What day is it anyway?

A great way of knowing what day it is, is by using a medicine tablet thingey. I don’t have to keep yelling out, “Hey Alexa, What day is today?” I don’t like asking her because she usually adds something like, “Enjoy your day.” To this I reply, with my middle finger extended, “Don’t tell me what to do.”

I refill my medicine tablet thingey on the same day each week. I have to because I will have run out by then.

Refill time.

I have mine set up to be refilled on Mondays, meaning, I have Monday’s in there, but tomorrow (Tuesday), I won’t have any left. I take my Monday morning meds and then at any time I feel like it during the day, I refill the thingey. Sometimes I refill it on Sunday just because it’s nice to get up Monday and it’s already been done by the fairies. (Yes, I will have doubles in there on Monday, but I dump the Monday morning bin out and separate the pills, “OK. You two are the same.” [*slide over with my fingers*] “OK. You two are the same.” [*slide over with my fingers*] “OK. You two are the same.” [*slide over with my fingers*]… A little exercise never hurt anyone, right? ha ha)

I take painkillers (hip issues) to get through certain parts of the day, so I set reminders on my cellphone. Eight-hour pain killers at 1:00 PM so any time after 9:00 PM, I can take the ones that will get me through to morning. I pretty much always wait until 10:00 PM for that eight-hour set that will get me through until 6:00. Perhaps this is why I regularly rise at 6:00? My meds have worn off so it hurts to just lie there? I might as well get up, then?

This timing allows for an hour’s leeway in case something happens and I miss the 1:00 PM. And no, I don’t have to take them exactly on time. Five, ten, fifteen, twenty minutes? Doesn’t make any difference unless they overlap! Don’t overlap painkillers. Ever. (No cellphone to set those handy little reminders with? Get one. Live a little. You’re allowed now. You’re no longer a 3Cs.)

I use the 650-dose painkillers and instead of taking two full caplets, I take one and a half. (I have a pill cutter. Any drugstore will carry these.) Sometimes, when my hip is totally killing me and I know I won’t be able to sleep well, I take the full two. I sometimes go without during the day, but there’s no point in trying to go without at night. I will toss and turn—ow, ow, ow—all night.

• Why take more than I need if I don’t have to?
• It saves money because I won’t be using as many.

(It’s probably healthier, too.)

Big Hint

I STRONGLY advise against being on a cell phone or computer for at least two hours before bed. Sorry.

My apartment is small. My living room is small. My TV is small so it doesn’t light up the entire place like an active volcano would. So, if your TV is very large = bright, it might not be a good idea to watch TV for the two hours before bedtime, either.

Why?

Our bodies are constantly doing drugs.

One of the drugs our bodies produce when the lights go out is melatonin. Melatonin makes us sleepy. If we’ve had our faces in our laptops or cellphones—bright and shiny and gleaming and lovely, “My Precious”—it’s going to take a lot longer for the melatonin to kick in.

NOTE: Some people actually take [extra] melatonin to help them sleep. Please, please, please check with your doctor before you try this stuff. As mentioned, I deal with seasonal depression (suicidal depression) so have done a ton of research on “lights” and their effects on Earthlings.

Somebody did an experiment. I’m not certain who did this, and my doctor hadn’t heard of the research either, but I am not going to be taking any chances on this. They gave melatonin to people with depression. And it made them suicidal. Oops. Dayum. So be careful with that stuff. With ANYthing that isn’t prescribed by a legitimate doctor who knows what’s s/he’s doing, or recommended by a pharmacist. Promise?

More Sleepy-Bye Hints

I turn my covers down around 8:00 PM.

Doing this makes it feel like I have servants or something, like I’m a princess. And every time I walk past my door, it seems to trigger something in me that makes me want to go lie down and sleep. But I have to wait, don’t I? Did you notice that psychological trick there? Denial triggers desire.

(For those who suffer from Chaos Addiction, you might pretend that prison guards have been checking for contraband drugs or weapons, or bedbugs. NOTE: I’m being serious. I’m not making fun of anyone. That’s not me.)

Another thing I do before bedtime, is make sure there are no dishes in the sink. Big benefit of doing dishes as you go, during the day, is that when you wake up in the morning, there’s nothing in the sink except maybe that one water or wine glass—that’s sitting there with a wee dollop of dish soap and water in it so has been soaking (cleaning itself) overnight, right? The fairies were here. 😊 You don’t have to get up and start cleaning something right away. Yay. So why not get out of bed and get the day started?

Part 2, next week.

This week’s tip: Nighttime Routines/Sleep Aids, Part 1.

Until next time.

Illustrations from https://www.needpix.com/

Photos by Sherrill Wark