weekends. So far, I'm not getting up before the birds, but this has me very worried. Pam with no sleep is bound to be a terrible thing to witness. YIKES.

MissKris said...

In the 36 years Dear Hubby and I have been together he's been on early shifts for 31 of them. I've been getting up between 3:15 and 4:15 forever, it seems. Early morning is my most productive time. Before I began taking care of the grandboys I used to ride my exercise bike for an hour every morning, even before I ate breakfast. I got up, got in my old saggy baggy comfies, and hopped on the bike. I rode for years. I broke down two bikes and killed an odometer in the process...none of them could keep up with me, haha! Now I get my exercise running after two very busy/active boys and taking walk after walk after walk. I wish I had the time in the MORNING to do the majority of my blog writing, when my mind is fresh and so am I. But it doesn't work out that way. A few emails, a little blog visiting, and that's all I have time for. But somehow I muddle my way along. Have you tried Menoquil, Sandy? It's great for the insomnia, the sweats, the anxiety, and all that other fun stuff that comes along in the midlife years. I have a link to it at the bottom of my sidebar and it's great. You can take up to 4 a day but I take one before bedtime and it eases me down into the sleepies quite well. I wish I still had time for my "Menopausal Mama" blog that I had to quit because of lack of time. Boy, would THAT be a great place right now to unload a lot of midlife musings, haha!

Sultan said...

I have always envied you merry sunshine morning people. It is definitely a morning person's world.

Anonymous said...

Hey lady! It's Brittany (from Notes From the Grove)! I have a new blog and I've missed reading yours!

I am a snoozer. God, I could sleep forever. I WISH I was a morning person, but I'm just not. I am always rushing out the door because I just had to have those last five minutes. Wanna trade sometime, lol?

Rachel Cotterill said...

I'm absolutely the opposite - I struggle to get to sleep and strugle to wake up. I think I'd prefer it the other way round, but the grass is always greener... ;)

 

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