A good link

Here is a helpful link about how to get a good night's sleep.

Bad shoulder

Something happened to me.

My left shoulder has been no good lately.

Usually I sleep on my left side, but I have been unable to do that for a few weeks.  Yes, weeks.

I'm tired.  Also sore.  Also, if this turns into something as chronic as my neck and shoulder pain, I am going to get fat.  Because it hurts to move.

Sorry I haven't been posting.  If anybody stops by, please leave a comment and tell me what position you get into to fall asleep...

...and, please tell me, what do you do when you can't sleep in that position?

Nightstands and aesthetics

Laura was home for a week over Easter.

When Lu is home, we watch a lot of HGTV.  We just do.

So over the last week, among other things, I saw quite a few master bedroom makeovers.

Can I just say?  I do not really have any desire to sleep in the middle of an art project.

One of the bedroom overhauls we watched involved a wall (the "headboard wall") that was covered with small blocks of wood, all in varied heights to create lots of "interest" and "texture".   All I could think was, "That is one massive magnet for cobwebs."  I vastly prefer my walls flat and smooth and not in need of vacuuming.  There are enough things I need to vacuum, and I chafe at the thought of adding walls to that list.

And then the bedside tables.  Oh. my. word.  Bedside tables need to be useful.  I do not want a bedside table that is a circle of glass precariously balanced on a winding hunk of driftwood and ornamented with a sophisticated array of candles and glass balls.

I want nice, sturdy nightstand with a drawer where I can keep stuff I need.

I want a simple nightstand with a top surface where I can keep more stuff that I need, and useful things like an alarm clock, something that will play music, and a lamp.

You see, I feel quite strongly that it is nicest to be able to stay in bed once I have arrived there.

(I did not do very well as a mother of babies who did not sleep through the night.  The best thing about that phase of life is that it passes.  It may pass like a kidney stone, but it does pass, and most of us survive.)

So.. since it is nicest to be able to stay in bed once you have gotten there, you can stock your nightstand to facilitate that goal.  Here is a list of things I like to keep on my nightstand:

• A glass of water.  To be exact, I keep a half of a glass of water.  A half glass has always been plenty.  It balances better and is less apt to spill.  And if it does spill, it is less water that has spilled.
• My cell phone.  Ever since my kids have begun ceasing to live at home, I like to keep my cell phone next to my bed at night.
• My Bible.  And other books.  Lots of books, probably too many.  Definitely too many to suit a designer.
• A pencil and some notecards or scratch paper.  That way, if I find that I am worrying about something that I need to remember for the morning, I can write it down and then go back to sleep.  (I keep these in the drawer.  I also keep chocolate in the drawer.  Shhhhh.)
• My eye ointment.  I keep this right by my bed, because I always hope that I won’t need it.  However, I have dry eyes, and at night they get sticky.  I almost always need my eye ointment, and it is very handy to have it right there within reach.  Other people may have other medications or pain relievers that they like to keep nearby: menthol gel rubs, or aspirin or hand lotion for dry, cracked hands.  Personally, I like to have my eye ointment.

What do you like to have nearby when you go to bed?

The last night

If all goes according to plan, and if God wills, this should be the last night that Shawn is gone for awhile.

I don't mind saying, I miss him.

Tomorrow he flies home from Vancouver through Minneapolis and NYC (LaGuardia).   It will be a very long day for him.  I am supposed to pick him up at midnight in Syracuse.

I pray God keeps him safe and surrounds his airplanes with heavenly angels to bring him home.

I sometimes don't feel like going to bed when I am out of synch and out of sorts.  Tonight I don't feel like going to bed.  I haven't been able to eat dinner.  I have a lump in my throat. 

But tomorrow is another day, and I have things I need to do.

It is a good time for a bedtime Bible verse:

Psalm 127:2 (ESV)
In vain you rise early and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat -- 
for He grants sleep to those He loves.

Five ways to prevent bad dreams

I have a longer, prosier post to share on this subject, but today I'd just like to give you five things you can do to reduce the number of bad dreams you have.

(1)  Do not watch horror movies or occultish TV shows, and do not read scary books.  I find that even when things do not seem the least bit frightening during the day, at night the images they stimulated my mind to store can go sour and become terrifying.  I vigilantly work to protect my mind from cataloging fodder for nightmares.

(2)  Do not eat meat or cheese after 7 p.m. in the evening.  Rich foods require your body chemistry to work hard to metabolize them.  When your body is working hard on metabolism, your body temperature tends to go up.  And when your body temperature is a bit higher than normal, you are at higher risk of bad dreams.

(3)  Sleep in a cool room with good air exchange.  Hot, stuffy rooms can raise your body temperature and induce bad dreams in much the same way that rich food does.

(4)  Deliberately meditate on good things as you fall asleep.  My favorite sleep thoughts:  the attributes of God (start here for an alphabetical list of them).

(5)  Make peace.  Live at peace with others and with God so that disturbing thoughts of hurt, anger, fear and unforgiveness do not plague you in the night hours.

Sleeping with a bad back

This is not a panacea, so don't get the wrong idea.  It's just one small idea.

When my back hurts a lot, sometimes it helps to sleep on a sofa.

Ordinarily, I cannot sleep flat on my back.  It hurts my stomach, for one thing.  And I find it generally uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, when my back and neck are in spasms, all of my regular sleep positions exacerbate the pain.  At the same time, the one position that offers some relief for my back (flat on my back) is not a position in which I can sleep.

However, I can sleep on my back on a sofa if I pull up my knees and lean them gently against the back of the sofa.

Do you suffer from back pain?  If so, what sleep positions have you found helpful?

Sleep and the Spring Equinox

Today marks the day when the daylight hours begin to exceed the dark, night hours in a 24-hour day.

My spirits always begin to rise as soon as we get past the Winter Solstice which is also usually my birthday and right before Christmas.  My spirits rise because at that point, the days begin to lengthen rather than shorten, and that is a very encouraging thought, even though the daylight hours are still short in mid-winter.

Today we mark the beginning of my favorite quarter of the year, the time between the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice.  Today there is equal sunlight and darkness, and after today... after today the darkness will recede while the daylight hours lengthen until we reach that glorious day, the longest day of the year, the Summer Solstice.

I am surprised that there is no major holiday on the Summer Solstice (it's June 20 this year).  Christmas is at the Winter Solstice, Easter is near the Vernal Equinox, and Halloween is (loosely) near the Autumnal Equinox.  All we have around Summer Solstice time is the Fourth of July.  It always seems strange (and wasteful) that on the holiday nearest the Summer Solstice, we wait for the long hours of sunshine to pass so we can shoot off fireworks in the dark.  But whatever.  We have some nice parades and picnics.  I guess God didn't figure we needed much additional cheer on the longest day of the year; just its being what it is is gift enough.

So... I guess it's time to get out of hibernatory mode and start to enjoy the light.  We're good until September 22 when the Autumnal Equinox arrives, after which the days once again begin to be shorter than the nights.

I always feel a little bit panicked between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox, as the days are shortening, even though they are still on their long half of the year.

After the Autumnal Equinox until the Winter Solstice, I downright fight depression.  But after many years of this, at least I always know that I will be feeling quite a bit better, even by January 1.

But today, today I bask in the glory of the next three months, the hope, the light, the promise.

And I will need a little less sleep,

and the bright mornings will be sweet,

and the warmth of the sun will soothe my muscles and melt my mouth into a smile.

Use your day well.  Tire yourself in a healthy way during the daylight.  And then sleep at peace.