ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZs

When I was in school and when I worked, I was always ready for bed at 9:30 or 10:00 p.m., would fall asleep almost immediately, slept soundly, except when I had a kids in the house and would hear their not usual night sounds.  And I would awaken prior to my alarm clock going off almost without fail.  I have never been a night person, really not a napper either.

This process continued throughout the first year or so of retirement, being ready for bed before the night news and awake at the first hint of light in the morning sky.  Lately, this has changed.  Hubby is a night person, and since his arm break accident in October, has had more difficulty getting to sleep and staying asleep, coming to bed at 2 or 3 a.m. instead of midnight or so.  This may be a part of what has disrupted my cycle, but I am finding more and more nights where I sit and knit while he watches TV or go to our bed to read and instead of being ready to fall asleep by 10 o'clock or so, I'm finding my self still awake when he comes to bed and often lying awake until 3 a.m. or later.

Last night was one of those nights.  I sat up finishing a hooded sweater for our 6 year old grandson, so that I could mail it before we leave for our ski trip, kissed my love goodnight and did not get to sleep until after 3.  Of course I awoke as the sun kissed the eastern sky and could not go back to sleep.

I resumed serious early afternoon workouts, walking 4 miles in an hour, stretching and some weight training a few weeks ago, hoping that would return me to my old sleep habits, but it hasn't helped so far.

Here I sit now, near dinner time and I am so sleepy, I could curl up comfortably on our rock hearth and sleep, but I dare not give in to the temptation to nap for a little while, this late in the day, or I will again lie in bed and watch the stars moved across the sky and the minutes on the digital bedside clock click over one at a time.