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What Keeps Me Up at Night

Sleep is incredibly important to me. I hate those people who say they sleep 4 hours a night on a regular basis and can still be functioning human beings. If I sleep for 4 hours one night, I am able to do nothing but eat candy, drink caffeinated beverages, nap and watch reality television the following day. That's it. That's also reason #464 why I should probably hold off on that mom business. I am way too into my 8 hours a night.

Although I am in bed no later than midnight, well...ever, I still sometimes have a hard time getting to sleep. I wish I could tell you my thoughts revolved around important things like world peace, politics or religion, but they're not. It's a bunch of stupid crap that no one cares about. I mean, blog content. Yeah. Content.

Without further ado, the things that keep me up at night:

-What I'm Going to Eat the Next Day. Is that just so sad or do I have some company here? Sometimes I'm just drooling because I know I'll be going somewhere nice to eat the next day and sometimes I'm just meal planning or grocery shopping in my head. That's probably why I dream about things like this (both served on Saturday for lunch):

Bruschetta and sliced mozzarella topped with basil - served with lots of bread

Bruschetta = tomatoes, fresh garlic, basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar left to marinate for 4+ hours.

Brownie Mess = brownies, chocolate pudding, strawberries and whipped cream
-The Geographical Accuracy of the Hunger Games. Duh. Doesn't everyone stay up late at night worrying about this? Ever since the I read the books I have been thinking about where, geographically, certain locations are found on a traditional map of North America. Visit HERE to see the map I think is most accurate. You know, for an fictional story about a post-apocalyptic world. Please visit the site to learn about what REALLY makes a nerd. For the record, you are not a nerd if you read a book that one time, can operate a computer or wear glasses with clear lenses. If you own a pocket protector then fine, you are officially a nerd.

Source
-Deciding if I'm Racist. For the record, I'm all kumbaya with multiculturalism and varied skin tones. Woot. However, I felt couldn't help but feel bad when I realized that all the Turkish people who came over for lunch on Saturday sounded like Borat at some point or another. Does that make me a bad person? I also let it slip that I had Turkish food in Athens once and they lectured me on how Greek people stole their cuisine. I may have forgotten that whole Turkish/Greek dispute. My bad.

So what keeps you up at night?
Um, did you read the post? Because it's that stuff. Also, grownup worries like money and work, but that makes for a significantly less interesting blog post.

How many hours of sleep do you get each night on average?
8. It basically varies from 7 hours and 45 minutes to 8 hours and 15 minutes. I am nothing if not predictable.  

Comments

  1. Food absolutely keeps me up. As soon as I finish my coffee in the morning, I am already dreaming of the next morning when I can have coffee again. I also sort of hate when I have something delicious saved for the next day because usually that means I'll eat it at 10am because that's early enough for it to be lunch. That also means I'll then proceed to have 4th meal around 7pm because I had an early lunch which means and early dinner etc.

    Getting scared of what could happen to my kids and family really scared me and keeps me up.

    Being too warm keeps me up too.

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  2. I fall asleep pretty easily most nights but if I have stuff coming up at work or have had an argument with someone I have trouble sleeping.

    I get 8 hours most nights. I love my sleep.

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  3. I'm 99% sure I'm racist or at least that's my excuse for laughing at inappropriate jokes about racial stereotypes.

    Oh wait...I mean, my advanced degree in international relations means I would never do that.

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  4. I always think of crazy stuff. Like what if I was abducted? How would I escape? Or what if I ran into a mountain lion while hiking?

    Lately, thoughts of job interviews have been pervading my thoughts. Oh, graduation...you are entirely too stressful.

    Also, I think about breakfast a lot too. Nothing like keeping myself awake because of all the drool I'm producing.

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  5. I sleep 8 hours each night if not more! The littlest things can keep me awake. Did I lock the front door? Did I lock the back door? It goes on and on!

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  6. I am one of those lucky people who just closes their eyes and falls asleep.... When The Captain and I were first together it drove him nuts cause I would fall asleep in the middle of telling him something!

    I can recall only having sleepless nights 2 times in my life... once when I was having a huge conflict during a work situation, and once when my sister was ill... I am lucky I guess.

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  7. I made bruschetta this weekend for company too! Great minds think alike.

    I'm with you on the sleep. I actually do function on little sleep on the rare occasion because I'm a huge morning person but the norm is definitely bed before 11!

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  8. That mozzarella/bruschetta looks great! I love caprese salad too. Have you ever tried buratta? If not, get thee to a cheese store ASAP.

    I sleep like a baby most of the time. Usually, before a race or something equally exciting, I have a hard time sleeping. All I think about is nothing. I mean, really. Not world problems, but blah: what I read, am reading, want to read, something I saw on the news, my roommates cats, food, blogs that I can never remember the next day and...nothing.

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  9. I've needed about 9 hrs since finishing cancer treatments...six years ago. No idea why, but becoming a mom terrifies me for the same reason. Need. some. zzzzzzzs...

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  10. I think about what I'm going to have to eat the next day too. Glad I'm not alone.
    It doesn't make you a bad person but I'm Armenian so not the best person to ask.

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  11. so i laughed so hard about the Panem location.... always forget its supposed to be future US. I still need to see the movie. I've been having on and off guy issues, so that keeps me up. weird as it sounds, ear plugs help me fall asleep faster and stay asleep all night.... weird i know

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  12. If I don't read right before bed it takes me WAY too long to fall asleep. I pretty much HAVE to read first, to turn off all my thoughts.

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  13. Everything keeps me up. I have tons of trouble falling asleep! I stress. I sleep between 5.5-8 hours at night, depending in when I fall asleep.

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  14. What keeps me up at night? Kids. A full bladder. Worrying about the fact that my alarm is going to go off in 4 hours... 3 hours... 2 hours... 1 hour... Crap. Why do I run?

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  15. what keeps me up? worrying about everything..
    hours of sleep...ah not enough...5 maybe
    I have a hard time with sleep

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  16. I'm a person that needs sleep as well. I'm convinced all those people who say they only sleep 4 hours a night have to be lying or on drugs. Of course, I do tend to have issues from to time with actually sleeping but I'm not thinking about anything in particular.

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  17. I take Valerian root and nothing keeps me up at night anymore!

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  18. I JUST posted about how I'm scared to have kids because I need my sleep so bad! Great minds think alike.

    I have also seen, and studied that map, or at least a similar one. I need to know where the arena was. I constantly analyze HG in my head like "did the uprising in 11 really happen but we just didn't know about it in the book because it was from Katniss's POV?". Then I have to tell myself, look loser, nothing really happened, it's fiction.

    If you marry a minority, you are officially not a racist. Look it up, it's a law.

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  19. I need a ridiculous amount of sleep. I'm usually in bed by 9:30 and not up until 6:45. I have problems. Also, sometimes, even with that much sleep, I take a nap. My mind doesn't keep me awake at night, but my weirdo dreams tend to wake me up.

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  20. Oh man. That map has me in all sorts of Hunger Games thinking today. Not good at the start of the work day. Also: going to see it again (in IMAX this time) this evening. I always think about how Katniss' rendering of 12 makes it seem like it is only one city/town/slum. Not a large area that consists of multiple states. Hmmm.

    Nothing can really keep me up at night. With 2 exceptions. 1. If I have watched something scary during the day, I might replay it while trying to fall asleep. This would be one of those times when I leave the TV on to distract my thoughts while falling asleep. 2. If a big money issue is weighing on my mind. I don't worry much, but when a large credit card bill came up, and my dad asked if I had a certain amount of money to pay for it, I found myself up at 4 am cleaning everything in my house.

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  21. Right now I'm consistently waking up at 4am and if I don't start listening to a mindless podcast, I end up stressing out about getting my school stuff done. Working full time and doing a Master's degree is not a low-anxiety state to be in. Ugh.

    As for how much sleep I need? I like to consistently get between 7 and 8 hours a night. Usually it is 7 and a half. I don't' function very well with too much less.

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  22. Your dinner looks super yummy! As does the dessert. :-) I need a minimum of 7 hours of sleep to be a functioning adult, & do best with between 8 & 9. Of course, 9 never happens unless it's a special occcasion. My kids are up at 6:00 am (or earlier), every day. And, that's a vast, vast, vast improvement over the early years.

    I worry about: my kids, work, money, all of the normal things before bed.

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  23. I think I average 8 hours too... my kids are pretty good sleepers, thankfully.
    These days nothing keeps me up at night because I'm so tired by bedtime I'm out in no time. Unless I'm hungry, in which case all I can think about is what I'm going to eat the next day!

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  24. haha. i ALWAYS think about food. like seriously...i go to bed and cant wait till morning beacuse i get to eat again. its like the most exciting part of my day. awkward lover of food and meal times here.

    i MUST sleep at least 8 hours. i can get by with 7 but 8 is key. lately...Zoey pup has confirmed that i should NOT have children any time soon. she alone keeps me up far too much and I get angry (as does Riley) at how she cannot understand the importance of sleep. last night she slept clear till my alarm and i seriously woke up and praised her like crazy...she prob thought i was nuts but i needed to MAKE sure it was clear to her how good that was ;)

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  25. I require MUCH MORE sleep than the average person. I am a force to be reckoned with if I don't get a full night's rest.

    My idea length of sleep = 10 hours. I know, that's ridiculous. I probably average something closer to 7 or 8 or 9, depending on if it's a work night or not.

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  26. when i was in college i only had about 3-4 hours a night to sleep between working 50+ hours as a baker, going to school full time, and commuting 90 miles round trip a day. i think when people say that they can funciton normal off that they are lying to themselves because if they actually acknowledged how exhausted they are they would drop dead. now i can't function on a drop less then 8 hours, last night hosted 10.

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  27. I NEED 8 hours of sleep at least, otherwise I am a grumpy WRECK. Things that keep me up at night would have to include my kids, what I will cook if I am having company coming, big bills coming due and big races! I will dream about the race all night and keep waking up. So nerve racking!

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  28. I definitely need my 8 hours of sleep. In college, oh yea I could go off 4 hours of sleep hungover on my best day lol But now nope, I'm an old lady and need every hour of sleep I can get! But I do find now with daylight savings, that I stay up later than usual and I am now working out after work versus getting up at the crack of dawn. So who knows...but the bottom line is that I do get all of my sleep!

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  29. One of my biggest fears about (ever) becoming a mom is that I'm non-functional on less than 7 hours of sleep a night... How could I possibly be a good mother for the first year???

    As for racism... I'm a demographer/sociologist. I'm paid to categorize and classify people according to statistical similarities, but to NOT stereotype. (As in: Men have shorter life expectancy, largely due to riskier life behaviors. Fact. But not ALL men are risk-takers.) Fine line? Maybe. But it keeps my job interesting.

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  30. I am up more often during the night due to the pregnancy. It might be since I have to go o the restroom and can't fall asleep right after. My current concerns that keep me up is if I have everything I need for the baby since she will likely be here next week. I used to be up at night when I worked night shift at the hospital. It was hard to get my body back on schedule during my days off. I usually need the eight hours of sleep to get through the day but I know that will be over really soon!

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