Sleepless Me!

Sleep why do you evade me so? This is a familiar question that goes running, galloping, leaping playing through my brain every night. So most of you that know me, you are aware of my sleep issues, but for the rest, here is how it goes. I go to bed at a decent hour...OK for some 11pm is late but it is what it is. I then lay there in my bed willing my brain to stop thinking, to stop fretting about everything. When that fails I think of song lyrics or do math problems in my head. All the while I really am dog tired, just not sleepy. I finally start to dose off around 3am, only to be awakened by Java Flave. That's right, the 2 and 1/2 year old, not the nearly 7 month old wakes up in the middle of the night. I often try to put him back in his bed, and that usually fails. I then spend the next few hours being crawled across and kicked. I eventually do fall asleep around 5 or 6, but shortly thereafter Aaron's alarm goes off or the Miss Orissa wakes up. Luckily we have a plan. Aaron feeds and does all the early morning things with her before heading off to work. That allows me to go back to sleep and stay that way until Orissa or the Flave wake up again. In total I usually get anywhere from 2 to 4 hours of sleep a night. This cycle persists until my crazy brain and body both get so exhausted that they no longer function even close to par and the give up their battle and I SLEEP. When that time comes it comes and I get 8 hours sometimes even 9 or 10 hours of actual sleep. Mind you it usually takes my mind and body fighting it out for 2, or all too often 3 weeks.
It is strange really. There are some nights where I will be sitting on the couch watching TV writing a blog or reading a book and I can't hardly keep my eyes open, so I stop what I am doing and go to bed. But lo and behold, as soon as the light is off and my head hits the pillow my eyes won't stay closed. I am not making this up. I'd like to blame it on restless leg syndrome but really my legs aren't the instigators, it's my brain. Can one have restless brain syndrome? 'Cause I am pretty sure that is my issue. Maybe they will come up with a miracle pill that will fix me. They have one for nearly everything else. I have thought about going to a sleep clinic, but I 'm afraid they will just tell me it's all in my head (and we have already established that fact, it is in my head, that is in essence my problem). So I just go on with my weird little sleep ballet. At least I am blessed with the ability to function quite normally for long periods of time on very little sleep, or my wonderful monkeys might not like me as much as they seem to. They are kind of my measuring stick. If I really start to lose patience easily I can tell I am reaching my utmost limits and if sleep continues to evade me I resort to those wonderful Advil PM gelcaps! They work wonders. So well that I have wait until a weekend cause they make me sleep 13 hours straight, oh they are so good one might even go so far as to call them grood (that is for all you homestarrunner fans)!
So if you ever come across me and I am either in super silly goofy mode or look ragged and worn out this is why. (Silly mode come one stage before utterly zonked, which is usually before wild-eyed crazed sleep deprived.) So just smile, remember my post, and be happy it's me and not you. ;)
Sleeping I think is a talent, some have it naturally, they are born with it, and others have to work very hard. I think it is obvious that I was not born with this particular talent. So for all you sleepers, bask in your mad skills!! For those of you who are like me, keep trying, practice practice!