Sleeeeeeeeeeep

Good mooooorning love bugs.

I promise that's as cheerful as this is going to get; I'm so not a morning person. I'm so not a morning person, in fact, that one of my roommates and I had an agreement in college where there was no talking prior to 10am. Mostly because we had chapel at that time and woke up around 8:30-9a (oh, to dream…), so it's not like it was a lot of time anyway.

I hate mornings. I'm groggy, there's a good chance I still have eyeliner smudged on my cheek, my breath reeks (helloooo TMI), and I'm usually confused at how my clothes have tried to invert themselves while upon my person. I. Do. Not. Like. Mornings.

So after yet another night of not enough sleep, it's made me think about a terrible cycle I find myself in sometimes….

+ Go to bed super late (which for me is sometime after 11. Stop laughing at me, I have to get up early!).
+ Wake up at 6a (told you!).
+ Hit snooze… 3-4 more times.
+ Actually get up between 6:15-6:20
+ Rush around like a mad woman debating on Starbucks vs. Shower*
+ Decide on Starbucks
+ Get to work, coffee in hand
+ Operation Cranky Face Redhead commences
+ Snack pre-lunch
+ Eat bad lunch
+ Snack post-lunch
+ Eat bad dinner (Because I'm "tired and cranky and don't feel like cooking")
+ Go to bed hopefully earlier, but with a stomachache since I ate crap.

Story of my life.

You see my problem here? Sleep is such a vital part of my day, yet stuff happens where I can't seem to get in bed by 10:30 at the latest. Last night, for instance, I did laundry and overstuffed the washer and dryer. Now while my clothes got cleaned [we hope], it literally took 2 cycles of 60 min/ea to dry. And while a 1-hour cycle should have left me ample time to get to bed, 2 1-hour cycles did not and now I'm cranky and blaming my Starbucks.

Getting enough sleep at night has a ton of benefits. Just google it. OK fine I'll do it for you and show you my Top 10 Reasons You Need Sleep So You Don't Kill Someone Or Do Something Else Stupid:
(There may be some paraphrasing and marginal exaggeration. Don't say I didn't warn you)

10. You can maintain weight loss better! There was a study done by U. Chicago that basically proved people who get less sleep became hungry wildebeests during the day.

9. You can keep your car insurance lower. How? YOU WON'T GET INTO AS MANY CAR ACCIDENTS. I've driven home a time or 2 when I should not have, and I found myself drifting into other lanes. Thankfully it was usually closer to 3am (post-swing dance diner visits. I had to stop for this very reason), so the roads were pretty clear. Being sleepy while driving slooows down your reaction time.

8. Getting enough sleep curbs your depression. It can help you take off your cranky pants and put on your happy to be alive culottes (just kidding; culottes are never OK).

7. Sleep makes you look like less of a jerk due to forgetfulness. That's right, if you sleep enough at night then your brain has a better chance of storing memories and making you look like a hero for remembering your boss' kid's name and all about their hamster Skippy.

6. You have a better shot doing physical activity and not laying on your couch watching Netflix all day and debating ordering Chinese food. I have no link for this one, because, well, this was my life on Saturday. I was so exhausted due to my 5 hours of sleep I got, that I literally laid on the couch aallll day and didn't shower until 5 because I had a birthday party to go to at 8. (Remember, we pinky promised to not judge each other back on blog 1).

5. You won't look like you've been punched in the face. Ever seen someone with bags under their eyes? It's because they're EXHAUSTED. Homie needs some sleep!

4. Your immune system needs some rest too, friend. It needs time to catch up, patch up the battle armor, and rebuild your internal fortress so you can fight off infection and other nasty things. Are you getting sick all the time? Well, are you sleeping enough? Now, if you have small children sneezing into your mouth (this has happened to me. *shudder*), then sleep may not be your #1 issue.

3. YOU COULD BE IMMORTAL!!! MWAHAHA! OK that's not true. Please remember I'm writing this while sleep-deprived. Whatever. Sleeping more could make you live longer though. Especially if you never sleep and get sick all the time. Shoot, you could die from the sniffles. (That's not true. Just ignore me on this one.)

2. Improved performance. In everything. You tend to be more alert and ready to go when you're well rested.

And the number 1 reason you need sleep so you don't kill someone or do something else stupid…

1. Because then you'll write respectable blog posts instead of weird rambly ones that are a hybrid of facts and caps lock shock.

Soooo…. Now that that's done…. I'm gonna go… I need to focus (you know, be alert and all) on my day. It would probably be easier with some more sleep, but that's why I'm hanging with Mr. Iced Coffee today.

<3
A Redhead

* Please note: It's not like I go days without showering. Calm down, don't think you can't hug me anymore.