Can't Sleep

It drives me crazy when I wake up in the night and can't get back to sleep.  Was it the trip to the bathroom?  Was it that my right knee is hurting?  Was it that my mind was racing?  Was it that I felt bad for being short tempered with my children tonight when they didn't want to go to bed?  Was it that I seem to have caught a cold and feel miserable?

Who knows!  But here I sit, feeling out of sorts, and looking with disdain at the time.  I have to teach tomorrow.  I have two children that don't need to endure my ill temper.  I have a husband who doesn't need to hear me complaining.  I need to get back to sleep.  So I Googled ways to get back to sleep.  It seems I am definitely not alone in my sleepless dilemma.  Here is what I found -

1.  Don't drink alcohol before bed.  (I didn't.)
2.  Turn off all lights.  (Well, I went to bed earlier than my husband since I wasn't feeling well.  So the lights were on.)
3.  Keep the heat at 65 degrees.  (I did get hot which is very unusual for me.  I turned down the thermostat.)
4.  Meditate to relax.  (I am definitely not relaxed tonight; I am very on edge.)
5.  Get up and do something else for awhile.  Then go back to bed.  (Well, that is what I am doing)
6.  Avoid caffeine.  (Oops!  I had a cup of coffee tonight instead of herbal tea.)
7.  Make sure your bed and pillow are comfortable.  (Definitely not!  My pillow looks like a giant sat on it for days.  There is no fluffing it anymore.  Plus I wake up sore often in my hips and knees.  I think we have had our mattress for 18 years.  It is pretty much shot.  But there isn't a budget for a new bed!  So perhaps a new pillow and a mattress pad might help.  I will look into this, this weekend.)
8.  Avoid back-lit screens.  (Well, I did roll over to the light of my husband's new phone.  He is definitely a night owl and was laying in bed looking for apps.  And of course this computer screen is not helping now.)

So, I think I will go brew a cup of tea and read on my Kindle (not a Fire) until I feel groggy again.