Why is it that every time I need to get some good sleep to prepare for a big day, I get almost no sleep? I think the universe is messing with me.

Today I needed sleep for several reasons:

1. I started the 30-Day Shred and wanted to have the energy for it.
2. I’m starting a new eating plan. Giving up some of my favorites will be hard and if I’m tired, I’m more likely to give in.
3. I have a work meeting that I need to be sharp for.

Last night was not just a case of insomnia. Rather, it was one thing after another causing me to lose sleep.

I started off shooting myself in the foot by popping in a movie (“The Bounty Hunter” – I’d give it 3 out of 5 stars. And maybe a half extra star for the scene of Gerard Butler without his shirt on) at 8:00, that I knew would go past 9 p.m. (my usual bedtime). And instead of stopping it part way, we watched the whole thing. So now it’s about 9:45ish.

During the movie, Samson was being all weird. He kept running to the back door and he’d bark or growl but when I tried to let him out he’d back away. Uh, thanks for freakin’ me out Dude! Is there an ax murderer back there? Is there some rabid raccoon ready to dart in and infect us all? Or perhaps he sensed a raindrop because that would scare him most of all…

I started to get ready for bed and as I brushed my teeth remembered that I needed to talk to CJ about a few things coming up this week (his birthday, St. Patrick’s Day, etc). It was 10:30 by the time I actually made it to bed.

Strike 1.

About 1:30 a.m. I woke up to Isabella crying. I think she had a bad dream because it was that kind of terrifying shrieky cry that stabs me right in the heart. I was prepared to jump out of bed and to her resvue but CJ beat me to it. I was already awake though and my heart was pounding for my little Munchkin. Then my mind started racing to all the things going on this week. So I tossed and I turned.

Strike 2.

I started hearing noises too, like someone in the house. I thought back to Samsons’ spookiness earlier and thought for sure we were about to be robbed/kidnapped/murdered. My mind raced to an image of me and CJ getting shot and then me dragging my body to Samson’s kennel, where I let him out to go attack. As he’s tearing  up the intruder limb by limb, and CJ is calling the police, I crawl in to Isabella’s room and manage to pull her out and shield her with my body, if he comes back for us.

Ok, so I have a wild imagination.

Then my knee decided to join the party and get in on the action.

Strike 3.

Here’s the back story on my knees. I have had trouble with both my whole life. My patella don’t have the “point” on the bottom that lock them in to the groove between the femur and the tibia. Also, my tendons are slightly misaligned and tend to pull outward more strongly than inward. Consequently, my kneecaps slip out-of-place all the time. When I was younger, it happened a lot. I could be walking, running, standing up, going up/down stairs…it didn’t matter. The kneecap would just slip out and then back in real quick, causing me to fall.

I have dislocated both knees 3 times, the most severe one happening in college on my right side. My kneecap slipped, pulled a piece of bone with it, then got stuck on the outside of my leg. I had to physically push it back in while writhing around on the floor in pain, swearing like a sailor. That one put me in a full leg brace and on crutches for 3 months, during the summer. Yeah, that was fun. I looked really hot too. It’s hard to be a sexy young college gal when you’re hobling around in 100 degree weather with a big thick ugly brace on your leg, covering your kneecap that is swollen to the size of a softball. How I ever got me a boyfriend that summer I’ll never know.

It doesn’t happen as much these days because my muscles are stronger. Still, I always wear braces when playing volleyball, because of the side to side movement.

Back to last night. During the middle of the night, when I was tossing and turning, my right knee decided to go in to its fire dance. That’s what I call it because of how it feels. It starts slow. The first sensation is that of someone taking a hot poker and jamming it in to the middle of my knee cap. Then the heat starts to spread up and down my leg until it reaches my ankle and hip. At that point, the fire starts getting hotter and hotter causing my whole leg to throb and burn. This only happens when I’m really tired. Not sure if it’s arthritis or nerve pain or what. It doesn’t hurt to move it or walk on it and the only thing that will stop the pain is 4 Ibuprofen (and it has to be 4 – it laughs if I just take 2 and 3 takes the edge off but doesn’t stop it altogether. It’s that last 4th soldier that can beat the fire in to submission).

I finally got up and took the meds and then went to lay out in the living room. Sometimes if I have insomnia, it helps to move to a different place. So I grabbed my Steelers blanket and curled up on the couch. The pain finally went away after about 30 min., and I drifted off to sleep.

And woke up again at 2:30…3:30…4:30…and then when my alarm went off at 5:30.

I hit snooze but couldn’t go back to sleep so I dragged myself up to do the Shred. Nothing was going to keep me from a good butt-kicking!

Here’s hoping I can get to bed early tonight and make up for the “zzz’s” I missed out on last night!

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