Sleep...

... is undoubtedly Step 2 in the "change your whole life in less than 17 years" program. I have been thinking about this for some time, but tonight it became increasingly evident that my sleep patterns have to change... HAVE... TO...

So, I was driving Seth and Grace to pre-teen retreat (driving Caleb, Ian, and Miah, too... but the reason we were driving was to get the "big kids" to retreat)... I tend to be a "car sleeper"... but NOT when I'm driving. I could hardly keep my eyes open, and it was 5:00 in the evening! That screams, "SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH YOUR SLEEP HABITS, LISA!"

Although it was a bit concerning when I realized I was so exhausted I could hardly get my kids to their destination, this was not the worst part. I did, indeed, arrive safely at retreat, got the kids registered, and dropped them off with a leaping hug and kiss from Grace and even a hug and, "I hope you have a great weekend, Mom!" from Seth... Good moment...

What really concerned me was what I did next...

I looked at my three "babies" and realized that in order to get us home safely, I was going to have to do something drastic. I drove through McDonalds and ordered a coffee. (dead pan to the audience)

LISA DOES NOT DRINK COFFEE... EVER...

If you do not know me, this probably sounds kind of stupid, but if you do know me, you understand. This was a big deal!

Now, granted, I ordered the least coffee like sounding coffee on the menu, but as I took that first sip, my body instinctively knew that we'd just escalated to a new level of exhaustion. If I'm going to become a coffee drinker, I might as well become a drug addict and an alcoholic while I'm at it. I'm not going to become any of these things... As I drove home, hoping that the caffeine would quickly find it's way to my bloodstream and keep me alert enough to make the whole drive, I knew this was a necessary fix... and a one time fix...

Step sleep is going to have to come in phases, but considering I never would have dreamed I'd even be ready to take another step only 5 days into this thing, I'm going with it. The first part of this step is going to be establishing a bed time.

It is at this point that I must admit that I don't like that. In comparison, step 1 was easy. I like God. I wanted to spend more time with Him. Truth told, I like sleep, too... and I want to spend more time doing it. But I am a night person. I'd like to sleep from... oh... maybe 2am until noon... consistently... Not gonna happen, Mommy...

I remember when I was a kid my mom used to tell me that I would have to wake up earlier when I grew up if I wanted to have a job. I told her I'd work the night shift. And in reality, if I had to work outside of our home, I'd choose 3rd shift every time. But unless I want to completely turn my kids' worlds upside-down, that's not gonna work right now... So I have to have a bed time (I'm avoiding this... can you tell?)...

I guess healthy adults are supposed to get 8 hours of sleep. I know people who do pretty well on 6 or 7. If I'm going to be real honest, I think I probably need 9. But I'm not going to get 9... There are just not enough hours in the day for that on a regular basis. So for now, I'm going to measure my progress based on 8 hours of sleep, but since I'm only going to start the bed time part of this right now, I'm only going to give myself credit for 4 productive hours. For awhile, I might actually get more than 8 hours, and considering the sleep deprivation I have subjected myself to over the years, that's OK... Setting an alarm will be another part in this process, completely. (Set the bed time, Lisa)...

I think it would be very healthy for me to go to bed at 10:00. Can't do it. For now, I'm going to set my bed time at 11:00... and that means that no matter what, that's when the light goes out... and the laptop goes off. This is going to require some serious discipline on my part, because that means my school work needs to be done by 11:00... and I have to stop clicking "refresh" on facebook by 11:00... and I have to be done watching "TV" (this is in quotes, because TV means something completely different at this house than it does to most people, but that's a story for another day)... and done shopping on-line... and done washing the dishes... and picking up the toys... and taking care of anything that needs to be in place for the following morning... by 11:00... And I guess to be fair, since I really think this is an hour later than it should be... I'm only going to count it as fixing 3 hours of my life... for now...

Assuming I can do it, this should bring my total "fixed life percentage" to 1.3%... OK... small... but progress...

Lisa