sleep deprived

Last night I consumed too much alcohol and woke up dehydrated and really, really tired. I now have the privilege of watching the dinosaur who is currently dormant. I am beyond tired. I've had 3 cups of coffee, and I could still fall asleep in a second if allowed to. Unfortunately for me, there is a work man by the name of Dennis who is currently banging on the doors and causing a commotion. If he wakes up the dinosaur I will have some words for him...

Ok, so hangover aside, I do worry about my sleeping habits. Last night I slept for 7 hours and I can't concentrate on simple tasks like reading a book or keeping my eyes open. This is cause for concern. Typically I will sleep about 10 hrs if given the choice, but realistically I can survive on 8 hrs or so if I supplement my day with caffeine. I have 62 more days to figure out how to keep going on limited amounts of sleep.

When the program starts I will have to figure it out fast. Basically, my first quarter of classes will start at 8 a.m., which means I have to leave my apartment at 7-7:15 a.m. at the latest. I'm not much for morning showers, but I need to set up some sort of routine that allows me to shower, get ready, and eat breakfast in an hour's time (because there's no way in hell I want to be up before 6 a.m.). When I start clinicals the following quarter, I will have to be at the hospital before 7 a.m. Depending on where I am placed, my morning schedule shouldn't vary too much. Most of the hospitals in midtown are within 10 minutes of where I live, so I would still be waking up at 6 a.m.

If I have to be awake at that god awful time in the morning, then I'll have to really adjust my evenings. Normally I'll go to bed sometime between 12-1 a.m. That is really not going to jibe when I start classes, so at the very latest I should be in bed by 10 p.m. (which makes me feel really young, or really old). I do have difficultly going to sleep, so I might need to go see my doctor for some sleeping aides. Benadryl usually works for me, but I am pretty groggy in the morning if I take it (as with most sleep aides).

So far I'm the youngest student that's been accepted into the program this year. Most, if not all, of my classmates are over the age of 30, and have kids. That means that they are used to waking up at 6 a.m. to either go to work or to feed a hungry baby. In a certain way that gives them an advantage over me because they know how to function on lack of sleep. My friend Sarah wakes up daily at 7 a.m. and always looks put together when she came in for class. I however, woke up 15 minutes before I had to leave for class and probably in rough shape with smeared mascara and ratty old jeans and tshirt on. If given the opportunity to sleep an extra 30 minutes, or take a shower, I mostly always pick the sleep.

I know that I sound impatient for the program to start, and I really am, but I should probably use these two months of relative freedom to eat, sleep, and be merry because starting in late March I'll be a slave to the books again.

Anyway. The dinosaur is awake and growling at me to feed her lunch. Le sigh. I hope I get a nap this afternoon....