Later...

It has been nearly a month and a half since I stopped taking anything to help me sleep. At first, I was pretty restless, and not sleeping any better, but as time has worn on, sleep has come to me. I occassionally sleep all night long! (Or most of the night, i.e. waking up an hour before my alarm goes off.) Last night, I slept all night and actually woke up to my alarm! First time in so long! Excitement for me! Speaking of which, it's sleepy time for a sleepy girl! (Yeah, I am tired.)

Sleeping Trouble

I have no idea if these things are related or not, but a few months ago, I started taking Melatonin because I've been having trouble sleeping for a long while now. I had been taking things like Tylenol PM, Unisom, and yes, even Midol PM, but I didn't want to keep taking that stuff forever.

Several people had recommended Melatonin to me, and my roommate's sister had some on hand, so she let me try it out. I thought it worked great. I was sleeping through the night and I didn't feel groggy in the mornings, which was the goal.

Then three weeks ago, I slowly started to notice that the taste of Melatonin was in my mouth at all times. I also hadn't been feeling "chipper" for several weeks and thought something was wrong with me. I felt blah, almost depressed, had a constant headache, felt nauseous, and was overly-anxious. I finally decided to look up any side effects Melatonin might carry, trying to rule out what might be causing me to feel like I'd been feeling.

Melatonin's side effects can include headache, nauseousness, depression, and anxiety, along with a few other symptoms I didn't have. I stopped taking Melatonin three nights ago, and I feel good. No headache, no nauseousness, I feel happy, and my anxiety has decreased. I'm waiting to see if this is all in my head or if there really is a connection. I have been sleeping, even though I'm not taking anything, which is something that hasn't happened for a long time.

One Year

My boyfriend and I went on our first day one year ago today. Wow. He brought me flowers (because he remembered!) after I got off work. He's definitely a keeper! ;o)

The Book Thief

I recently finished reading 'The Book Thief'. Has anybody else read the book? Thoughts? Opinions? I really, really liked that book. The writing style, the story, the focus, the narrator, the viewpoint. Alas, I will be late for work if I don't get on it. More later. ;o)

Ode to Saturday

This morning I sit at my desk in my pj's after just having eaten leftover Chinese food. It's Saturday and I've been looking forward to this day all week.

What Saturday means to me: Sleeping in, doing laundry, running the dishwasher, getting groceries, perhaps some clothes shopping, spending time with my boyfriend, watching TV and/or watching a movie, taking a road trip, seeing my family and friends, reading a book, no time constraints, no schedule, getting a Dutch Bros. Iced Kicker, taking a nap, playing my guitar, baking, no planning.

It's the simple things, really, and the things I take for granted or don't have time for during the week. I've been working seven days a week until recently, when I asked to have all future Saturdays off. Ask you you may receive, and in this case I did. I am still in awe over the things a person can accomplish on a Saturday. So many things, so many opportunities. Time.

Look! I'm back again!

I ate Pizza Hut pizza for dinner last night. My b/f picked it up and I was so excited because I hadn't had it in ages. Yum!

Today I had the opportunity to work the day shift at work, which has only occured two times previously since I started working there two years ago. It was fun and now I'm all done with work for today instead of just starting. ;o)

Well, I had planned to write more, but looked at the clock and realized it's time to go grocery shopping.

Take care friends!

Testing, Testing, Is This Thing On?

I doubt anyone checks my page anymore, since it's been like a year since I last posted. This is due to the fact that I don't have internet at home, but something my roomie and I want to fix in the next couple of months or so.

Lots of updates: (1) Moved. (2) Roommate. (3) Boyfriend. (4) 3rd part-time job. (5) Full-time worship team guitar player/sometimes vocalist. (6) Li'l bro graduated from HS. (7) Allergies.

This about sums up all of the changes that have occurred in the past year.

Happy Sunday!! ;o)

Churches

I've been to a lot of different churches in my lifetime, but only two, to my recollection, have made me feel genuinely welcomed. (I have posted links to both of these churches in the right column.) It is my hope and prayer that I learn from these churches, these people. As an introvert it can sometimes be very difficult for me to strike up a conversation with a stranger, but I'm working on it. Thank you WAPC and ROLWOC for reflecting Christ as one body and for showing the rest of us how it's done.

Musings of a Frazzled Tutor

School is officially at an end for the year, and all of my 8th graders made it to high school. Today begins my first week of vacation before I go at it again with summer school. I have no trips planned this summer, no vacations to faraway destinations... just working and playing and housesitting.

I played guitar on worship team by myself for the first time yesterday. (The other few times I've played, I've had another guitar player there to help me out since I'm new at all of this stuff.) I even led the first song, and for two weeks running, I've been able to sing and play at the same time. Harmony. Oh, yeah. Now I need to learn a new strum! ;o)

I've joined a small group Bible study, which meets Sunday evenings. The study is very involved, but makes me dig deep inside of myself to help me discover what's holding me back. Yesterday's study was rather difficult for me and actually made me cry. It was about the dreams we have for ourselves. It was about working to better ourselves now, instead of waiting to better ourselves when our dreams come true, which they may never. A harsh reality for me, but strangely comforting at the same time.

On the agenda for the rest of the week: visit a new church, pick strawberries and make freezer jam, worship practice, two hours of guitar class, worship practice again, work, hang out, have fun, enjoy life, love Jesus.

My Fingers Want Me To Chop Them Off

I started taking guitar lessons in December! I have now had three lessons, and have thoroughly enjoyed playing. (Although the fingers on my left hand don't want to play anymore.) Initially, my little brother told me he'd get me started playing, but after teaching me the E scale, he informed me that he'd "rather be doing something else". I happened to mention the conversation between my brother and I to a woman at my church, thinking it was a funny story, and not knowing that she could play guitar herself. Yes, she offered to teach me and I accepted, after my surprised, "You can play?!!" We try to meet once a week, but it hasn't always worked out that way. I don't have a guitar of my own, so I have to use my brother's (which I'm thoroughly grateful for), but it's not the best quality, and it can make even decent players sound bad if their fingers are a tad fatigued.

Churchy Music in Panic

I was recently (as in yesterday recently) asked to lead the music at church once a month. For an introvert like me, I panicked, had a moment of calm, then felt seriously ill for the rest of the night. This had been hinted to me a while back, so I shouldn't have been so surprised, but I was.

Of course all of these thoughts went racing through my mind, like "I'm not good enough" and "I don't even sing melody" and "I don't speak in public" etc. I have been given until Saturday to make my decision. I am actually interested in organizing the song service... that seems cool, but the rest of it doesn't sound cool. I feel overly stressed and very overwhelmed. Again. Introvert.

The woman who asked me to do this told me I needed to be stretched and do something outside of my comfort zone. Plus she said she'd been praying about this and I was the one who kept coming to her mind. Nothing like holy pressure. Also, she doesn't have a backup plan.

I haven't decided what to do, yet. I'm definitely leaning towards a big fat no.

Happy New Year!! ;o)

Rockband for the Wii

So my nephew got Rockband for his Wii. That's all we've been doing for five days running, now, playing the game. Fun stuff! That's all I have to report.

Two Posts In One Month

Since I work at a Middle School, and just because I feel like it, I've decided to read the Newberry winners. After perusing the list (that spans back to 1922) I discovered that I'd only read a few of the books. Hmmm... I took two of them home over the weekend, the one I'm reading now is the 2007 winner, THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron. Next I'll read 2005, KIRA-KIRA by Cynthia Kadohata.

So far I've read...

2003 CRISPIN: THE CROSS OF LEAD by Avi
1999 HOLES by Louis Sachar
1994 THE GIVER by Lois Lowry
1979 THE WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin
1970 SOUNDER by William H. Armstrong
1955 THE WHEEL ON THE SCHOOL by Meindert DeJong