A fine romance, my friend this is: 9.21.06

Sleep is becoming a major thing for me. Ok, don't snort. Sleep has simply risen in value, while the point of staying awake has dropped slightly. You see, I am feeling less "game" and more "lame" these days, and suddenly I've found myself in a work situation that requires...working. Oh yeah, and the wee ulcer that took up residence in my tummy this summer says "uh-uh" to caffine. Jerk. Combine these factors with the recent change in the weather and presto! We have a very sleepy me. Lately, I doze off to the teevee, my eyelids droop just a few sentences into my night's reading selection. Basically, I'd be in bed by 9 if I didn't feel that was utterly sad.

So sleep is a big deal to me. Which is why I was so very pleased to see it get some news coverage in Tuesday's NYT. To wit: "The National Sleep Foundation, a nonprofit group in Washington that supports education and research on sleep and sleep disorders, estimates that 61 percent of Americans share their bed with a significant other. And while the very presence of another person in bed increases the chance of sleep disruption, 62 percent of those polled in the Foundation�s annual sleep study said they preferred to bed down with their partner."

Hm. This makes me so sad. Because if you look at the numbers, there is a 1% discrepancy between the number of Americans who share their bed with their significant other and the number of Americans who PREFER to share their bed with their significant other. That 1%? They WANT to bed down with their lovah, they just don't. That means 1% of those people in that study are going to bed lonely and sad and probably humming a few bars of "The Bed's Too Big Without You," but probably not because that is such an obscure Police song. Sigh. 1%. These are my people. My peeps, my comrades in arms--although, clearly, they are in nobody's arms. This 1% I can relate to.

Now then, if you are one of those people in the great majority who are bedding down with the one you love, I urge you to check out Evany's book and use its lessons wisely. And carefully.

Anyway, the other point here is that you should never buy your mattress when you are in a bad mood. This is what I did a few weeks ago. I was in a bad mood, and I felt stoic and put-upon and beleaguered--and now I have a mattress that is hard as a board and less forgiving than I could ever hope to be. It is almost a punishment for being so grouchy. My nightie should be a hairshirt.