Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Restless night

This happens to me at least two nights a week:  I go to bed and sleep for three or four hours, then wake up to toss and turn, perhaps dozing from time to time but getting no more deep sleep.  
This was one of those nights.  I have no pain, I even feel tired.  But sleep won't come (the whole night through, your cheating heart will tell on you). 
Oh, I'm sorry.  I drifted for a few seconds there.  
Counting sheep (or cows, or blessings) never helps put me to sleep.  At one point last night I meditated on what a wonderful thing it is to be able to breathe, to fill one's lungs with air and then exhale.  So I took several such breaths and thought of what it would be like to have emphysema, and thanked heaven I quit smoking years ago.     

I tried to avoid some negative thoughts that kept pushing into my consciousness, things I only blog about in my private space on the Internet.
I heard vehicles accelerating nearby around 2 A.M., got up, and went out to stand on the front porch, wondering if the now-mostly-deserted house next door was the source of traffic.  It wasn't.   
The dog, hearing the front door open, came out of the computer room, collar jingling, and joined me.  We heard voices nearby, no doubt the nocturnal twins in their above-ground pool with friends, a short distance away.  I thought about Tyler, the twin with cancer, and how he told my grandson a few days after his chemo session, "I'd rather be shot in the face; I'm not doing it again."
The dog and I came back inside and went back to our respective beds.  
I pondered on the beef fillets I had thawing in the refrigerator.  What to do with them?  They aren't from Clyde, they're from Sir Loin, last year's calf.  We need to use up the older meat.  Cliff said I should wrap bacon around the fillets, but he has no idea how to proceed after that.  
Keep in mind I only learned how to properly cook steak last November.  
How's a woman to sleep when she's worrying about how to cook fillet mignon?  


Then I started thinking about coffee, and that's all she wrote.  I gave up trying to sleep and got up.  
I came to the computer and googled fillet mignon.  Keep in mind these fillets are tiny little things because they come from a yearling steer of dairy breeding.  But the flavor will be great, if only I don't overcook them: we like medium-rare.
On the subject of coffee:  Do you have a favorite coffee cup?  There's always one in my cupboard that I will reach for first.  I like a good-sized mug, not too big though because my coffee would get cold before I drank it all; and I like it to have some sort of saying on the side of it.  Over the years I've had favorite cups with positive thoughts, comic sayings, and Bible verses; all of them eventually break, and I move on to another.  My first choice these days is this one:  


 I wonder who came up with this, and why?  I know there's a Green Day song, "Before the Lobotomy", and I wonder if that inspired this cup.  I don't know why it tickles my fancy, but when I saw it at a garage sale for a quarter, I had to have it.  Cliff doesn't like this one because he drinks his coffee black, and the coffee doesn't show up in a black cup so he sometimes over-fills it.  Since I use creamer, I have no similar problem.  
So, back to the fillet mignon.  The recipe I linked to wants me to use a meat thermometer to check doneness; I have no such thermometer.  I'm supposed to brown the bacon-wrapped steaks in a skillet and then put them in the oven for a short time.  
Here's hoping.  

12 comments:

  1. I hope your Tuesday is better than your restless night and good luck with your fillets.

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  2. I hate nights like that! I usually always have them on the nights that I have to get up & go to work the next morning! I think subconciously I'm dreading work therefore keeping me awake. Good luck on the fillets. I do have a favorite cup. It's a stoneware one I bought in the mountains. It says HOPE!

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  3. I hate those restless nights. I still get them even with my sleepy meds. They drive me crazy. My favorite coffee mug is an old Casey's go cup with a lid that will keep it warm long enough for me to drink it and keep me from making too much of a mess if I accidentally knock it over. I love the lobotomy mug! I'd drink out of that anytime!

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  4. Vicki9:36 AM

    I love your mug, my favorite says "Eat Drink and Be Quiet" across the front of it. A friend bought it for my son years ago, we fight over who gets it when he comes to my house. I hope tonight is a better night for sleeping. Vicki

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  5. You've given me so many things to worry about that I won't be able to sleep tonight.
    I read your 'experiment' and I believe your Cliff and this Cliff might be twins right down to the crickets and tender feet.
    Our all summer long flood however does not allow anyone to go outside with out a couple of tablespoons of deet applied every where. The bugs here are easily the worst I"VE ever seen.

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  6. I had a lobotomy unfortunately I was laid face down on the table so they took out the back of my brain. Now I can't recognize clowns and no longer speak Hungarian and everything The Russian says makes sense.

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  7. Sad but I felt almost glad that someone else does these things in the middle of the night. When you break down and get on the computer and make coffee, you have given up on sleeping at all that night. I know for I have been there. Every night I wake and have a small problem getting back to sleep, but sometimes the bear jumps on my back too and I am up roaming the house and wondering about something...or worse yet worrying about whatever it is that is stuck on the record in my head.

    Sleep tight means so much more that it used to!

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  8. Hi Donna, I should be working but taking a blog break is more fun. I was looking at some of my older posts and saw your comment. Thanks for stopping by. I apologize for not being by here more often, I will correct that right after I type this and put you on my sidebar roll so I won't forget you! I know too well what its like to not be able to sleep. My problem is back and hip pain waking me up and turning from side to side trying to get comfortable. I'm going to come back later and look up the steak link. I'm always open to a better way of doing things. Have a great day!

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  9. Lindie11:48 AM

    I'm often up at night and just read a book or get on the computer or even do suduko fow awhile until I get sleepy again. Or I put something boring on the tv and turn it way down.

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  10. It's a rare night that I don't wake up for at least an hour at some point. I can't even pinpoint what keeps me awake but turning on the light and reading or watching television seems to lull me back to sleep. If I don't engage my brain with an outside source I'll be awake for hours. I just figure it's part of old age.

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  11. Most of my laundry is done in the middle of the night when I can't sleep. I may oversleep when I do go back to bed but I figure that is one of the perks of being older.

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  12. Your mug cracked me up! You should post a warning so those of us who drink soda while we read you don't end up snorting diet coke up our noses. =)

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