from dusk till dawn : this pinoy’s heretofore unexamined sleep habits

/ ylbnoel

I HOPE not to turn you away off the bat, but I have never let indelicateness get in the way of a good rant n’ rave, which usually results in a weekly blog.  I do have a glass ceiling for good taste and discretion, but sometimes I have this distressing habit to launch into a discourse of aimless verbal wanderings, and in a few cases said glass ceiling is shattered, causing blushing faces and awkward moments all around.

It’s this twitch to talk about anything and everything that yet again brings me to the keyboard and screen, and talk about a fact of life I literally wake up with and take with me to bed everyday, YLB’s sleeping habits and the observations I have made surrounding such.  I sincerely wish I don’t say too many cringe-worthy things, but I have to add that I do so all in the name of frivolous blogging and good fun :

I’ve always been a tosser and turner, and this ranges from the mildly frisky, kicking blankets and pillows around, to actually falling off the bed.  I suspect that sometimes I even sleepwalk, but of course this can’t be proven.  This may or may not be connected to the intensity and activity I encounter and generate in the dreamworld, but nevertheless the evidence for my sleep-related restlessness is solid.  Siblings, roommates, bed co-occupants and even my children have all reported my abnormally boisterous activity in bed, there is little I can do to control this behavior.

Snoring.  I am a notorious snorer, there I said it.  There is no way around this, I confess that sometimes I snore so loud that people in the next room hear me.  Once, a pre-teen Panganay even thought there was a wild animal in the garden, and I had to let him hear me to convince him it was me, and disabuse him of the horrifying prospect of keeping vigil over the gumamelas.  That was both embarrassing and amusing, to say the least.

Up and about going bump in the night.  This is a condition that probably comes with age, but hardly a night goes by these days when I don’t get up at night at least once.  Sometimes it’s because I need to go to the bathroom, but not always.  On occasion I get the munchies and raid whatever’s left over from dinner, or even what esposa’s prepared for breakfast in case either of us have early early morning shift.  On at least a third of the times I get up I have difficulty getting back to sleep, either I read a book or check my inbox, or if I’m really spontaneously attacked by insomnia, try to start a blog, like I’m doing now.

Miscellaneous.  Have you ever woken up to a serious cramp in your leg or foot?  It’s happened to me, and I was so helpless because it (the limb) was immobile, painful and I didn’t know what to do.  When I was younger, I also talked in my sleep, and even more stangely, conversed with my brother, who was also a sleep talker.  (This was witnessed by a third brother.)  And every now and then, I wake up with extreme emotions, sometimes laughing but also crying.  Needless to say, when I laugh, it’s a great incentive to go right back to sleep to find out what tickled my funny bone.

I almost forgot : two “artificial” factors that have affected my sleep recently : I am scared to death of missing log-in time when my shift starts 5 am. that I almost always wake up too early, half-past three to four in the morning, even before the alarm clock rings.

And the second?  When Panganay comes in late and I forget to leave the key under the mat, I have to open the door after midnight.  If he rouses me then, right after I’ve tried so hard to capture precious sleep, I just give up and call it a night.

Thanks for reading!

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