When chronicling a day in the life of an insomniac, it is difficult to know when to start the day. I am choosing 6am. I think that is a reasonable time, when the majority of people are waking up.

At 6am I have just gotten home from a run. I feed the cats and unload the dishwasher then sit down to check my emails and check my Facebook/Instagram/website. I change into comfy sweats and started to fold the laundry from the 2 loads I had done earlier. I drink a smoothie then get ready to go out.

At 7am I am sitting in my car in the Walmart parking lot, waiting for it to open. Still in comfy sweats (this is Walmart). I do my shopping; cat litter, energy drinks, and candles. All the staples.

At 8am I am back home. I make some toast and watch TV for about as long as it took to eat the toast. I clean the cat litter and vacuum, then sit at the computer and try to write.

At 9am its nap time, lovingly referred to as “morning nap”. I sleep for about an hour and a bit, which is pretty usual. Today I have a hike planned with the kids (both in their 20’s now). I have agreed to pick them up at 10:30.

At 11am I am pulling in to the driveway of the house (my old house, before the divorce, I never really liked the place). We drive out of the city and spend a few hours stomping around in the forest. We stop at a garden center on the way home, not to buy flowers, but so my daughter can find the greenhouse cat.

At 4pm I am dropping the kids back at the house. We have had a great day: a hike, shopping and a late lunch. I head home to my place.

At 5pm its nap time again, but I can’t really sleep, despite how tired I am feeling. I get up after an hour and walk to Safeway for some food.

At 7pm I am really tired, dosing off on the couch so I go lie down. I sleep for about an hour.

At 11pm I am getting kind of tired again so I lie down again. I really need to sleep so I double up on the sleep meds and pop a few melatonin. Its works and I’m out like a light.

At 2am I am awake. I have had a new idea of how to arrange the living room furniture so I do that. Also, the mess in my hall closet is getting on my nerves so I take everything out and rearrange it. While I’m at it, I decide I haven’t gone through my close closet and dressers for a while, so I sort everything I own into 3 piles, “keep”, “give away” and “garbage”, then I put the keepers away again, but I am rearranging the drawers they go in. 

At 4am I’m still up, awake and frustrated. I make a pot of coffee and sit at the computer again. After a short while I get that restless energy feeling that tells me I need to go for a run. I start getting ready.

At 5am I am running, sticking to the main streets where it is better lit. The sun will be coming up on my way back so I should be fine.

At 6am. I am home now, mentally planning my day.