Monday, April 10, 2006

Thoughts on caffeine

In the past year, it's become increasingly obvious that I am no longer a night owl, thought I'm not too much of a morning person either. As a result, if I want to stay up a little later, I usually have a can of Coca Cola. As of this weekend, I wonder if that's such a good idea.

Of the three weekend nights, I had my caffeinated beverage of choice on two of them. Friday night, I drank it around 9 pm. The end result was that when I went to bed around 2:30, I couldn't close my eyes. I felt tired, but... not... Eventually, I managed to get to sleep. Saturday, I declined to drink any caffeine. I barely made it to 10, and that was a major struggle. Sunday, Mike asked me if I wanted a drink, and since it was only late afternoon, I thought I would be safe with another can of Coke. Surely the caffeine would run through my system before bedtime. Alas, I forced myself up the stairs close to midnight, but again, I lay in bed with my eyes open for a good long while.

This leaves me in a delicate position. If I want to stay up later and spend time with Mike, or any friends or family who happen to stop by, I risk staying up far later than I should, because I still wake up between 6 and 7 a.m., regardless of when I fall asleep. Yet, if I don't use caffeine in these situations, I end up sluggish, slurry, and useless company, which negates the entire purpose of socializing.

Is it the type of caffeine? Should I try cups of Earl Grey tea or hot chocolate instead? Those are probably better for my body than the carbonated caffeinated wonder I've been drinking. I expect this will have to be an ongoing experiment. I will keep you informed.

I plan tomorrow to go get two or three otocinclus for the fishtank, as we finally have enough algae to support them. I wish we could throw them in with the two bettas, because a full clean on their tanks to remove the bright green growth is becoming a weekly thing, but alas, no. I worry for Stripes; she hasn't moved much in about a week, though she is still alive. We also discovered a minor miracle on Mike's birthday; a baby sunset platy. We think that it was eaten shortly after discovery, because only Dad and Mike saw it. It was gone by the time Mom and I came home, though they did manage to get one picture of it, which I will post sometime. Dad thinks we should go get a male platy as well, so we won't have to wonder about immaculate conceptions or the gestation period of a platy any more.

0 comments:

Blogger template 'Blackorwhite' by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008