Phone Sex and Sleeping Pills

Ever notice the kind of commercials that come on late at night? I've never really paid much attention to what time it starts, but suddenly every commercial on is either for one of those phone sex lines or for sleeping pills. For some reason, I find those commercials extremely funny. I love the commercials for Ambien that keep talking about getting back on the "cycle of life." And the phone sex commercials...they show all these "hot" girls talking about how they're 18, but you know the real operators are unattractive middle-aged women just trying to make some money. Quality entertainment.

I've always been a night person. As far back as I can remember, I'd stay up as late as possible. As a kid, I used to sneak a flashlight into my bed to read under the covers. My freshman year of college, when my parents were finally not around to tell me what to do, I stayed up all night at least twice a week and usually slept away the weekend. The habit continued pretty much all through college...I remember waking up barely in time to grab dinner at the cafeteria on Saturday evening and rushing to get it so I'd be able to eat something for the day. This year, the week between Christmas and New Years, my roommate was still with her family and I was alone in the apartment. I didn't sleep a single night for 6 days, just stayed up all night online and watching tv and took naps in the afternoon.

My sleeping habits have never been helpful for class and work schedules. I had a 7:35 a.m. class my junior year, and I either missed or slept through at least 2/3 of the class sessions (still got a B+). I had to open my office area at work this past summer, because I had 5 employees who didn't have keys, and I was a few minutes late from oversleeping pretty much every day. I can get ready for class or work (including shower and makeup) in under 10 minutes when necessary.

The weird thing is, this week I've gotten to bed early every night. I haven't been trying or doing anything different, but I'm unbelievably tired really early. I didn't sleep at all on Sunday night, so I crashed on the couch Monday around 7 p.m. (missed dinner and everything). I slept through the night and went to work on time on Tuesday, and I again fell asleep on the couch at 9. Wednesday night I was about to fall asleep on the couch again, but I managed to get to bed at 11. Last night, I made it to midnight before crashing, but just barely.

There's a part of me that wonders if I'm sick or something. It just can't be normal to change a lifelong habit in a week with no effort. I'm kind of happy to be so awake at work every day, but it's weird. I feel like I'm not really doing much with my day when I'm asleep 5 or 6 hours after I get off work. I'm used to being awake at home for at least 3 or 4 more hours, and I can get more done or at least spend more time having fun. Now I'm wide awake at work instead of dozing at my desk, but I want to be just wandering the internet instead of working since I didn't get a chance last night. Maybe I'm just growing up. :o) Guess I'll have to wait and see, though...a week probably isn't really long enough to make much of a judgment.