Tuesday, May 5, 2009

INSOMNIA

Nine years ago I had insomnia. My neighbor had insomnia too. I walked the neighborhood. She did laundry. I filled the night with quiet footsteps and thoughts. She filled the night with the scent of laundry detergent and fabric softener. I loved the scent of her detergent so much that I changed mine. She did not hear my thoughts so she didn't change her opinions, habits or normal behavior to quirks.

I never saw another person at 2:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m., etc, but I did see an occasional car. That always frightened me. Who was driving in our neighborhood at that hour? What were they up to? I didn't carry a cell phone nor a weapon. My karate skills were kind of the "wax on, wax off," variety and I can't stand on one leg for longer than a few seconds.

I always went right home when a car came into the neighborhood and hoped I didn't fumble the key in the lock before bad men came to kill me. They never did, of course. The next night, when I couldn't sleep I went back out, into the night--perhaps an egg salad sandwich is missing from my picnic basket.

Last night, for the first time in about eight years I had insomnia . At 1:30 I gave up and got up to watch recorded "House" episodes because it's eight years later, the world has changed--more crazies driving the neighborhood at night--and probably the biggest reason: I'm lazy, so I watched three House episodes instead.

Since I haven't watched House from the beginning and since some of these were recorded in 2004 and some in 2009 and some, somewhere in between, I'm wondering things like, "How did Cuddy get a baby?" "Who killed himself and why?" (I only saw about three minutes of that episode--where Cameron said, "He's cold.") "Did Foreman, Chase and Cameron get fired and if so why? And if they did how did they get re-hired? And while they were fired what was with all the numbered people wanting to fill the vacancy? Is this a 'teaching' hospital?" See how much I don't know. "Why is Wilson so nice and why is House so...so...House-ish?" And my final question, "Why doesn't House get fired!?" I mean, really, let's face it, he's pretty much a law unto himself.

Oh, one more question. "Why can't normal hospitals have a House?" I wonder if my neighbor has answers. I see her light on at all hours of the night so I know she is back in an insomnia mode and maybe she watches TV while folding socks.

At 4:00 a.m. I still couldn't sleep but went to bed anyway. As I lay there, staring at the dark ceiling, I wondered one last thing. Why do I like House so much when the mere mention of his name sends my dear husband from the room, muttering and questioning my sanity.

These are questions that feed insomnia.

12 comments:

Bonnie said...

I have never had insomnia until Randy died and now I find it very difficult to sleep. Just this past week i have been up until 4:00 am twice.

I was relieved to find out that you are no longer going for walks late at night.

I have never watched HOUSE, so I can't answer any of your questions, but when i had surgery in November, my anesthesiologist said that he LOVED watching HOUSE. He said he found it very amusing. So there you go, even MDs find it entertaining.

What channel has it on in the middle of the night? Watching House would be better than CNN the next time I can't sleep.

Muum said...

yeah,, that not sleeping thing...I am hoping mine goes away when I get done w/ ahem... menopause! ... have you looked online for a 'house' fan website?? I watch LOST... too violent, I know.. but there is a lostpedia.com which fills me in if/when I can't figure out what the heck is going on..

Elisa said...

I have insomnia... that's when my best blog posts come about!

I watch Cold Case when I can't sleep. I have never seen House. I mean, I live in a house, does that count?

Missy said...

Insomnia sufferer here too! I also watched House until the wee hours of the morning the other night. I think House appeals to women so much because he is "broken." I think most women have a desire to "mother and fix" the men that are broken.

Hope you're snoozin' up a storm soon.

Anonymous said...

I have problems sleeping too. I just take some sleeping pills until they kick in. I love your post and I hope that you get a good night's sleep soon.

The Peterson Family said...

I absolutely love House. I'm not sure why. Unfortunately I don't get to watch it often enough to be able to answer you're questions. I'm usually clueless, too, when I watch, but somehow it's still enjoyable.
Hope you get some sleep Auntie.

Karen Deborah said...

I have insomnia all the time I fix it with RESTORIL because I must get up in the morning and function with a lot of idiots like House. I can tell you for a fact that there are plenty of egocentric, bad tempered doctors who never ever have a good day or a good mood in the hospital. I wish they would quit in real life and go find a TV show.

and ditto, glad you have quit walking outside at night. that was an intelligent decision.

Shawn said...

I've battled insomnia for years!! I think that the most creative people do!


Its just so hard to turn off my head!

But I do like House---but he's better with his accent. You've gotta watch "Jeeves and Wooster" on Netflix---hilarious! Or "Black Adder" series. Classic!

Supercool Hotmama said...

Heeheeehee! My Laurels are having a "House" party this weekend. I love it, but can never catch more than one episode a month - I do not have the knack of watching the same show, at the same time every week. I'm not sure how people without tivo do that. I do not have tivo.

I do not have insomnia. But it would make blogging easier.

Unknown said...

I used to suffer dreadfully with insomnia. It was a good time to catch up on reading.

tearese said...

I used to stay late at the University to work on big projects I couldn't take home. I walked home at 2AM sometimes, and I loved it. People were always worried about me when I told them about it, like I was going to get raped or something.
In WA I'd walk home from Institute choir at 11:00 PM, through the UW district. I'd go look at the water...there were giant rats swimming in it, but I thought they were beavers for the longest time.
That was fun too, but I didn't feel quite as safe- people actually did get killed in that area more than once a year.
I'm glad I did it though.

Lisa said...

I love House. I can answer all of your questions, which makes me feel good about myself and bad about myself at the same time. (Wouldn't that delight House?!) My brother is a doctor and wishes he could act like house, but he can't. I will answer all of your questions about that later. See how useful a friend to you I can be? You're welcome.