A non stick shoe rack; I'm awake at 2am!!

Oh yes... it strikes again! 2am in the morning and sitting at my laptop thinking why the heck can't I just sleep at night like a normal person?! I always feel bad when I can't sleep, my husband finds it hard to fall asleep if I'm not in bed next to him so I am hoping against hope that he has managed to drop off without me and I'm not keeping him up waiting. Being awake at this hour isn't new for me... in fact it usually means an entertaining blog post and a list of things to do whilst awake...really I'm just here trying to make myself sleepy (I don't know why I expect it to work.... does blogger now come with a 'play lullaby' function I don't know about?) but anyway I'm here. What do you do when you can't sleep? I'm open to any ideas at the moment! I suppose hitting the gym for 40 minutes after 11pm tonight (last night?) wasn't the best idea, that might have something to do with my lack of Zzzzzzz's, just at a guess. Me at the gym, no I'm not joking it really happened! My lardy arse and I decided that since it's summer and I'm still living in jeans and long sleeves I should probably do something...that something means 40 minutes sweating and heaving and bouncing around all over the place on a treadmill (try not to picture that) Late at night is about the only time I'll go to the chamber of pain; no teeny weeny fit creatures wafting about the place looking fabulous and not breaking a sweat, just one or two hardcore buffs who have nothing better to do and don't even glance at us walking in the door...I much prefer that arrangement!!

Why is there never anything good on TV at 2am? Seriously...who wants to buy a magic dicer slicer oven with bonus finger graters and non stick shoe racks that if you pay by credit card you get the full edition of 'Idiots of the World' and a Cd of songs famous in the early 80's that have been remade by an Elvis and Billy Joel cover band at 2AM IN THE MORNING!?

Oh and being awake this early in the morning, you get to witness all the disgusting slimey creatures that inhabit your house while you sleep....for example hideous long black centipedes with what looks like fangs on it's arse that moves at an alarming rate across the carpet towards your feet that just. won't. die. nomatter how many times you whack it with your shoe.... or the slug that you have NO IDEA where it came in from but it's somehow on your lounge leaving little squiggly silver trails all over the place... or the barage of teeny spiders that occupy that wallspace above the bathroom door that you don't normally notice in the dark. Oh what joy! BLECK!

And why do creepy noises sound 10 x creepier when you're sitting awake and alone in an otherwise dark house thinking you see shadows move out of the corner of your eye..oh wait I just answered my own question.
*sigh* I can't even crochet! If I started something my obsessiveness would make me finish it and I'd be sitting here til dawn! My darling loyal Toby hasn't left my side though, he'll stay curled up on the lounge beside me until I go to bed...Sparrow on the other hand seems to have decided that the bed is warmer and comfier and has abandoned me most likely to curl up on my pillow for me to squish accidentally when I stumble in later.

Maybe if I go lie down I'll drift off eventually...I'm beginning to think that might be a good idea. Or at least a better idea than sitting here in a possibly haunted, bug infested, slightly chilly, drunk slug hangout :o)

An insomniac's guide to night time activities

I am an involuntary night owl at times, in that I stress out, over think, become anxious and low and behold! Can't sleep. I don't usually sleep well at night as it is, I wake frequently and don't tend to be able to sleep past about 7ish in the morning but since hubby is away this week sleep seems to be too far out of reach. It's so frustrating! Because I feel like the time spent awake should be time spent doing something practical! And of course, right now, as I am indeed awake and it is 11pm at night, I am thinking of productive things to do until I'm tired enough to sleep. Aside from being HUGELY creeped out by every little noise around me (and my dogs frequently going outside to bark) I am also pretty anxious and stressed at the moment. So, I am going to share with you my list of night time activities fellow sleep-deprived individuals! I think what's stressing me out most is that I have something important to do first thing tomorrow that I am dreading more than a little..which is just peachy to top the whole situation off! But anyway... here's the list!

• Bake something! For example at the moment I am waiting for my yeast dough to rise so I can make apple and cinnamon rolls. I've never tried making my own before! I have a dinner date with a new friend tomorrow night and thought they'd make a nice winter dessert.  
• Clean the kitchen... wipe down all the surfaces, sweep the floor and give it a good mopping...which is tricky to do by candlelight when your light has decided to kick the bucket.
• Dust the loungeroom with your flourescent pink feather duster whilst singing Pink Cadillac.

• Write a blog post of things to do whilst awake!
• Put some low music on in the background to cover up those freaky little noises (I've opted for some nice Jazz thisevening!)
• Make a nice hot sweet cup of tea, when you're stressed and wide awake, a cup of tea never goes astray. Especially if you have some of that lovely 'Sleepy Time' tea. I keep forgetting to buy some! I assume valium has the same effect, or being hit over the head with a bit of 2x4 but the tea is much more pleasant.
• Get a colouring book. I have one with fairies in it. Yes I am aware that I'm 23 years old but nothing beats colouring something in! Seriously just try it.
• Plan your outfit for the next day (or the current day, if you're past the 12am mark)
• Troll the internet for things to read or watch. That's always a good one! I read some Interviews with the cast of TrueBlood, one of my guilty pleasure tv series'. Ps I watched episode 4, season 5 today... LOVED it!! Can't wait for next week!
• Do all of the above with Futurama Season 6 playing in the background.
• Find cute things to make for people at Christmas! I came across this super cute little Sloth Amigurumi crochet pattern and as my mum loves slothes I shall be making her one!
• Do your folding and ironing whilst watching David Attenborough's 'Secret Life of Birds'
• Play the Sims 3; create a Sim identical to yourself, build it a house like yours and make it stay awake doing menial tasks. Just a suggestion :p Why is it more fun to play with someone else's life than live our own sometimes? Who knows... but Sims is awesome! (to those who don't like the Sims, I don't want to hear about it! I do, so NERRRR NER NER NERR NERRR to you)
• Colour your hair, forget you coloured your hair when you eventually fall asleep then wake up looking fabulous and under the impression that fairies did it for you during the night. Of course there is always the possibility that you might wake up with a face covered in dye and splotches all over your clothes from being too tired to dye your hair the night before so maybe don't do that one.  
• Listen to some LapFoxTrax... it's like Vocaloids but different. If you don't know what I'm talking about, nevermind. If you do... how freaking awesome is it?!?! Ohh look it's now 1am! Hmm...

Well there's a list of things you can do whilst awake at night...some are productive, some are practical, some aren't but hey that's what I'm doing tonight so if it's good enough for me, I'm sure it's good enough for someone else. I do hope something on my list tickles another night-owls' fancy (wink wink haha!) but to be honest I hope you're all mentally stable people who get decent nights' sleep and don't need to be finding things to do.

Stay stress free people! I'm off to ice my buns!
Nighty night!