4:21 a.m.

So if you are reading this you are probably surprised to see an actual entry....I have to say that blogging has not been on the radar much for me in the last several months. But, given my recent month-long stint battling insomnia, I thought I could put my whirring mind into some use. Maybe this will all seem irrational in the morning, but maybe it will get me back to sleep. I will give a report tomorrow.

It is a toss-up (and turn, and toss and turn) as to what things I am thinking of when I awake in the dark hours of the night. Among them are: singleness (and all the things that could have gone wrong to land me in such a plight), career (why did I get two Masters degrees again?), work (usually thinking about a client), family (should I live so far away? why is my Dad sick? what if Raquel gets deported?) and God (does he hear me? why won't he answer my prayers?)

5:00 am

So it turns out that Raquel couldn't sleep either...we met each other in the hallway with mussed hair and dazed faces. She went outside to study. Then my dad rolls in too...and joins me in the dining room. He can see me from the light of this laptop and I can see his form in the darkness...he first gives me the rundown of his pain medication (and I think, surely *this* will put me to sleep!) and then he tells me what he does when he can't sleep. He drinks orange juice (which I don't think will work for me) but then he lets his mind latch onto something positive, instead of what's bothering him. He tries to solve a problem that is good, like winning the lottery....he thinks about how he would spend the money, figures out all the numbers. The best part? I get 10% no matter what.

Time to try out his advice....good night.