Everyman, Day 12
Minor crisis yesterday. Waking up went just fine-- the alarm clock quite catapults me out of bed when it goes off, and I've practiced enough that following that up with going upstairs for an apple is almost second nature. And my morning nap went fairly nicely, too. The problem started during day-phase.
I met up with lira_chan, Molly, and Laura at the mall around noon, and we had plans to hang out there for a while, then go over to Katie and Michael's afterwards to chill. Around 13:30, I began to get sleepy for my afternoon nap, which I wasn't too worried about at first. Unfortunately, I discovered that when I took my morning nap, I had forgotten to put my Shuffle (which has the white-noise track on it) back into my purse. So I had no way to block out sounds, and so I'd actually have to find a quiet place to nap. So we headed over to Katie and Michael's a bit early.
To my dismay, I learned-- maybe because I've been getting too much core sleep lately, maybe just because my brain is used to the habit-- that I can't nap on cue without the white noise playing. After spending five or ten minutes on their guest bed trying to coax my brain into a resting state without success, I came back downstairs, still exhausted and somewhat panicked, to beg MP3 devices off my friends. Luckily, Michael had a PSP I could borrow and Molly had headphones, so I borrowed a computer to transfer the white-noise track (I keep it on my USB flash drive, just in case) onto the PSP, and then I used that to nap to. Which went fairly well, actually, after all that excitement. And, since I was still there in the evening, I did the same thing again.
Lesson learned: whenever I leave the house, make absolutely certain I have my Shuffle with me. In addition, though, I need a backup device, just in case something happens to the Shuffle (it crashes, loses songs, I leave it behind, whatever). The ideal one in this case is my cellphone, since it's always on me, and it can play MP3 files. Unfortunately, that will have to wait until it gets back from the repair shop. I think I can manage until then with just my Shuffle, since it should generally be possible to construct some sort of backup solution, no matter where I am.
As for today? My new alarm clock is very good at getting me out of bed. Very good. So this is the second day in a row of me getting absolutely only 3 hours of core sleep, especially after that day full of sleep I had on Thursday. And boy, do I feel like crap. Sleep is gnawing at me like hunger, and it took every ounce of willpower I had not to climb back into bed this morning, even after I finished my apple. My morning phase was characterized by me desperately trying to find something to do and not give in to the urge to close my eyes and relax, just for a little bit. I did manage it, though. I actually took my morning nap a bit early, at 9:00. I do feel better now, though. I still feel sleepy, but it isn't a constant battle to stay awake like it was this morning. The sun (and other people) being up helps a lot with that. Hopefully my afternoon nap will help me feel even better, and hopefully tomorrow will be easier on me. I guess we'll see.
I met up with lira_chan, Molly, and Laura at the mall around noon, and we had plans to hang out there for a while, then go over to Katie and Michael's afterwards to chill. Around 13:30, I began to get sleepy for my afternoon nap, which I wasn't too worried about at first. Unfortunately, I discovered that when I took my morning nap, I had forgotten to put my Shuffle (which has the white-noise track on it) back into my purse. So I had no way to block out sounds, and so I'd actually have to find a quiet place to nap. So we headed over to Katie and Michael's a bit early.
To my dismay, I learned-- maybe because I've been getting too much core sleep lately, maybe just because my brain is used to the habit-- that I can't nap on cue without the white noise playing. After spending five or ten minutes on their guest bed trying to coax my brain into a resting state without success, I came back downstairs, still exhausted and somewhat panicked, to beg MP3 devices off my friends. Luckily, Michael had a PSP I could borrow and Molly had headphones, so I borrowed a computer to transfer the white-noise track (I keep it on my USB flash drive, just in case) onto the PSP, and then I used that to nap to. Which went fairly well, actually, after all that excitement. And, since I was still there in the evening, I did the same thing again.
Lesson learned: whenever I leave the house, make absolutely certain I have my Shuffle with me. In addition, though, I need a backup device, just in case something happens to the Shuffle (it crashes, loses songs, I leave it behind, whatever). The ideal one in this case is my cellphone, since it's always on me, and it can play MP3 files. Unfortunately, that will have to wait until it gets back from the repair shop. I think I can manage until then with just my Shuffle, since it should generally be possible to construct some sort of backup solution, no matter where I am.
As for today? My new alarm clock is very good at getting me out of bed. Very good. So this is the second day in a row of me getting absolutely only 3 hours of core sleep, especially after that day full of sleep I had on Thursday. And boy, do I feel like crap. Sleep is gnawing at me like hunger, and it took every ounce of willpower I had not to climb back into bed this morning, even after I finished my apple. My morning phase was characterized by me desperately trying to find something to do and not give in to the urge to close my eyes and relax, just for a little bit. I did manage it, though. I actually took my morning nap a bit early, at 9:00. I do feel better now, though. I still feel sleepy, but it isn't a constant battle to stay awake like it was this morning. The sun (and other people) being up helps a lot with that. Hopefully my afternoon nap will help me feel even better, and hopefully tomorrow will be easier on me. I guess we'll see.