To ask what you’re doing awake post-midnight?

[5YearsLeft]

I had a day that just really banged me about, physically, emotionally, just all the ways, and now, I’m laying here awake and staring at the ceiling.

So why are you awake? Crying baby? Can’t stop thinking? Worried about something tomorrow? Pain somewhere in your body being an arsehole?

Welcome?

@Silentraindrops Ugh, I’ve been there, where you REALLY try, lay there for ages, and then finally you just give up. I read somewhere (maybe somewhere that was making it up, ha) that they say to just go ahead and get out of bed now, or turn on a light and do something relaxing still like reading a book, have a cup of tea, etc. To let your body still be in a restful state and then just hope it gets the message, “HEY, I AM DOING RELAXING THINGS BECAUSE IT IS TIME TO SLEEP, YOU BUGGER.” But bodies are arseholes sometimes, so no guarantees.

It’s so frustrating isn’t it?!
I’ve tried that but I just end up staying up until the sun comes up as I get so engrossed in what I’m doing, I’m sure that’s not normal but it’s how it seems to work for me!
I’m more tired this evening than I have been for a while of evenings (it’s been 4-5 am on average for the last couple of weeks) so I’m going to reeeeeally try and switch off again now. Phone down and will put some white noise on and see if that helps.
Do you struggle to sleep on a regular basis?
I have always struggled to sleep at a decent time, always tired getting up unless… I’m in company! When I have been in a relationship or even an occasional evening watching a film with a friend I always fall asleep on the sofa! (I must be great company 😅)
I’m starting a new sleep routine tomorrow so I’m hoping that this will be the last of the early hours of the morning I see for a while!
Although technically I wouldn’t call this the early hours… it’s just late night in my opinion but I’m not sure!

Up with Covid. Temperature, headache and cough, really want to sleep but body says no. Feeling a bit tearful. Nice to know there are others awake x

I hope you feel better soon @Jolilsmum

TBF, i usually go to bed arter midnight.
Early night this evening - woken up at about 1am by the fire alarm
Went out, false alarm yet again, communal gathering around control panel in the lobby.
Caught the cat, took her out to the car, not sure if she is more freaked out by being bundled in her carry bag or the noise.
Discovered I have a flat battery and two parking tickets.
Residents car parking permit had expired.
Came back in and sorted out next door neighbour (90's, deaf & dementia) and encouraged him to go back in and back to bed).

Renewed permit & paid parking fines - terrific night all round.
The cat has gone back to sleep.

I normally have the radio on to get to sleep.
Radio 4 goes into World Service, and i focus on listening too much if speaker is heavily accented.
Radio 4 Extra can be OK - but sometimes over screechy dramas will keep me awake
Brilliant new discovery - if I get Alexa to play Newscast, she plays the current one, then old episodes in a loop, nice calm voices, perfect to drop off to sleep to.

Morning all, woke up right on cue.

@ThinWomansBrain have you tried Bbc radio 6? Lots of chill music and a little bit of calm chatter. Rather nice.

My DH next to me is sleep talking. Nonsense, which is quite amusing. It reminds me of then we had just met and started sharing a bed for the first time. In the middle of the night He sat bolt upright in bed, sighed, and said "thank god for that, she's got her tits out!" , lay back down and was silent and fast asleep 😂. Made me laugh so hard. In the morning he had no recollection of what he was dreaming about. I can only imagine . He's really the sweetest soul and he's not one for objectification of women so it's even funnier.

@Silentraindrops Do I get wrapped up in things during the night? Noooo, never. I definitely did not get wrapped up in reading a book until now, ha. So I do totally know what you mean. If you find that you have no trouble at all with doing things all night long, it could be that you’re naturally nocturnal. I think my DH is; he would probably get about twice as much accomplished if he could do all his work things and meetings and anything else at night. He might even remember what I need from the market if he went at night? Ha. But I do also have the same problem as you; sometimes, I’ll just be lulled straight to sleep by something, so… I don’t know. I suspect maybe I’m not nocturnal, if I have to keep doing things to stay awake. It’s difficult to figure out what would actually be the best natural time for your body to be awake, and unfortunately, for most people it doesn’t matter anyway, because jobs aren’t THAT flexible and neither is anything else that needs doing (house maintained appointments, picking up a package from the post). It really is annoying.

@ThinWomansBrain What a night! Sounds like between your cat and neighbor, you’ve had it all. And of course, the cat went back to sleep first. They ALWAYS do. Silly little things. Hopefully by now, you’ve managed to get back to sleep, even if it is a bit exhausted (what an incredible amount to deal with in the middle of the night from the siren to the flat tire) and poorer (just what everyone wants to do - pay bills in the middle of the night). Also, glad you’ve found something (hopefully) that helps you drift off. I hope it works tonight! Or already worked.

@catwomando Oh god, he must have been just mortified, especially if you were still pretty new in the relationship, even if he was asleep. I can’t believe some of the things we do in our sleep. My DH said I went through a period where I had my hands straight up in the air whilst laying on my back, made me look like a zombie. Ha. But I’ve never been a sleep talker. He’ll occasionally say random things when he first awakens and then INSIST he never said them, so that’s a barrel of laughs Bloody, stubborn man.

I’m thinking/hoping most people may have managed to find sleep by now… 4am is often the sleep witching hour here I’ve seen. Either tons of peoplek up OR everyone’s finally sleeping (hooray). We’ll see!k

Well I nodded off but have been awake for the last hour or so, and feeling like I have a cold coming, which isn't great given his positive lft yesterday . Tbh it feels inevitable we will all get it at some point now.

Anyone want a cup of tea? Kettles on..

@jowly Ooooo yes please. About to put the kettle on here too. Kettles worldwide. So sorry to hear about the cold, but it’s probably COVID. This time, post vaccination, I really did feel like a terrible cold (horrific sore throat, incredibly tired, and that was about it). I hope something like those are the only symptoms you get.

Been awake since midnight. I'm jetlagged. So happy I don't have to work till Monday but I've a long list of jobs for tomorrow.

@fridascruffs They say (and maybe it’s bollocks?) that if you watch the actual sun rise, it will help with jet lag. I have no idea if it’s true. I watch the sun rise occasionally and it’s not helping me with too much, ha. I hope you get all your jobs done tomorrow! But if not, don’t torture yourself. There’s a few days left until Monday.

Cheers @jowly. It’s a foggy pre-morning here.

I'm up
So upset today

What’s wrong @purpleme12?

I think people in work would rather I wasn't there
I feel so self conscious
I have to change who I am

Ever since i moved to this house it's just been worry after worry.i have way less money than I used to
I wish we never moved out of the old one. I miss it so much 😢

What do you think you need to change about yourself?

I’m not saying you should btw.

@purpleme12 Oh no. I hate that you’re feeling this way. I’m not telling you it’s wrong to feel it, just that I hate that you have to. I understand that feeling of not liking where you’ve ended up, whether it’s the work you’re doing or the house you’re in. Hell, I briefly ended up 3,000 miles away from where I’ve ever been happy, in a town of 10,000 people, with an alligator in my backyard, and every day of the summer being 40+! We all end up in some situations we wish we hadn’t. I don’t know how you ended up in your new house, and I’m assuming you have less money maybe because it’s a higher mortgage, but is there anything AROUND the house you like? Anything in the area? Sometimes as you slowly start to build a life, it can make even a house you weren’t fond of start to feel like a home. Even if it’s just maybe walks you like around your new house or something like that. I wish I had more advice, or better advice, or knew exactly what to say. As for the people at work, one of two things. Either maybe you’re wrong and you just feel a bit out of place but they don’t expect you to change OR you’re right and they do expect you to change and if so, that’s really cruel. No one should do that to you. There’s a misassumption that bullying ends when we leave the schoolyard, but it doesn’t always and I hope that’s not what’s happening to you, but if it is, it’s NOT your fault. If you’re different from your coworkers somehow, that doesn’t mean you need to change, as long as you’re doing to your job and performing well. I’m just so sorry you feel like all of this is falling down on you. Be gentle with yourself. Give yourself extra cups of tea, or extra time to do nothing if you need that. And no wonder you can’t sleep. I’m so sorry you’re homesick for your old house, and if you want to talk more about what’s wrong, I’m around on and off all day and happy to just listen (and not give any advice if that’s what you want). I hope sunrise brings a little more hope, and if it doesn’t, then it still brings the sun, and if instead it brings clouds, well… chuck it in the fuck-it bucket.

@purpleme12 And if you’ve had worry after worry since moving into the new house, of course you’re going to associate it with feeling awful. Who wouldn’t? I hope maybe you get a breather in the string of worries. And while it doesn’t change how you feel about your house, and it won’t change how work feels today, remember: you are the only one your cat looks to as a servant to feed and provide the appropriate amount of pets

Sun’s up and that means the thread is mostly closed. Though you’re welcome to post and/or leave messages whenever you want during the day, if you need some extra encouragement, and especially @purpleme12 - I really do hope you just make it through your day today.

The thread will officially “reopen” after midnight. Have a good day!

Sorry, not had much daylight time with the lambs. But here are some new pics. This lot are getting quite chunky.

The last one (bucket) gives you an idea of size difference. All born with 48 hours of each other.

They've just moved field and this is the first time they've met the horses.

I'm sorry I haven't replied till now
I just wanted to say thank you so much for your comfort
It is just honestly so lovely to hear
And your are so right about the cats cos I truly don't know what I'd do without them
It is hard going without someone to cuddle (apart from my daughter) and without someone to buoy you up sometimes

@Wallywobbles Look at them go! I can’t BELIEVE the size differences, but I’ve also never raised sheep. That’s just wild. And I love the picture of them meeting the horses; it’s lovely. It’s nice to know that at least somewhere, there are still lambs that get raised out in the fresh air and do things like meet the horses.

@purpleme12 No problem! I hope maybe you got a bit of sleep, and that perhaps work wasn’t as bad as you feared. But IF work was exactly how you thought it would be… it’s work. The day can unfortunately feel awful, but it WILL end. There’s a whole world after it, and yours contains your cats and your daughter and that’s nothing to sneeze at. I know it doesn’t make the problems go away, I really get that, and you’re allowed to still be sad over them. Just make sure that you take advantage of the things you have to comfort yourself. And by that, I obviously mean force the cats to give you cuddles. Ha.

Welcome again to the after midnight thread! If you’re up with anything - pain, illness, worry, grief, crying babies or snoring partners, work concerns, snuggling pets or poorly pets, and of course, just plain insomnia - this thread is for sharing anything on your mind. You’re always welcome here.

It looks like a long, painful night for me. Absolutely piffled my legs; I didn’t even know you could GET swollen thighs, which just proves you never stop learning, sometimes in the worst ways. Im settling in with a book and some tea.

Hope you’re all well, and mostly asleep, and if not… throw it all on the thread!