Insomnia ramblings

It's almost 4 AM and I am still awake. It's a not so pleasant end to a fruitful day ...

Basic reason is that I think I have food poisoning ... it started at about 10.30 Pm with the feeling of gastric pains ... so took my antacid pills. Then uncomfortable flatulance (is that how it is spelled?) and I did eventually fall asleep but very restless till kept waking up - "restless leg syndrome"? And then I woke up at 1.30 AM with stomach pains - and a 30 minute (at least it felt like it) time on the "throne" with serious runs (I use the terms as I always have problem spelling diarrohea ... :-) ). Which was a miserable time but I had the consolation of being wise enough to grab "Dilbert and the Way of the Weasal" to keep me company! :-)

I think it was the pizza I ate at my son's High School? And there I was praising the pizza as it was really good (Now I know whey this pizza brand is so much more expensive) Then again, maybe it was something else ... maybe I caught a bug during my hospital visitation. esp since I have "irritable bowel syndrome"?

But insomnia is pretty weird. I am so tired but am now wide awake. A couple of hours are trying to sleep ... worrying that I need to get some rest because I have a busy day tomorrow did not help! The more I try to sleep the harder it gets! Reading made my eyes tired but then my brain would not shut down. ... and now my eyes are wide open! But then again it was not as if I was trying to gthink deep thoughts, so why is my brains o stimulated? Maybe my dreaming due to my restless sleep, due to my stomach pain? Hmmmm. maybe it's the cup of cappachino I had at the hospital ... but that was at 12.30 PM. Or maybe since I nowadays normally take tea I cannot handle the caffiene in my coffee as well as I used to anymore?

Hey, blogging is not working. I am supposed to feel tired and want to sleep? Ah, how I envy my wife's ability to hit the pillow and just sleep! Ok, what did I do yesterday? Not that much really. I worked on this coming Sunday's baptism service, went to the hospital to visit a church member who was sick, came back, worked a bit more on the baptism service, went home, took a nap, then an early dinner (more of a snack), went to my son's High School for a meeting with the related to Andrew's involvement with the MATES programme, then rushed off for games at church. Then home - had a bath, did some reading (no, not Dilbert .... that was only when I had to sit on the "throne") ...

Ah .. the MATES programme. I like it very much. It's basically a programme that involves 10 Auckland High Schools and the University of Auckland. 120 university students are paired up with 120 High School students (12 per school) where the uni sudents become mentors to the High School students. Once a week, the mentor-mentee spend 2 1/2 hours together after school hours (in the local High School). The mentor helps his mentee with his schoolwork and other related matters so that the mentee is better prepared for uni life and has guidance on the courses he wishes to take to pursue his chosen degree. The mentors are screened and given an allowance (that helps towards his uni fees) so there is a financial motivation. But I think that is good as it ensures commitment! Andrew's mentor seems like a very nice person. They both seem to be comfortable with each other so I am happy with the match.

I am again grateful to God that in choosing to enrol my boys in a not so popular school (in terms of academic reputation) they are benefitting by being selected for such special programmes. I think Andrew will gain a lot from MATES. God sure is taking care of the extras that I never expected. There's grace at work again!

Tomorrow (or more accurately today) looks to be an intersting day. I have a morning meeting with a young adult that looks to be a "deep" meeting. Then I am going to fill the baptismal pool early to recheck to make sure the slow leak is manageable. A new freind who is a plumber is going to leave me some stuff to help me hopefully stop the leak completely. (Interestingly, I have gotten to know him via Thursday night games). Got to learn how to do some of these things - part of adapting to NZ's D-I-Y culture.

If my runs is stopped and my morning appointent and task do not take too long, I plan to go to the hospital again. I know the family appreciates my coming and company. Then at night I have a Home Group meeting - and I am leading the study and am the musican.

Saturday looks ingteresting too (Moving on to Saturday as I am still wide awake! :-( ) I have baptism plus worship leading rehersal. Then I need to fine tune my baptism devotion, look into some administrative matters (follow up) which is actually more exciting than it sounds :-) One matter for example is that I am working on the formation of an outreach committe! But the difference is that this is not a committee for the sake of a committee, but working towards forming a team of diverse people with a similar vision / passion for the unreached. Then I need to do some checking on the feasibility of a Good Friday meeting again this year (even though more than half the church would probably be away).

Then at night we (the family) are going for a potluck dinner at a member's house. We are spending a lot of time with this group of people and we are privileged that we can relax and be ourselves with them. Looks to be a fun night as this person's house is big so that means we can have a few groups together in one place. One of the problems here in NZ is that we often can only have limited people come over to each other's homes due to the size of our houses. So we often have to leave quite a few people out. Interestingly though, no one is offended as this is part of life in NZ.

Man, it is almost 5 and I am still awake ... hey, good sign - a small yawn. Hmmm.. if I get to sleep now, I could get in 2 hours of sleep before I have to get up ... but then again, I had better not think too much about it :-)

Comments

  1. yeah, this problem truly sucks. i know that i personally have to try to stop worrying about it--that's a suggestion sleep researchers make. most insomniacs have trouble because they often worry about whether or not they'll fall asleep.

    personal tip: turn down the light on your computer monitor. the bright light from TV or the computer can trick your brain into thinking it's daylight.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "most insomniacs have trouble because they often worry about whether or not they'll fall asleep."

    I know I should not think about this but its like a reflex action! :-(

    And thanks for the tip - you told me this a long time ago and I first lie down in the dark and try to sleep but after an hour, I tend to give up and decide that I might as well do something else :-)

    Weird part is that I am wide awake despite 2 hours of sleep and lots of stuff to do. Only drawback is that I think my flu may have returned :-( Playing a wait and see game!

    ReplyDelete
  3. hope you have the energy to kick off the day with 2 hours of sleep. They say:
    1. a glass of milk before sleep helps
    2. room temperature to be cool
    3. pitch dark rooms makes your body rest better
    4. pillow and bed play an important role. So make sure they are comfortable.
    5. if auntie jennifer snores, buy her the anti snoring patch. ahhahaahahahahha....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Eric.

    Thanks.

    1. check - and fattening too :-)
    2. check - weather now is cool
    3. check - to a certain degree
    4. check
    5. check - nah, she doesn't snore - maybe once in a while if she is exhausted and then very gentle and a nudge solves the problem :-) I think I am the one who is starting to snore :-(

    Anyway it's not every night I get insomnia ... at least I hope so! LOL

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  5. Thanks Faith. Long time no see :-(
    How come you no longer blog ... or have you moved your blog?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yeah I know, it's crazy!! You should come to the city more often ;)

    Funny you should mention it but I only just started blogging again (see how long it will last though since I lead such an unexciting life, LOL)

    http://faithwsy.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

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