The Insomniac Ramblings

It really hasn't been as long as you might think

2011-09-03T11:33:00.003-04:00

To say that I'm not the greatest blogger is pretty accurate. I'm truly not. In the last few months I've often just stay in bed trying to sleep without getting up. Sometimes it is just hard to get up.

Other times I've only been able to get through the night after having taken something.

I did have a pretty miserable summer. The insomnia was exacerbated by the cold urticaria. The urticaria has been mostly under control after seeing the allergist and getting my very own Epi-pen. Still getting to that point a few weeks ago would have tried the patience of a saint.

Today is the end of a 48-hour no sleep. That particular cycle broke last night. Now I have to try to catch up on sleep before the end of the weekend.

Peace,

The Insomniac

Things had been going so well.

2010-11-10T01:04:00.000-05:00

It has been almost a month of decent sleep. Sadly it hasn't lasted. Looks like I'm going to be up late tonight. I'm not feeling the least bit sleepy.

Nothing exciting has happened in the past few weeks. Halloween was fun. We carved pumpkins and went Trick or Treating with friends. My birthday came and went. Nothing eventful happened though.

I wonder if that says something though. When I wasn't sleeping well, things fell apart. There was drama. Or maybe it simply says I'm boring.

The Insomniac

I'm so sleepy or time for a refill

2010-10-12T03:32:00.000-04:00

First before anything else. I've got to say I have no idea what the title of the previous post means. The last word is "medication." Hmm.. The things I think of when taking Ambien. Oy!

The second thing I want to say, is yes, the bathroom had a water problem that night. There was actually water leaking from the second floor into the dining room.

Tonight I'm out of meds. I'm wide awake and very sleepy at the same time. I've got a headache   It is going to be a long day. I have been to bed. I went about 11ish. I did fall asleep but kept waking up. I probably woke up 6 times between 11p and 2:30a. Uggh. Why bother anymore. The good news is the chores are done and the laundry is nonexistent.

Tell me about going to sleep. What runs through your mind when you are trying to go to sleep. I've realized that I do not think of good things. Everything from rehashing arguments that happened years ago with people I no longer have contact with to financial problems to being embarrassed all over again about something that happened in childhood. Never sunshine and flowers. Always doom and gloom.

I wonder why that is. I wonder if it happens to everyone. Maybe if I had sunshine and flowers to send me off to sleep I'd go to sleep easier. Can I make that happen? I do not have a bad life. I'm fairly content and on good days would even consider myself happy.

Definitely something to think about at times other than when I'm trying to go to sleep.

Hope you are sleeping well.

The Insomniac

I wonder if my life is exposed because of this mediation.

2010-10-09T02:02:00.000-04:00

I mean I sleep for almost 12 house when I'm on the pills. I'll do this five or six days straight. Then one day up out of nowhere here comes this night that not even the Ambien really touches.

It isnt' really a true resistance. If it were I'd need to raise the dosage on my own every night then raise the dosage again in a few weeks. This is different. This is an intermittent occurrence. It happened when September 24 and 30 and tonight. I know what tonight was. I stayed up late watching NCIS episodes. To me this pretty much proves that I MUST sleep on a schedule.

Oksy the little half I took is now demanding I get back in bed. Sleep well everyone.

P.S. I think I hear my bathroom flooding.

The Insomniac

I must have caught up with my sleep

2010-09-30T04:31:00.002-04:00

About 3 this morning I finally had enough sleep. At least my mind things so. My eyes... not so much. The body is willing. I'm thinking about baking bread when I get done here. Or maybe making scones. Oh, yeah. I'm feeling like a starved desert wanderer.

Being hungry is not what woke me up though. I have been drinking entirely too much tea of late. Of course the second thing I did when I got out of bed was let the dog out and put on the kettle. Hopefully that fills the hole in my stomach until I get the baked goods made.

I'd been every night with the Ambien since I got it in my hot little hands. I've slept 10-12 hours every night until now. Tonight I got 8. I was afraid that I'd not post here again. The doctor perscribed enough refils for every night for 2/3 of a year.

I like this quiet. No one is up and moving, no TV, no vehicles up or down the road. I could probably get some serious reading done. right now it is Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I'm not going to lie. I find it difficult. The dialog I can handle. The endless descriptors are giving me fits. Austen uses 50 words when 5 would do.

I'll finish it though. I am enjoying the story. I've been told that Pride and Prejudice is better. Or maybe I'll look into the Bronte sisters's works. I've never read Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre.

Off to get started baking. On the way to the kitchen I have to find the musical tone that seems to be alerting every 5 minutes.

Have a great day and sleep well tonight.

The Insomniac

I'm back

2010-09-24T00:49:00.002-04:00

I came back a second time for this post. I aptly named it, huh? Anyway the reason I came back was because I noticed another follower. I'm so excited. I think it is very cool. But when I started tonight's post I did not know I have a second follower. So this shout out is to the second follower "Hey! I am glad you are getting some kind of entertainment value out of this. Thanks for making me feel special. If I knew who you were I'd send you a fruit basket. ;-}

Man, if I get any more I'm going to have to start a Word file to keep them straight. I know the first IRL. But for now No. 2 will have to simply identified as No. . 2. who I do not want confused by No3 if ever one of those shows up.

Okay the rest of the blog is below. It is what I did before I found No. 2

I'm back and on an Ambien induced ramble. Yes, I have the medication and have administered it. What? You want to know why I am still awake at midnight-19? Yes, I do also. I'm wondering if it is because it is generic stuff.

I feel just a bit light headed and am craving Timbits. Mmmm and a mocha latte.

Although I want to type and talk to somebody it is becoming a problem. The RLS in the legs is starting to say ugly things. My sight is coming in and out of focus. I may not have long to stay.

But in the mean time I want to say thank you for being available to listen to me and my many ramblings. Thank you for helping me feel better about myself. My peeps in blog land, you know I love you. Really there are no peeps in Blogland. I am here alone many nights of the week. Here alone.

But wait! I'm not so far gone as to forget my follower. She may not love me yet, but I know she likes me.

Of course! I have one follower. Suck it up for the follower! Now that the phrase is chanting 'round in my head - Suck it up for the follower. And Follower I know you know I know who you are and I assure you this is me with the good meds. That is all.

Yeah, I received an email from the follower not too long ago. I don't remember in this present state of mind if I replied. I should check that tomorrow. LOL! I won't remember any of this tomorrow.

I say things I absolutely positively mean when my mind is missing. I wonder where it goes. Focus! Thank the good great Lord avove that He gave some computer guy the mind that would think up the squiggley read line to let those of us who like to chant when we are in toxicated see what we spell wrong. Wait a moment. I lost my focus. Focus! Oh, yes, I was going to tell you about hte fashion show.

This is not the first day I've had this script. I had some last night. I went along quietly to my daughter's room. Her stuffies spoke to me. One in particular said she wanted to do a fashion show to show off the new clothes from BAB. I said, "Sure, why on earth not."

Yeah... I did not remember that this morning. Sweetie pie was a bit disappointed. So to ease her disappointment we had the fashion show across her bed with all the stuffies.

Okay yous guys have to help me. I can't see the squiggley red line except the one under squiggley. Now I know I can not have immediate help because I'm alone and you... can't... find... me. (Down hackers! That was not a challenge) What I mean by help is to not become the grammar nazi's or the spelling po-po

We all have to play nice with the insomniac. She does not like to be pushed around or intimidated. especially when the doctor has given her permission to have and take the good medicine. If you make terrible comments the Insomniac will loose her patience and go to bed.

Man I hope I can get up those stairs and get to bed with out killing myself. Wish me luck. If you do not hear from me in a few days I'm either in the hospital for multiple fractures or doing something fun because I'm not exhausted.

Good night everybody.

The Insomniac

It was a good day

2010-09-18T01:42:00.002-04:00

I had a good day. Yes, I was exhausted through most of it. I did not do much around the house. I did wash and dry pants so I could get dressed. Once I got dressed I went to see a friend.

I did not realize exactly how good a friend she is until today. We have children about the same age have the quite a few of the same interests and go to the same church. We have talked on occasion and emailed more frequently than that.

Part of my stress was having no one to talk to. It is not the same talking to the hubby as it is talking to a girlfriend. While I can speak about my hopes, dreams, fears and day-to-day life with the hubby. He doesn't get it the way another woman will. He freely admits this.

Since we moved to this town a year ago, I have not had that kind of connection with anyone. So I visited my friend - quite possibly my bestie. We talked about quite a few things. Oh, we talked. Neither one of us realized how much time had passed. I no longer feel so alone in the world and am very blessed to have found her.

There were other good things that happened. I got rid of some more stress by bowing out of a toxic situation. I really cannot say more about what the situation was. Again, maybe one day I'll have readers. I'd hate to piss off the other party (not family by the way) by airing dirty laundry.

The fact of the matter is I'm fairly certain I am shed of the situation. That means a lot of reduced stress. The little bit of family stress has been resolved. (Sadly on a separate but related subject we did not get the house. The one for us is out there we may have to wait a while though.) Right this minute I'm pretty much stress free.

Good days have been few and far between. I hope and pray that is going to start to be the exception instead of the norm. I think once this exhaustion from lack of sleep is a thing of the past I'll be doing pretty good.

You all sleep well.
The Insomniac

Stress

2010-09-16T00:45:00.000-04:00

Oh, my word! The stress from the last two days has been horrific. I did not realize how stressed I am until just a few minutes ago. Stress is probably my number one trigger. I've not identified it until just now. I generally say that I've got something on my mind or that I can't turn my thoughts off long enough to get to sleep.

Isn't that interesting. I do try to keep stress out of my life as much as possible. This blog seems to help with that. I know it isn't much to interest a wide audience, but that is not the purpose. I suppose the interest is a therapeutic journaling type thing. If that is the case I guess I should not complain about not having readers.

So, I bet you are wondering what the stress it. Well, it is a family situation that I can't get into on the internet. I know I don't have any reader right now. But just maybe, one day, I might. Oh, and the headache it would cause within the family if it is ever known that I aired family problems for all the world to see. Like Phineas and Ferb said in their PSA, "Fame is fleeting, but the internet is forever." I just think I have stress now. Right? Huh?

I know, I know. I've teased you with a small glimpse, and have vowed to never say another word. What a horrible person I am. Don't you hate that? Oy! I've had it happen to me in the past. I'd like to think I'm mature enough not to try to wheedle it out of someone. *Snort and giggle* I did say that I'd like to think I am that mature. I know I'm not.

The last time my husband came home with a juicy bit of work related gossip I got really mad. He is like a clam. If it comes down the pipe that something is hush-hush, he will keep the secret to the grave. The funny part is when I eventually find out and bring it up. He still keeps mum. Gotta love that.

It is still early. I wonder if I should stay up. I think I have the stress managed. If I do not thing about what tomorrow will bring I'll be okay. At least it is long distance stress. There is no law that says I have to answer the phone or read the email. Okay, call me a coward. I have to keep my sanity some how, don't I?

Sleep well,

The Insomniac

It has been a week

2010-09-15T01:46:00.000-04:00

It has been a week since I've posted. So it has been a week that I've gotten some decent sleep. I felt a new bout coming on last night, but was able to work though it. Tonight not so much.

So what brought this on, you might wonder. A house. Specifically The House. We have been thinking for a while that it would be good to homestead. We are not big conspiracy theorists, but with the economy and the ever so very slight possibility They are right it would be nice to have some land to work in a small way.

We were not even thinking about anything right away. Like so many others right now the credit is not in excellent shape. Then my parents came to visit. My mother and I were on an outing. We drove by a very old, very large Vicotrian that is for sale in town. She said, "We could all live in that one." The seed was planted and we are all growing to like the idea.

The Victorian did not work for us. Too much work to make everyone comfortable. So we looked and looked and looked at houses. Some were... eh, okay. One was great. We made an offer but someone else beat us too it. Still others, for one reason or another, did not suit.

Our search has not taken us out of the city proper. Not something my mom wanted. They are back at their house, and not able to look. My husband, child and I looked at a house yesterday evening. It sits on quite a bit of acreage. Enough to put up a chicken coop, plant a very large garden and possibly put up a green house.

The house itself is better than okay, but not yet up to great status. It needs a bit of work and a whole lot of paint. It has good bones and is livable while remodeling is going on. The remodeling is what is keeping me awake.

I"m picturing various scenarios for remodeling every area of the house,. The bathrooms are tiny and need help. There is plenty of room to expand though. I need to move two sets of stairs. I'm trying to figure out where to move them. We do need to add on handicapped features to some of the downstairs.

Every bit of it is doable. I wonder where to start first. I really want my parents to see the potential and like it. as much as we do.. I don't know that we would find something like it again.

Now that I've got that out, maybe I'll be able to sleep.

Good night.

The Insomniac

Sleep aid disasters

2010-09-08T00:39:00.000-04:00

I was about ready to call it a night when something I was reading elsewhere on the 'net prompted me to post. I'll talk about my most hideous experiences with over-the-counter sleep aids.

For many many people melatonin is a Godsend. For some, like me, melatonin is evil. Instead of me gently falling asleep after taking a melatonin I am wired. I don't know why. No one has been able to explain it to me.

The first time I took it, I was awake all night. I tried every single sleep technique I know without success. The next morning I was zombified. I thought maybe I'd gotten a bad one or maybe not enough.

A few months later I tried again. Different brand, different season. I was up in the middle of the night scrubbing floors, just about wired for sound.

The other OTC sleep aid that I can't take is one of the PM medicines. On top of the insomnia I have restless leg syndrome. (In my case the RLS is genetic and I've had it all my life.) Since one particular OTC nighttime pain reliever/sleep aid activated the RLS I've never tried another.

You should have seen me. Walking around the house trying to get the legs to calm down. Sometimes walking, sometimes curled up in a ball. Other times stretched out as far as I could to get the RLS alleviated. And of course I had to do it twice - just to make sure.

So the moral of these stories is to be careful what you try for sleepless nights. What works for some may not work for you at all. And just might make things worse.

Hopefully I'm off to sleep.

The Insomniac

Just Rambling

2010-09-05T01:28:00.002-04:00

There isn't much to report tonight. I'm awake. I knew when I went to bed I went too early. I'm up now.

Today was an interesting and busy day. We cleaned up the house. Things looked like Hurricane Earl cut a path right down the middle of the house. We did have some rain from the outer bands. The heat left me in a puddle on the sofa. so things here were at their absolute worse. The cloudy day lowered the temps to a more reasonable level.

So we cleaned. We also went to the market, got the oil changed in the vehicle, ate a crappy lunch out and stopped by the office supply store for ink cartridges.

Oh, let me tell you about lunch. I hadn't been to a buffet type steak house in years. There is one within driving distance so we thought we'd try it out. The buffet menu looked good, but we were not in the mood for pork loin. So we ordered steaks. I got a rib eye, baked potato and the salad bar.

The salad bar had the usual offerings. Unfortunately there was no vinaigrette dressing. I settled for what I hope was oil and vinegar from the little bottles on the side. My husband dipped from the blue cheese bucket. When we began to eat he said his salad tasted funny. Come to find out what he put on his salad was not blue cheese. I think it was some kind of creamy Italian. Oy!

The steak was the only redeeming quality to my entire meal. The steak was good. The potato I received was cut in half and I"m guessing the quickly congealing yellow stuff oozing from it was some kind of fake butter product. It was not a culinary texture I wanted to experiment with. I poked it with my fork and found half of it quite hard. Hubby said his steak was kind of crappy, but the potato was good. Our little one seemed quite happy with the offering from the children's menu. The soft serve ice cream was a big hit too.

We don't think the meal was worth what we paid for it. So we scratch that eatery from our list of places to visit a second time.

Next in our day was the grocery shopping. All I can say is I believe 50 is the new 20. As in dollars. I'm officially voicing my displeasure over the quality and cost of the average supermarket in America. Give me a shout out if you agree.

I'm going to go eat a bowl of cereal and hope that helps with the falling asleep process. Here's hoping you and yours have a great night's sleep.

So hot!

2010-09-03T00:51:00.000-04:00

This heat is unreal. It is not normal for this area at this time of year. Normally the schools have snow days. Yesterday they had a heat day. It was too much for them to cope. It still is too much for me to cope well.

Our temps are normally about 65*F this time of year. We have been suffering through much hotter than that. Closer to 95*F. Central air conditioning is not common in homes this far north. We hardly ever experience anything more than about 90*F in the middle of July. After 5--7 days of that things start to cool off.

There are trees trying to change the color of their leaves. Mother Nature fooled them.

And of course this has influenced my ability to sleep. I tried in the bed. I tried on the sofa. I suppose I'll try again later. The second floor is about 20*F hotter than downstairs. The results of that extra heat is hotter bedrooms. Downstairs is much cooler but the sofa is not comfortable.

I think I did fall asleep for about 20 minutes. I woke myself up. Which basically means I took a nap.

All I can say is, "C'mon hurricane Earl!" If the hurricane that is in the Atlantic heads north for a day or two things will cool down here. Normal temps will be wonderful. I am looking forward to crisp fall days and nights.

Sleep well.

Things have been fairly decent

2010-08-31T15:46:00.000-04:00

Well, I have not posted in a few weeks. I had house guests for a week. That required a bit of sleeping medication. I got plenty of sleep then. Of course it was not natural sleeep, but it did the job. I was able to keep up with my guests during the day. For the last 10 days or so, I have some restless nights.

Not wanting to take any more meds I tried to sleep naturally. It was hit or miss. Some nights I could sleep okay some nights not so much. I did not bother to get out of bed. (I know, I know. Wrong thing to do.) so I did not post.

There has not been much going on in this small town. We are house hunting. That has been interesting. I'm going to look at one today and possibly one tomorrow.

School starts tomorrow too so that will be interesting.

I'm going to put up a new poll. I'm wondering how exercise relates to sleep. To get a good general idea (if anyone responds) I might put up a couple over the next few weeks.

Don't you just hate that

2010-08-04T01:22:00.000-04:00

I went to bed sleepy and tired. No sooner than I put my head on the pillow I was wide awake.

It is raining. I usually find the sound soothing. The little bit of thunder I hear sounds gentle in the background. Nope, it wasn't the rain keeping me awake. It seems a little stuffy in the bedroom. I had to close the windows in hopes of not hearing that saw going wide open at 7:30 in the morning. Tomorrow will make three days in a row. Now that I'm awake at 1a.m. I'm not looking forward to the morning.

There is really nothing on my mind. Bills are paid, money is about average so no worries there. Things are pretty clean and tidy. No arguments with the Man of the House. The Child of the House is healthy and happy.

So. why. can't. I. sleep? Uggghhh! To top it off, I have nothing of interest to say on the blog. I could go on with the, "Oh, poor me. I can't sleep" whine. But who wants to read about that?

Oh, speaking of readers. Did you see? I had a comment that was not from me. I was so excited. Someone out in the cyber realm read this blog - or at least one post on this blog. Cool!

No, it doesn't take much to excite me. Maybe if I had a life things would be different. We moved to this town almost a year ago. I haven't found that one person to connect with yet. Sometimes life is hard being an introvert.

Better stop now or I'll start to whine again. LOL

Let's see what else can I possibly write about? Oh, I know some people blog about books they have read. The last book I read was about 2 weeks ago. Within 48 hours of purchase I completed the newest Matthew Riley book 5 Greatest Warriors. I enjoyed it. I've read the series which started with the book 7 Deadly Wonders by the same author.

The book was not the next great classic, but it was a fast fun read. The action moved quickly. I hated it that Riley killed off one of the main characters. But anything else said will be a spoiler.

And I need to point out that I'm not getting paid by B&N or Mr. Riley to hawk his book.

Maybe I should find something boring to read. A tech manual maybe. Or the begets in the Bible. Maybe I should try again to go to sleep.

Welll..... I was asleep

2010-08-02T09:33:00.000-04:00

Oy! What is unreasonable? What is unreasonable noise at an unreasonable time of day? Can a lawn mower run at 7am without disturbing anyone? How about a chop saw at 7:30am?

It was the chop saw at 7:30.

I've got some unreasonable neighbors with loud obnoxious trucks who have, in the past, made a lot of noise at odd times of the day. Being rudely awakened at 7:30 after finally getting to sleep at 2am was the straw. But, this time it wasn't them making all the noise.

I don't normally complain about noise. I live in town and expect some type of noise. The snow plow at 4am is a necessity. The garbage truck emptying the Dumpster at the business behind my house at 6am is a necessity. A chop saw running.... bzzz..... bzzzz. bzzz at 7:30, 7:32, 7:34, 7:35 and on and on through the morning is unreasonable. So I called the cops. (I apologize to the guys with the trucks - this time. It wasn't the usual suspects.)

They thought it was unreasonable also, but their hands are tied on the matter. Since most people are up and at work or school at 7:30 on a Monday morning it isn't unreasonable to expect construction noise. So people who work shift work are destined to listen to the noise all day and not get any sleep. The mom trying to get the baby to sleep is destined to have trouble doing that because of the noise all day. And chronic insomniacs who have finally gotten to sleep are destined to be rudely awakened by the noise of a chop saw buzzing two houses over.

Yes, I know common decency would dictate no noise before 8am. Unfortunately that is not the case where I live.

Oh, and yeah, I did go and ask the neighbor if he would mind having the construction crew start at 8am instead of the crack of dawn. He said he didn't see my point. I suppose he has no common decency.

Some things that may help

2010-07-30T23:55:00.000-04:00

Over the years I've tried many different things to help with going to sleep. Since I suffer with sleep onset insomnia my tips are all related to getting to sleep

Things I've tried that work:

Medication - either prescription or OTC.
A sleep schedule - going to sleep and getting up at the same times every day. Right now my schedule is so far off I'm not sure I'll get back to it.
A bowl of cold cereal. I think this is the old "warm milk" treatment. The thought of warm milk is fairly disgusting. The milk does the job cold, and the cereal is a bonus.
A bed time snack
Avoid naps during the day.
Visualization. This is my mind starting to dream before I'm asleep
Any variation of counting sheep. For me it is the Hail Mary over and over
Keep the bed a place to sleep. No reading or watching TV in bed

Things that I've heard work but have not tried:

Sleep with your head facing north
White noise
Back rub
Taking a warm bath
Drinking warm milk
Drinking herbal tea

Things I've tried that do not work for me:

Get up earlier in the morning. This just makes me over tired which causes me not to be able to sleep. Actually this insomnia bout I'm battling now started this way.
Avoid caffeine, tobacco and alcohol. I don't smoke or drink (often) so this one doesn't apply. I have gone cold turkey off the caffeine for months at a time. It doesn't faze my insomnia.
Getting (more) physical exercise during the day.
Melatonin. I've got to be some kind of freak of nature because melatonin actually hypes me up.

If someone actually reads this, please feel free to list anything you've tried that worked or that you've heard of working.

Looks like another sleepless night

2010-07-30T02:39:00.000-04:00

The time is 2:17 a.m. I am wide awake. I went to bed at 12:30 a.m., thinking I would actually sleep. I was sleepy and tired. I almost made it! Then a damn semi truck came into town. The driver used the air brakes. The noise echoed all over town. So I've checked in on my Facebook account, played Frontierville, and started this blog.

The idea came to me when I was posting on a message board that I frequent. There are a number of insomniacs members on this particular board. We started a small social group for support. I posted a fairly long ramble about my day and the things which were running around through my mind that night.

After I posted, I felt better and was able to sleep. At the very end of that post I thought, "I ought to create a blog so I don't take up bandwidth on the message board."

Now I have yet another blog that I'm responsible for. Not that I blog very often on any of the blogs. This one might be medicinal though. Who knows. "Blogging! The cure for insomnia." Ha! If only it were that easy.

There wasn't much going on. Like I said, I was almost asleep. I really don't have much chasing around in my head tonight.

The dog is still missing. I did call the pound, but they did not have it.
My parents are on the way for a visit
The Child of the House may have conflicting day camps scheduled. One if free and the other has a nominal cost. Yeah, I know: just look at a calendar.
It is starting to cool off in my area. But my feet are hot in the covers, my arms are cold out of them. Oy! I should have on shorts and a flannel top. Do I? No.

It has been an hour now. I'm starting to yawn again. Hopefully I won't contemplate the success of this blog and have delusions of grandeur. But it would be so cool if someone actually read this, and I had thousands of followers. Yeah, like that is going to happen.

The very first post which was posted elsewhere*

2010-07-30T02:12:00.000-04:00

Originally written 24 July 2010

Well it is 1:20 and no trip to Sleepyville on the horizon. I'm tired. I'm cranky. I've had a busy week and one of the dogs is missing. So I'm worried. I wouldn't mind if I knew what happened to her.

I'm not overly fond of this dog so I don't mind if someone picked her up. She did get out of the house, it wasn't like someone came into the yard and stole her. She may be lost and tired and hungry. I hope she has a new home instead of being lost and alone. I feel guilty since I'm the one who left the door open.

She won't come when we call her when she is outside. For some reason we do not have good dogs that stay in the yard close to home. They bolt first chance they get. I've looked for her, but since she won't come and is much faster than me it is a lost cause.

The Child of the House didn't bat an eye when she found out the dog was missing. So I don't have to deal with that. But I am experiencing guilt and a bit of worry. What if she runs out into the highway and gets hit. What if she runs outi into the highway and causes a wreck? These questions are causing me to dread even trying to get to sleep.

Maybe if I drank I could have enough alcohol to get me to sleep. Of course I never want to start being dependent on alcohol so I won't even start that. It would be entirely too easy. The alcoholic insomniac - what a wonderful life that would be. No, I'll simply suffer through.(Which is why I only get 7 Ambien when I need them. I so could (and have) abuse them when I have 30 at a time. )

I went to that baby shower. Oh, the food. There was so much food. Probably 20 women there and they each brought enough to feed 5 people. I got lost on the way there. I drove around the wrong end of the lake for 30 minutes before realizing I was never going to get to the house number I was looking for and must be on the wrong road. What was supposed to be a 15 minute drive ended up being an hour. I was 45 minutes late and steaming mad at the county road department for their lack of signage. I had even Mapquested before I left the house so I would have proper instructions/directions. Can I get another OY!

Well, I've typed for 20 minutes now. I did let the remaining dog in and out. I kept a good eye on him. He actually belongs to the Child of the House. She might get upset if this one got away. Nope, he doesn't stay in the yard or come when called while outside either.

He did bark as if some thing was out there If it were the other dog she would have come to him.

I suppose I don't mind rambling on and on here because people have the option to read it or leave it.
Now before I get maudlin I'm going to go. Maybe I should look into a "Rambilngs of an Insomniac" blog.

Instead the blog ended up being called :The Insomniac Ramblings."

*Some parts of the original post removed or re-written to protect privacy of others.