What dog whimpering? I don't hear anything

Sleeping's my favorite. I can do it anywhere, anytime, no advance notice, no darkness, no quiet. Just give me five minutes and I'll be out. Bam. I'm GOOD at it.

Or, I was. Now I tend to not get comfortable. And when I do, I havea few things on my mind. I never understood when my college roommate or my mom would say they had trouble sleeping, or slept like crap, or had so many problems or issues on their minds that they couldn't sleep. Now, I get it.

I fall asleep fine. But I'm painfully aware that I won't be sleeping like a champ that much longer. When Big wakes us up whining at 4:45 a.m., or throws up in his crate three feet from my bed, I'm reminded that another human being will be doing similar miracles. And then I can't get to sleep.

Sometime around 6 a.m., I'll give up and fall asleep .... til my alarm goes off at 7:45. I hate it.

But it is giving me plenty of practice time -- practicing my pretending to be REM-ing. REM-ing accompanied by sharp, unconscious jabs in Dave's back; jabs that lead him to get up and take the dog outside. At 4:45 a.m. Marriage rocks.