Night moves

I have been mind numbingly tired (is that even a word) for most of June, trying to get my school work done, work and squeeze in time with my family. Not much time left for sleeping, and the last week of school I had at least two nights where I got maybe three hours of sleep. No, I wasn’t partying like a college student, I was scrambling to get my assignments done to my obsessive/compulsive satisfaction. So now I’m done with school, but it’s going to take awhile for me to feel rested again.

I’ve been seriously sleep deprived before, and it never fails, very strange things start happening when I get exhausted. Mainly, my mind enters some kind of different dimension.

It starts out with dreams, but the dreams seem so real. I usually dream about whatever it is that is keeping me from sleeping. A couple years ago I started a new job and it was so busy at first, I wasn’t getting much sleep. When I did sleep, I found myself half dreaming/half awake, answering the phone in my dream. Except I was actually talking to my boss, in my half awake state. My husband was a little concerned about me. It stopped happening when I started getting some rest.

The past few days, I’ve been doing the same kind of dreaming, but I’m dreaming that I didn’t finish all my assignments. While I’m dreaming, I’ll actually get up and start writing myself a note about what I need to finish. Eventually I’ll figure out what I’m doing and get back in bed, but that’s happened several times. Because I was so worried about going back to school, I guess I’m still worrying about it.

Last night was the weirdest, so far anyway. Our dog sleeps in our room, and usually ends up in our bed. Lately he’s been a real pain and wants to go out at 2am. For some reason, he never starts whining and nudging my husband, he saves that for me. So we started leaving him outside until right before we go to bed. Last night I was in my half awake/half asleep state, and I saw it lightening outside. I figured I should let the dog in, so I opened the door and waited for him. He didn’t come, so I called for him, but quietly, because everyone was sleeping. He still didn’t come so I stepped outside, getting worried. Finally I gave up and went back inside. Guess what I saw? Right there, in my room, lying sprawled out on my bed, was the dog. He had been there the whole night! And I knew we had brought him inside before bedtime, because I said goodnight to him (don’t ask, he’s a very well loved dog). But because I was in that weird dreaming state, I could not remember that he was in bed with me. Weird!

I guess it’s kind of like sleep walking except I’m walking, talking and doing all kinds of strange things, and I remember it. It’s an adventure every night, I have no idea what I’ll do next.

I really need to get some sleep though, stepping outside is getting a little risky for me. I don’t want to take a chance that I might decide to drive somewhere. Although it would be great if I felt like cleaning the house or doing the laundry while I’m asleep.