Sleepless in the South

I've been having trouble sleeping for some time now. I don't seem to have any problems falling asleep. Staying asleep, however, is a different story. On a normal night, I'll go to bed around midnight and wake up four hours later. Sometimes, after an hour or so, I can go back to sleep but those instances are rare.

Needless to say, I am in a continual state of tiredness. I work 60 hours a week, then I come home to engage in normal domestic activities - cooking, doing laundry, washing dishes. I talk to The Boyfriend several nights a week. Sometimes I entertain the idea of making a blog post, but to be honest, there's only such much energy 4 hours of sleep will provide.

My stamina was decreased even more when I developed a sinus infection a few weeks ago. Last Friday, I finally broke down and went to the doctor. After looking at my unusually high white blood cell count, he gave me a shot and a prescription for antibiotics.

I said all of that to say, forgive me if I don't have the necessary brain power and energy to post more frequently. Rest assured, I am still reading and occasionally commenting on your blogs. But anything that requires a great deal of thinking, I am putting on the back burner for awhile.

Not that you guys don't write thought-provoking posts, but you know what I mean.

A book meme

I have been derelict in my blogging duties. Several bloggers have tagged me to do memes, and I have yet to get around to them. I will try to correct that in the coming weeks.

Fringes, tagged me for a book meme that I thought was interesting, so I will start with that one.

Three books that I've always meant to read, but have not:

• Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Every summer I tell myself that I am going to read this book, and every year the summer comes to a close without me having cracked the spine. Even though I've seen both versions of the movie, I want to read the book because there is a scene in the original movie where it's made evident that some sort of sexual game is played between Lolita and Humbert, but we are never told what that game is. I'm hoping the book will clear that up.
• Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. I would love to own both volumes of this book (The Boyfriend, are you paying attention?), and then attempt to cook everything in them. Oh, who am I kidding? If I work 4 or 5 recipes from those books into my repertoire, I'll be doing good.
• The End of the Affair by Graham Greene.I started reading this book years ago, but never finished it. Now, I can't even tell you where it is. I hear it's a really moving book. Someday maybe I'll find out for myself.

Books that changed my life:

• Search for Significance by Robert McGee. I've mentioned this book before on my blog, but I'm too lazy to go look it up. Much of my understanding of the grace of God comes from this book, and it's principles are the foundation upon which I stand. If it were not for this book, I would probably be in therapy right now.
• The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg. Robert McGee and Marcus Borg are located on opposite ends of the Christian spectrum. McGee believes that the Bible is factually accurate and should be taken literally. Borg contends that the Bible should be seen as metaphor and does not have to be factually accurate in order to teach truths about God. For instance, you don't have to believe that the earth was created in 7 days to believe that God created the earth. McGee represents an old way of thinking for me. Borg is opening up my mind to a new way of seeing God.
• Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z by Rachel Kramer Bussel. Ha! I threw that in for comic relief. And to break up all these books on religion. The Boyfriend got me this book 2 Christmases ago, and he gave me volume 2 this past Christmas. Both volumes are filled with hot, spanking stories, although there's nothing really life changing about them. Unless you consider having your bottom whacked until it's beet red life changing.

The one book I haven't stopped talking about since the day I read it:

• Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott. Anne Lamott is the kind of liberal Christian that would make my conservative, fundamentalist friends recoil in horror. That's exactly why I love her. She cusses like a sailor, sleeps with her boyfriends, is pro-choice, and supports gay rights. And yet she has an immense love for God that is genuine and undeniable. I talked up Traveling Mercies so much that one of my co-workers is now reading the book. I'm spreading the joy that is Anne Lamott (and also the joy of progressive christianity.) She also wrote a kickass book on writing called Bird by Bird that I plan to read. Someday.

Losing more than a bet

This year's NCAA Tournament had a surprising twist. Not only was I competing for bragging rights (among other things) in The Lovebird Challenge, but my home town college team ended up competing against Kansas for the National Championship. So when the Jayhawks beat my beloved Tigers in the title game, not only did I lose the bet with The Boyfriend, but my heart was ripped out of my chest, stomped on and left for dead.

But I'll be okay. Eventually.

In the meantime, I tip my hat to The Boyfriend. His bracket Kung Fu reins supreme.

By the way, can anyone point me to a website that sells both stripper poles and nun costumes?