Boy do I love sleep! How come it is an elusive dream that I chase? I have decided that all those years of working until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning and then babysitting at 4:30 in the early morning for two young babies, were all in preparation for my life as an EMS Teacher (aka: Early Morning Seminary Teacher).

Ben says that I am really an Early Morning Sleep Torturer. I won't let him snore during my lessons. Rude, aren't I? He was snoring yesterday and I kept tapping him to wake him up. He got angry that I would interrupt his nap. I asked him if he had had more sleep than I had. "Probably." "Well, why don't you teach the lesson then, while I snore?" It irritated me that he was sleeping when there were five other equally tired students who were awake and trying to learn. I should be more lenient with Ben, because the love of sleep is something that we both share.

I get a little testy when people get sleep and are grumpy. Why are they grumpy? They had more sleep than I had! They are golden, they are rich beyond their wildest dreams! They have sleep in their night-time saving account! When I am waiting in line and I hear someone grumpily complaining, I always wonder how much sleep they had the night before. If they appear to be a young mother, I give them the benefit of the doubt, they are grumpy because they are tired.

Sleep is the cure-all for me. When I am sad, I want sleep. When I am angry, I want to take a nap. When my children are fighting, I want to run away and sleep in a motel. When I think of spending time with Howard, I think of how I want to curl up next to him and sleep. Does anyone else feel this way? When Howard suggests we do something as a family, I ask, "Does it require us getting up early? Can't we sleep in a little longer?"

I love sleep. I used to fight my Dad over my amount of sleep. He wanted me to keep to his sleep schedule, but I worked late into the evening in High School and needed to do my homework when I got home, so sleep wasn't first on my task list. He was always in bed by 10:00 and up at 6:00. Exactly the eight hours. Sometimes a dance at school would require him going to bed later, usually by 10:30--and then it was "WATCH OUT for Dad!" as he literally ran to bed! Maybe I am tired because since teen-hood, I have had to get up early, go to bed late and pretty much fight for a place on the bed to sleep. I think the struggle to sleep has made me tired.