The Girl in the Red Sweater

You know what I’ve realized during the past few days?

I sleep too much.

No, I guess I already knew that, given that ever since I was in elementary school I seemed to sleep more than everyone else I knew. Ever since I have been what you could call a (young) adult, 10 hours of sleep has been the norm, and if I got less then my stubborn subconscious forced me into naps to add the hours back up to an average of 10.

By forcing me into naps, I mean that when I consciously realized I had not gotten 10 hours of sleep for about 4 days in a row, the back of my head started to slowly buzz and eventually felt so full of chemicals – ever since my year on Zoloft, I have been able to feel melatonin when it builds up in my brain – that I became so dizzy I was forced to lie down, even though it usually happened to be somewhere completely inconvenient. Like at work.

In a desperate attempt to have a little more energy throughout the day, I tried every sleep schedule you can imagine, and the only time I ever got any relief was in college, when I arranged my classes so I could stay up until 2 a.m. and get up at 10:30. Boy, do I miss those days. I found that the later I stayed up, the less sleep I needed.

But my “real world schedule” 10 hours never seemed to give me any energy, and over the past few months I only slept through the night once. So I did the only thing I could: I Googled “trouble staying asleep.” The one resounding suggestion I had not tried was one I had heard many times before and had discredited completely — going to sleep and getting up at the same time every day.

This time, though, one sleep tips site suggested that if you figure out how many hours of sleep you are actually getting in a night (for me, about 8), then you should try going to bed late enough to get just that many hours in bed. A week of that should train your body to sleep for the full amount of time it is in bed. Now that actually makes sense. Deciding it was definitely worth trying, I figured I would feel sleep-deprived for a week or so, but I fastidiously took the advice. (For two whole days.)

After each of the two nights that I actually followed this advice to the letter, I was an absolute bundle of energy. It was like a complete transformation. I can only guess that part of the magic was in my subconscious — it was such a logical argument I was convinced this would help, and in the past I have been convinced nothing would make me wake up — but thanks to this little gem of advice, I’m not tired anymore.

This morning, I was just so comfortable in my cozy warm bed that I couldn’t drag myself out of bed at the appointed hour — 6 a.m. — so I clicked off Alarm Number One and flicked on Alarm Number Two. Ah, the beauty of having two alarms built into one clock — if I sabotage myself by shutting the early alarm off, I don’t even have to mash the correct combination of buttons and reset the alarm to the latest possible time I can rise without making myself late to work. I just flick the other switch. But I digress.

I was a little slow to wake up this morning because of my indulgent extra hour of sleep, but now that my subconscious has been convinced that it is happiest on 8 to 9 hours of sleep, I feel like I have the energy of a normal person for the first time in years. No more five-minute naps next to the keyboard!

As a side note, we never did exercise over the weekend, but score one for my list of goals this week — I did indeed get up early enough for yoga yesterday morning. And I actually put my name on the “regulars” list to further motivate myself to start going every week. Yoga is much harder than I expected, but it sure does tone you quickly! And I imagine it is one of the things that is giving me energy. I always feel great when I exercise.

Posted in: The Girl's Life by thegirl     1 Comment »

By default, WordPress shows your posts in order of most recent to oldest. Call me crazy, but sometimes I’d rather show older posts first and tack the newest ones on at the bottom.

After searching for quite some time through WordPress.org and Google, I finally stumbled upon the key piece of code.

In your index.php file, look for this bit of code:

<?php if(have_posts()) : ?><?php while(have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>

Right before that line, add this code:

<?php query_posts($query_string . "&order=ASC") ?>

That’s it, that’s all there is too it! Code is so lovely when you find the right one for your purposes…

Posted in: WordPress Tips by thegirl     23 Comments »

Change #2: Get healthier. One of those things we Americans seem to have the most trouble doing. For some reason, we’ve created a culture that sits around burning no calories, even though we eat some of the highest-calorie diets in the world. Well, I’m sick of feeling tired all the time, and I’m sick of my stomach being upset at everything I eat or drink.

So what am I doing about it? I’m setting a goal. I have a membership to a lovely gym that I just don’t use much because I’m lazy, but my husband and I agreed last week that we will start going together at least once a week. I’ll also go on my own once or twice a week. Pilates and yoga, here I come!

In pursuit of another outlet for fitness, last Saturday we spent the afternoon investigating golf pro shops and discovering a driving range less than a mile from our house. It was brimming with such character that I loved it upon sight.

The building reminds me of a seafood restaurant by the coast — wooden siding that needed painting, a wraparound porch and the long window blinds that open outward, not to mention an array of cute tropical plants that are not unkempt but not the pristine quality kept by fancy country clubs.

As we climbed on the porch, we stopped to lean on the railing and look around. I burst into laughter as I saw the old shell of a Trans Am driving around, pushing the ball collector. I’ve never been to a golf course before, so although I am told most of the cars used for that purpose are — shall we say — buckets of rust, it was not at all what I had expected.

On our way in something huge streaked past me — a big spotted dog. After my initial surprise I decided he looked right at home, and he was a very laid-back dog, not prone to hand-licking or barking. He looked mildly curious from one of us to the other for a moment, then proceeded to ignore us completely.

The man at the counter was a very friendly, down-to-earth man who looked like this place was truly his passion. We checked out the rates and hours of operation, then decided to go shopping for clubs.

We sought out what I can only call a golf superstore not far away. We bought a DVD so I can learn the basics, but with the array of sets to choose from we decided to do more market research before shelling out $800 for two sets of clubs.

The three pawn shops we tried turned up nothing but clubs at least five years old, which were not complete sets, being sold for more than the brand-new ones even at the superstore. So we went to Academy and found reasonably-priced sets. It was quite a chore to find a women’s set that was not Pepto-Bismol Pink, but after a careful search of the sets on a shelf far above our heads I succeeded in finding one that was blue.

We feel so guilty about spending hundreds of dollars that now our consciences will force us to continue going to the driving range. As a matter of fact, we have a date to go again tonight. Or we might opt for mini golf instead, to practice putting. I am so much better at mini golf than I am at chucking a ball more than 10 feet. Of course, I can’t expect to be a pro after only one try.

As for food, I’m just going to refuse to eat fast food altogether. If I don’t have the energy to cook something, then canned soup it is. I just can’t keep gaining weight and feeling miserable all the time.

Posted in: The Girl's Life by thegirl     No Comments »

Since I’m starting a new blog about finding my goals in life, I thought it only fitting to make a few changes to get the ball rolling.

Change #1: I got a new haircut. I’m one of those girls who does little more than shampoo (and condition occasionally), let my hair air dry and sometimes throw it back in a scrunchie. Mousse or curling irons? Blowdryers? You can forget about it. I’ve had the same bottle of hairspray for three years, and it has been used one whole time.

I once tried a really nice layered look that needed only to be blown dry while I brushed it with a round brush. It looked great — for the first day. (Yup, that would be the single use of the hairspray.) After that I was too lazy to use the blow dryer, and my hair looked kind of shaggy thereafter.

That haircut grew out about a year ago, and at that point I got it chopped a few inches shorter and a lot straighter. I hadn’t done a thing to it except try (without success) to go brunette until today, when I decided I was tired of having it in my way all the time — it wouldn’t stay up in a bun because it’s so thin, and it was too big to shove into one of those big hairclips — so off I went to the salon. Once most of it was lopped off, it felt so good to have all that weight off my shoulders — literally. Even totally soaking wet it was lighter than it had been before.

And okay, I know it’s not the most flattering cut in the world for my face. But this is about freedom and comfort, people. I can actually toss my hair again!

Posted in: The Girl's Life by thegirl     No Comments »