A CAT SANDWICH

The dog is snuggled up against my side onto of the bed.






She settles down with just the lower half of her body against me.






Then the cat slips in underneath the covers between the two of us.







And happily goes to sleep for as long as she can.

IDEAL IDLE IDEAS

My granddaughter asked me today what was my favorite activity.

I had to say sleeping.

I've very good at sleeping. I'm good at falling asleep, and staying asleep, and going back to sleep when I don't stay asleep.

I don't have bad dreams - sometimes incredibly BUSY ones, but nothing like nightmares.

I've been sleeping for the past week on the most comfortable mattress I think I have ever experienced.

Right now, going to sleep sounds like a wonderful use of my time.

 

SLEEPING ON A RAILING

I have used sleeping medications ever since a hysterectomy  removed my ability to sleep longer than 2-3 hours at a time as well as my uterus.

But recently I went cold turkey to see if I could find rest on my own.

I am currently in the ideal situation for this - I live alone, with two dogs who are house-broken enough to make it through the night (with Cissy only leaving occasional offerings in the living room) - I do not have scheduled work hours - and the Internet is always working at 3 a.m.

I live in a rural area, with my nearest neighbor several acres away - and I have black-out curtains in my bedroom.

Surprisingly, it only took a few nights to settle into a routine.

I do need to go to bed right when I feel sleepy, even if it is unfashionably early, such as 8 p.m. (thank goodness for the DVR that can still record The Walking Dead, Castle, and Jon Stewart).

When I get up to pee around 2 a.m., I must go right back to bed.

And I must get right up when the dogs begin nosing around right before daybreak and take them on a longer-than-usual walk.

With my two daytime naps, I am getting MORE sleep than I was on the medication.

Pretty nifty, eh?







And the nicest thing about all of this - waking up alert and fairly cheerful.

But still - let's go take a nap right now, okay?

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

A bird, flipping through his feathers on a bush, who doesn't notice you standing by.

The baseball hat that fits better than your hair does.

Piles of colored Sharpie pens next to multi-colored papers.

The completely worn out paperback copy of a favorite book, thumbed through enough that both the front and back cover as well as the first ten pages are gone.

And why this happens, I have no idea, but just as I am falling asleep, I will suddenly giggle at something - a thought, perhaps the beginning of a dream, but something that suddenly makes me chuckle.