Normal with a side of Insomnia!

People! It really IS December 1st! What in the world?? I realize I’m getting older and that time flies by faster the older I get (At least it “Feels” that way!), but this is pretty crazy! Can’t believe we’re on the cusp of 2022 already. So much to do and, yet, so little time. 🙂 One of my favorite authors once penned something alone the lines of, “Old age is out there somewhere and is, obviously, up to no good”! I couldn’t agree more!

Hope everyone has been well! It’s been several weeks since my last post, but please don’t assume that means nothing is going on! It’s actually been quite busy, which is been nice. Not too slow and not too busy… somewhere in that “Just about right” category. Thanksgiving has come and gone! College kids showed up to eat, relax, collect money and then journey back to their own spaces… so all is just as it should be. Good times!

One really cool thing that happened is… I completed the Charlotte 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day! My two younger sons (21 and 19) joined me, which made it an even cooler experience. I had been preparing for that race for almost two months and I have to say… even with all the hills on a new running route… I didn’t have to stop once. Of course, I was on a 13 minute mile pace, which was dissapointing, but it was cold as all get out that morning… surely that had something to do with my tortoise like pace! Right? At least that’s what I’m telling myself!

So, life has been good. I’m doing my best to stay active, eat healthy, be kind and figure out what’s next for 2022. MS, for the most part, is staying in the rear view mirror with a few minor exceptions (Continually dropping things, fatigue and a bit of stumbling). The fatigue is always going to be there, but definitely being careful when I’m jogging on the road… don’t want to trip and fall in front of strangers. That would be weird. 🙂 So things are, dare I say, pretty “Normal”. I’ll say it once more… “Normal” is SOOOO SUBJECTIVE! 🙂 I wonder how I would do with your “Normal” vs my own and/or vice versa? Remember that song from the ’80’s? “Wouldn’t it be nice to be in your shoes, the grass is always greener over there”… or something like that? Who knows!

If you’ve been here before, you are probably aware that once in a while I indulge myself in a bit of a pity party. The topic of this pity party is going to be INSOMNIA! As if MS doesn’t already make us tired… compound that with the inability to sleep and you’ve got a great recipe for a nice day. If you’ve ever been so tired you can’t sleep, then you have some insight into what I’m talking about. People within the MS Community share pretty regularly about their problems with fatigue and insomnia at the same time, so my take on things is that insomnia is pretty common. Yikes. It’s tough to even think about.

My recent experiences with Insomnia? Well… in the past 10 days I have had at least 3 nights with less than one hour of sleep. 🙁 I go to bed as planned, drift off pretty quickly and then… I’m just up. Last night I got up after 20-30 minutes of sleep, went downstairs, turned on an old movie I’ve watched many times and waited to fall asleep. It’s a boring old movie and one that usually helps me nod off but not this time, of course. Finished that movie around 1:30, moved on to another, then switched to the weather channel and, finally, got up and fixed a cup of tea around 5:50 while my daughter was getting ready for school. Bummer. The crazy thing is, I’m already tired, but not any MORE tired than usual. I just don’t understand… but then again… that’s kind of MS thing in itself. I just don’t understand.

Anyway… enough pity partying! Regardless of how much sleep I get, or don’t get, life moves on and I have to stay on the train!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is looking forward to Christmas and the New Year! I’ll definitely post a few more times prior to the end of the year, just in case you were wondering. 🙂

Talk to you soon!

Steve

#1guywithms

#ocrevus