Day 3

I slept 3 hours last night, and surprisingly awoke refreshed and alert this morning at 7:30am to my alarm clock. This came as a complete surprise; I expected to be dog-tired. I kept thinking while I was showering that I am hooked - why would anyone want to sleep more? I felt much worse yesterday morning with 4 hours of sleep than today. I'm pretty sure the frequent naps have a lot to do with that.

A shower, some breakfast, and browsing the net news with a glass of warm milk at 9am - ahhh this is the life.

At 9:15 I took a 20-minute nap. Awoke feeling fine, but decided it was such a lazy day to just roll over. Ended up sleeping another hour for 1.5 hrs in total. It was a nice deep sleep and although I had some great dreams I regret it a little. I won't count it as a failure since I had the time and place and was only just relaxing and am starting out on this program, and the goal is to ease into it and have good quality sleep and feel as good on less sleep, so as long as I have that I'm happy. So so far, so good. No harm done, since I have only slept a total of 4 1/2 hours today and feel like I have slept a great 8 hours!

On re-reading my last paragraph I realize the dreams I just had were more vivid and detailed and I remember them far easier than I have since my 20's. Check. Another milestone and another great benefit to this program; I love remembering my dreams and it has been so many years since I have had detailed and vivid dreams - I really missed them and now they are back! I am all the more encouraged.

I should mention that I had blamed caffeine and power drinks for adding a couple of inches around my waist and dulling my hearing; yesterday I noticed that my pants were looser and my hearing sharper.

I got sleepy at 3 and took a 22-minute nap - didn't sleep much due to SO activity but it helped.

Sleepy again at 6pm - started to nap and SO comes in after 3 minutes, after I had started to dream. This time I got up when I woke up 3 minutes after starting my nap, and I feel rested. I think it's due to having started REM. I thought this might be worthwhile - if I have drempt and re-awake before 20 minutes is up, to just get up. I may try that again.

7pm and a 20 minute nap later - ahhhh I slept so deeply. It was quiet and I was alone. That sure helps a lot. It also helps to be very tired. I have tremors a bit.

Had another nap at 9:30 for 20 minutes - nice and deep. Then went to the clubs with the SO. Played a quick game of pool with Kurt. It was quick because I almost ran the table. I am not a good pool player - in fact I usually chase the balls around the table, but this time the game was over real quick. Kurt got 2 balls down by the time I won. Ouchie for Kurt. It may have been a fluke, but I haven't played pool in about 3 years. Hmmmmmmm.

Had a couple of Jim Bean's with ginger ale. With the buzz came a feeling that was a little surreal. Everything seemed to slow down as I sped up a bit. Seconds grew continuous and seamlessly flowed end-to-end as I observed everyone around me. I am normally impatient and bored in a bar. Last night I was in what could best be described as a stream of consciousness that flowed around and within me; I was a part of everything that was going on around me. Maybe that sounds crazy, but I wondered if maybe I had experienced the bar the way other people usually do, and that may be why I wasn't bored this time. This sure is interesting.

By 1am I needed a nap. I put it off but at 1:30 I mentioned it to my SO. He complained that there was only 30 minutes before we all left so why nap, but I figured I could be in trouble if I pushed my luck because home was an hour away so I foresaw at least 1.5 hrs before I could nap again or possibly two. I thought I would stick it out but 5 minutes later I started to fall asleep standing up, so that convinced him maybe I should nap after all. I slept in the truck laying across the seats - not comfortable, maybe that's why it took about 10 minutes to get to sleep, but after my 22-minute nap I returned, and was energized. I was frankly dubious of the efficacy of that nap because I had two drinks prior to it and I was sure I only slept 10 minutes of it, but when Kurt started to laugh because I was being witty and I was dancing around I realized the nap truly had rejuvenated me as unlikely as that seemed to my analytical mind.

In fact, we got a bite to eat at a restaurant on the way home and I got home and in bed at 4am. I gave the SO a 20-minute massage and then to sleep for 3 hours.