4.16.2003

 

I dislike napping.

A lot of people get into a habit of getting four to five hours a sleep in college, and still an hour's worth of Zs during the afternoon right after class but before dinner. I know people who swore by naps in college, and would look at me madly when I asked if they wanted to go throw a football around at 4 in the afternoon, like I had stupidly infringed on sacred time.

I never got into this habit; I tried to ensure I got at least eight hours of sleep my first two years of school, and then when the responsibilities started picking up, I still made sure I slept at least 7 hours a night and made a nice habit of staying lazily in bed on the weekends. When I finished school and started working full time, life became a little more regular schedule-wise, as did the sleep schedule. Six hours a night, every night, with a little more to pick up the balance on the weekends.

I love to sleep, and I greatly enjoy acting like a bum and staying in bed for an hour or two after waking up. But law school and all the things that have entered my life since starting school have seemed to make inroads on my sleep patterns. Most of the time I sleep pretty well, so even if I don't get the hours, I get the quality of sleep to make it through the week and recharge the batteries on the weekends.

Last night I managed to get a fair amount of hours, but the quality of sleep didn't amount to shit. I knew as soon as I woke up I would have to take a nap this afternoon. So I did. And while I feel much more energetic having slept an hour or so this afternoon, I still have that seeking feeling in my stomach that the next time I'm dragging, I'll just stick it out rather than hop into bed.

You see, I am absolutely terrible at waking up.

I usually don't require an inordinate amount of effort to actually wake me from a state of slumber. The actual getting out of bed and facing the day really weighs on me sometimes. In the morning I often struggle, but I usually get going once I hit the shower.

But trying to wake up in the afternoon, out of routine and a little disoriented, just messes me up. I remember one day in college I accidentally fell asleep while doing some reading for class and didn't wake up until my roommate came home an hour and a half later at 4:30. It little took me until about 8:30 or 9 that night before I felt awake, i.e., not lethargic and just wanting to go back to bed.

I woke up in the state this afternoon, and at 9:30 I have just started to feel awake. This after handling a barrage of chores and things to do, eating dinner, ironing a shirt, preparing for what amounts to my last final thing to do for a class tomorrow night, and a host of other little things. But the nap really took the little wind I had today completely out of my sails.

It apparently also took away my ability to blog about anything of any interest. Oh well.