Sleepy?

Sleeping is one of my favorite all-time things to do. Is it weird to like sleeping that much? Probably. Considering I was totally that child in preschool who NEVER slept. Not even kidding. I recall one nap time watching my teachers practice CPR and trying to replicate it on my Snoopy stuffed animal (borrowed for the day from the preschool-ew).

When middle school rolled around and I was suddenly up at 6 am every day to catch the bus, sleep suddenly got a lot more interesting and desirable. I would fall asleep on the bus ride to school with my knees propped up on the seat in front of me, and when we got to school and I woke up, both my feet would be asleep. Getting off the bus like that? Fun. I also had a bad habit of falling asleep in Confirmation class.

Naps and falling asleep in class didn't hit until high school. I totally recall one teacher randomly shouting words from his lectures whenever I would fall asleep. I remember, because it always woke me up. That, and free periods were amazing nap times. I would fall asleep in the middle of the hallway. Sometimes I would be so exhausted after school I would immediately come home and get into bed, uniform and all. Often on the drive to and from school, I would "lose" portions of the drive (aka not be able to recall that I had driven that part of the road).

College made these habits even worse. Some classes I would purposefully sit in the front to try and not fall asleep, but I would still nod off. I have perfected the sleeping in class stance, there are two I chose from. 1) Crossing your arms, feet propped up on the chair in front of you, and just putting your head down (chin on your chest) and 2) Head in hand, pen in the other, and just close your eyes and go. My napping habits were the worst. I LOVED naps in college. People would make fun of me. I wouldn't fall asleep until 2-3 in the morning, and then I would be exhausted around 4 pm. Quick nap, and I was stuck in the vicious cycle. I would create schedules where I could sleep until 1 in the afternoon if I wanted. Every once in awhile I'd break it, and every once in awhile I'd pull a random all nighter. Once, when a fire alarm when off in my building at 4 am senior year, I was still awake. Pathetic.

These days, I'm not much better. My main job is mostly afternoon/evening hours, and the preschool is mornings, but sporadic. No one else is home during the day, and I pretty much have to stay home when I'm not working to watch the pups, so I can sleep as late as I want. Which leads again to the vicious cycle, though clearly not as bad as before. This morning though, man...horrible (and subsequently got me thinking about all this). I was that tired where you are awake and you are so exhausted you can't feel it except in your eyes. That point where you drop off without even realizing it until you are shaking yourself back awake. That literal "falling" asleep feeling. I used to get it really bad when I was driving to and from school and home...I have actually fallen asleep on I-81 before (good news, literally zero traffic around when I did). What is that fact? It's worse to drive tired than to drive drunk, or something?

Strangely enough, when I get up, even if I am exhausted, I am totally a morning person. Not that I am perky, but more so that once I am up, I am pretty good and being conscious and aware and alive. Nice, huh?