A few nights ago I was in the middle of getting ready for bed when I decided I should turn on my little portable fan that sits on the floor and blows cold air on me all night. My entire reason for turning it on a little early, as opposed to right before I actually hopped in bed, is because in my quirky thinking I just knew that the 10 minutes extra it would blow would cool down my room to the perfect temperature. Listen, when you have two roommates, you all have to make sacrifices and compromise here and there. So while turning down the air conditioning would be my preference, I’ve decided it’s best not to freeze out my roommates.
Anyway, this is getting really long. And so far I’ve only discussed turning on my fan.
What I’m trying to get at is that when I turned the knob to “on” all it did was run its puny little motor and almost caught fire. By almost caught fire I mean it smelled a little like smoke so I freaked out, turned it off, and unplugged it right away.
Immediately following I announced to my roommates and to the world that my fan had just died. My faithful, portable fan of nine years that lulls me to sleep every night. Yes, I am co-dependent on my fan and not the least bit ashamed.
It may have died of old age and over-use, or all the dust in the motor, but I’m just going to believe its time was up.
Needless to say, I slept in silence with only a ceiling fan. Thankfully, I was so tired that I feel asleep pretty quick, but I did wake up nearly every hour both sweating profusely all the while wondering if the noises I was hearing was somebody trying to break into our apartment, or just normal, nightly noises.
My white-noise producing fan is my best friend.
I didn’t wait 24 hours before I marched myself to Target and stood in the “fan” aisle for nearly 30 minutes while researching every last portable fan. Eventually, I threw the “Vornado” in my basket, purchased it, and took it home for a test drive that evening. I have labeled it the Lexus of all fans. Listen, y’all. I have issues.
But if I know one thing to be true, I know that we here at LPM are serious about our sleep.
Although I am a big fan of sleep, I also tend to be a night owl and am one of those folks who can run on five or six hours of sleep, but it’s obvious I tend to be a snob about my sleeping situations.
I got so tickled about all this fan drama that I decided it would be fun to publicly display our quirky sleeping patterns. We know we all have them.
For instance, on top of the must-have oscillating buzz, I also have a ceiling fan that runs all night long, and I sleep with a total of three pillows, one for my head and two on either side of me. It’s so complicated, y’all. And we all know there are things I’m keeping to myself. You’re so welcome.
I know you know what’s coming next.
What are your MUST HAVES for a good night sleep? Do tell. I’m dying to know. If only to make myself feel so much better about my drama this week revolving around a little fan. Grin.
Oh, and happy Friday. May your weekend be full of sweet, uninterrupted sleep.
1. I insist on sleeping on the side of the bed that is farthest from the door. If someone breaks in during the night, hopefully my husband will stop them before they get to me. Thanks, Honey! 😉
2. On my side, fetal position.
3. One foot hanging off the side of the bed, uncovered.
4. Socks in winter only.
I have to have my “cocoon”….otherwise, how else would I wake up as a “beautiful butterfly?” (grin) My husband laughs and says, “Have you ever seen yourself in the morning?” lol
Anyway, my “cocoon” is a soft lap blanket (either the pink or blue one)that I tuck around my body: under my feet and around my sides and up to my neck….then comes the sheet and blanket (if its really cold.) In fact, I’ve instructed my husband that I must have this if I’m ever unconscious in ICU (I’m a nurse, I think of these things….what can I say?) Of course, though….it all comes off in about 5 minutes when I have a hot flash! Then I get cold again….and back into my cocoon I go. It’s comical and the reason benadryl is my friend!
I have to have at least a sheet- no feet uncovered for this girl. And I use a sobakawa pillow.
Understand girl! When my 4 year old started wearing flannel pjs and using his down comforter in the middle of central Texas summer I knew I had a problem. That’s when I turned up the house a/c and added to our room a side portable fan, ceiling fan and finally had husband install a window a/c unit this summer. 4 electronic items. You’re not alone…
Since I’ve lived alone most of the last 18 years, the biggest thing is quiet. Apparently unless it is Bible teachers on the radio.
Since I keep doing a terrible job at getting to bed on time, I cannot wake up in the morning. I even turned the alarm radio volume up. This morning I was pressing the buttons, hitting it, and yelling at it but it would not stop playing – because I was actually STILL ASLEEP.
Oh well, at least I got Bible study in – listened to 2 hours of Bible teachers before I even woke up. :p
1. Clean sheets at least every three days.
2. Embarrassed to say how much I paid for said sheets.
3. A/C set around 66
4. Must have fan!
Cool room with a fan blowing directly on me (unless it is winter then the ceiling fan works ok.) A perfect pillow and a little light so I can see if I wake up. Egyptian cotton sheets, blanket and comforter.
NO SOCKS unless it is cold and then only a little while because if I wake up warm I have to stick my feet out!
My mom calls me the Princess and the Pea when it comes to sleeping because I have to have absolute silence. Any noise will send me over the edge. So being married to a champion snorer is awesome. That may have been one of biggest sore spots the first year, lol! Oh, and my old roommate still makes fun of me for sleeping in long sleeves, pants and socks year-round. In the winter, I’ve been known to add a layer to that. I get cold!
Right there with you.
I too have a “fan”
Our apt is on a busy highway and we hear cars all night.
I am a very sound sleeper and sleep right through it,
But my husband has a hard time.
He says the trucks rumble past at 3 AM and knock him out of the bed hah hah So he added a white noise machine along with my fan we hear nothing. hah
For Audrey and her Grizzly Bear Husband: my dear huband started using “Breathe Right” nose strips and the grizzly is gone! He also used to suffer from sleep apnea and that also has been resolved by these heaven sent strips! The noise may be gone, but I still have to have my air purifier noise and large fan on whether winter or summer, or I don’t sleep.
YES!! I feel so validated as a person right now! Ha ha! Fan on HIGH, total darkness, glass of water on my bedstand, but I have to drink a glass of raw milk (in bed) first, and I MUST wear tight socks. I have no idea why. I also use ear plugs and an eye mask. My husband and I made our own bed last summer after trying zillions. Just wood, with two 4″ memory foam mattresses on top. Ahhhhhh. Finally, the perfect (and super huge California king) bed. I am referring to this post the next time my best friend, children, or husband makes fun of me for these quirks! I am normal, obviously!
Too funny! I must have the ceiling fan on at all times (even in the winter.) In the summer I do like having another fan in the room. I like it to be ice cold!!
I have an old clock radio with bright neon green digits. It is so bright that I need to cover it with a folded dish towel to block out the light. I sleep with two bed pillows and a small knee block pillow. I wish I could say I sleep like a baby, but it is more like an infant that can’t sleep completely through the night. I wake at least two times most night, and take the towel off the clock radio so I can see what time it is…crazy! Perhaps this is why my husband prefers that I sleep in the guest room. I sure do miss the days of sleeping with my man, but I guess this is what menopause does to a marriage.
My nightly cuddle is my “old” pillow that I named “Fluffy”. Basically….it is totally worn out and I often through the night have to hold the pillow case up by one end so that all the stuffing will fall to the other end of the pillow. But all family members know that “Fluffy” is mine and don’t dare take it off my bed!
And I thought I was a high maintenance sleeper!
My husband doesn’t tolerate a fan. But when our kids were growing up, they each had their own Vornado fan. And each of them took their fan when they got married.
I make do with a “noisemaker.”
I sleep with the ceiling fan on high in the summer and off in the winter. If it is running during the winter I wake up with a sore throat. My pillow situation is usually 2 under my head and one situated sideways by my face. I start out on my side. Rotating right and left until I get comfortable (which is usually never!)and then end up on my tummy with my head resting on the weird shaped memory foam pillow. During the summer I sleep with a sheet and thin blanket and my comforter. I do sleep with one leg out of the blankets to stay cool but still keep my upper body warm. I’m a bit high maintenance….add to that my mean kitty cat who likes to sleep right next to me. If I move my arm into the wrong place she will bite me. I like the room dark and no noise. So no extra fan or music.
I have three children and my third is six months old! My baby is the worst sleeper ever! This is how I sleep…remain still for three seconds and sleep soundly until someone screams or calls loudly for me this evoking the babies screaming!!! 500 degrees or 2 degrees I am unconscious blessedly so! Before my third child I had insomnia lol my how things have changed!!!
It’s a wonder I stay married, because I sleep like a hot dog in a bun with pillows on either side, and pajamas with socks – but I can’t stand the pajama legs sliding up my legs, so I tuck them into the socks – it’s such an unbelievably classy look. And the covers have to be over my ear, but not my face. Other than that, I’m totally low-maintenance.
Yes! My husband and I have slept with a fan running for years. Have to have it!
It must be cool in the room. Must have cotton sheets and blankets: no polyester, flannel.
I block out as much light as possible, to the point of covering up little pinpoints of light from telephones, clocks, computers, etc.
Also get really annoyed with noise: ahem, don’t get me started on my neighbors!
Not only do I need a fan blowing next to my bed, three pillows, one of which is covered with a satin pillowcase for my delicate curls, but I also sleep with Sammy, my teddybear and sleeping mate for almost 10 years! And just so you all know, I was 24 ten years ago, well beyond teddybear age!
Sleep well everybody!
Wow. I feel like I just read about myself in your post. My hubby and I have the ceiling fan and two small floor fans going every night. We’re ridiculous. Even worse is our four-year old, who also sleeps with her fan every night. We created that necessity for her, I’m sure. Basically, a night without a fan going is a sleepless night for me.
1. A/C on 67 ( I can hang meat in my house y’all)
2. Turn fan on full blast
3. Get my fav froggie blanket
4. Block the green light on the uverse box
5. Get in bed out my freezing feet and hands on my husband so he can warm them
Up..
6. Always , always , always have fresh BPA free bottled water
Next to my bed.
7. Turn off lights but keep door open..
Okay this is weird…
I love to fall asleep on the couch first! Then I wake up, usually not much later, and head to bed. My sleep is interrupted but for some reason that does it for me!
Oh, and NO socks!
Thanks for the fun!
Kelli
YES, YES, YES! Girl. That is my absolutely favorite thing to do. LOVE falling asleep on the couch first. And I have no idea why. 🙂
Fan? Yes, please…could not sleep without it…
I am just like you. I have to have my two fans one. I feel like they play off of one another. hahaha. Even if that sounds silly. If one fan is not on, boy do I not know it. The worst part is I am such a little goose, I will get my hubby to get up and turn them on because he is closer to them than I am. I also still sleep with stuffed animals. That is right. I am 24 and married,(for four years), and I sleep with a teddy bear, a stuffed R2D2, a stuffed cinderella, a stuffed Winnie the Pooh, and a stuffed Grumpy (he was always my favorite dwarf). I am pretty sure I will be this way for the rest of my life. Hahaha. I think as long as it makes you happy, it isn’t hurting anyone, and I am not disobeying God it is okay.
What a great post! Thanks, Lindsee!
I have this awesome awesome water pillow that I bought from my chiropractor’s office (www.chiroflow.com) that I cannot sleep without! The water moves as I do, and helps adjust accordingly. It’s the BOMB. Just bought my 3rd one in 7 years.
I also have to stick my feet out when I’m huddled under my down comforter. I think I have a “pavlov” thing going on; as soon as I smell down, I’m already half asleep. My bff told me that I’m a cocoon when I sleep.
Love this ministry….
I sleep with two fans, four pillows and a glass of water. So glad to know I am not alone in my quirky sleeping habits.
Totally dark, ac on 67 with down comforter and flannel sheets, this is in the summer time. My husband is so sweet, he stopped complaining and figured out I really did need my sleep for everybody’s good.
My must haves for sleep are… 1. The thermostat at 72 (or lower if I can pull it off) 2. An app on my phone and my iPad (I have to have a backup) called Sleep Bug. It play all kinds of stuff but my favorite is the waves. I love the beach!
This is such a fun post!
I cannot sleep with the door shut because I fear I can’t hear the kids if they need something/someone. I have gotten into a habit of a glass of green tea and some popcorn before bed. I am not a huge fan person but my husband is so I inadvertently have to deal with it. Generally have to have something covering me up-blanket or sheet. And if it was a particularly hot day-I need to shower before I go to sleep because I can’t sleep with the horrible “sticky” feeling, it will keep me up all night.
A glass of tea and some popcorn. Now THAT is specific. So funny!
I, too, MUST have a ceiling fan (on HIGH)- both for the hum and for the breeze.
Oh girl, my white down comforter tucked under my feet, the ac unit at about 67, on my side with a pillow in between my legs, ceiling fan on low, only certain sheets they must be soft (scratchy sheets have no place in my life), I turn my phone and the clock upside down bc of the light, a glass of water, oh and in a soft tshirt with boy shorts! I must take a shower before bed too bc lets be honest in south texas at the end of the day were straight up sticky. No. Time. I’m glad I’m not the only bed time brat! 🙂
Wow!! My fan died this week too. I shopped at 4 places before choosing a fan at Target….I got the Honeywell. I’m distressed to read that it wasn’t the best idea to get a Honeywell. Before going to sleep, I always pray and ask God to protect my family and me, and I entrust myself into His care. It helps me lay down the pressures of the day. Sleep tight, everybody.
Ok, I thought it was just me who had a bunch if neurotic sleep things to do. Glad I’m not alone, lol.
I have to have my ceiling fan and a floor fan on at all times.
I have to have my sheets untucked from where my feet go (what is that called? Footplace, base part? Whatever) because I have been known to freak out if my feet aren’t free…and heaven forbid if they aren’t I will kick and kick at the sheets till they come loose. I need at least 2 blankets for my body and then one extra just for my one arm when it goes over the other blankets. I can’t for some reason just tuck it under, it has to have its own blanket. I also sleep with a sleep mask (also hot pink) and I need my water bottle right by my bed, and Burt’s Bees Chapstick on my lips before I go to sleep. I need 2 pillows, one is really hard and stiff, the other is soft and fluffy. 🙂 and of course some stuff is mine. 🙂
I have to have the soft snoring of my dogs and no matter how hot is is (due to the flashes that are thoughtful enough to visit and stay forever late 40’s are GREAT! ) m quilt and comforter must be draped over my neck and hips! A ceiling fan is a must! Can not have total silence! Lol!
I must have my hair scarf tied on my head or a bonnet to keep all this thickness tamed as I sleep! I prefer to rest my head on the soft, squishy pillow than on my thick, course, curly hair. The second thing I need is darkness – no light shinning through! Then my ceiling fan seals the top three must haves for a good night sleep!
Let’s see…
No socks {ever}
Chapsick {just in case}
Water {for my 3 year old who WILL end up by my side at some point}
I like a flat pillow {with a tee shirt cover}
One leg under the blanket {one leg out}
Shaved legs {I generally prefer shorts to bed, but if I’m stubbly, I wear leggings}
…and yes, fan on with covers {year round}
May I just say, I love this group. Where else? 😉 Sweet dreams, Siestas! <3
Oops! I accidentally hit some wrong button and submitted my message too soon!
As I was saying, I have to have my ceiling fan, and I like the room to be as cold as possible. I’m currently going through that very “special” time of life known as menopause, and I figure She Who Has the Raging Hormones controls the thermostat. Everyone else can wear a parka.
I also like to sleep in the middle of the bed, because I like to sprawl out and I detest any part of my body coming remotely close to the edge of the bed. That’s a little hard for me to do in a queen size bed, with a husband, but I manage.
Last but certainly not least, I always sleep with the covers pulled up over my ears. As a little girl, I read a story about Annie Oakley getting an ear infection from a bug crawling into her ear while she slept. Apparently, that made quite an impression on me, because I’ve slept with my ears covered ever since. And it works, too — not ONCE have I ever gotten an ear infection from a bug crawling into my ear!
I have to have my glass of water, complete with straw, my blanket(usually a quilt and comforter) over just my hops and neck….long story! No matter how hot it gets, the soft snore of my dogs, and the cute popping sound my hubby makes, a ceiling fan temp set T 65 at night, my ipad to read so I don’t have to disturb my hubby! And my hair has to be all gathered and rolled up on the top part of the pillow, because I have hair to my hips and am constantly fighting with it at night. Fairly low key huh? 😉
must have a fan for those middle of the night hot flashes! One night my husband asked if I really needed the fan on. He was freezing! lol! My reply was “Don’t mess with the fan.”
Air set at 68 degrees
Therapure air purifier…It cleans, blows cold air, and is loud enough to block out background noises, but not so loud that I can’t hear the weather radio.
I usually just read and enjoy the blog entries but I HAD to comment on this one. Lindsay, I was totally cracking up as I read your about your fan, I am exactly same way! And in addition, I too have three pillows; two for under my head and one to prop my head pillows on…so as to create a valley of sorts for my head. I don’t quite know how to describe it. I love how my hubby describes it: “Kathy, I love your high maintenance!” (I hope that translates well cause it really is super sweet and loving the way he says it!) Thanks for the great post!!
A fan with just a hint of a noise is a must year-round, my little white maltese-mix puppy at my feet, with AT LEAST one foot sticking out of my “solar-dried” sheets that smell like sunshine in the summertime! (I’m a hoosier and I’m unashamed!)
Oh, my! I certainly understand where you were coming from. It seems like my fan dies in the winter when you just can’t find one.
Because I am suffering through hot flashes (and have been for 10 years), I sleep with a ceiling fan and a smaller fan. I also sleep better when I have the humidifier blowing near me, too.
Is it the cold air? Is it the whirring? It’s probably both. And I have to sleep with my back against my husband’s back. He’s hot-blooded, though, and it makes me hot which makes me need my fan which makes me cold and need his heat.
I’m sure you get the picture. 🙂
LOL!!! I am just like you! I have to have a fan too. However, I also have to have 2 pillows under my head and a pillow either side of me. I can’t share a blanket and have to have my feet out to breathe. I have serious sleep issues!
Oh, Lindsee, you don’t even want to know about my sleeping issues. It depends on the time of year, what’s happening the next day, and blah, blah, blah. BUT…at the very least, I have to wash my face and put on my moisturizer (regardless of how late it is), brush my teeth (obvi) and have a glass of ice water by my bed. And, at my age, I now need to be cool at night. Fans are good, a/c in mid-60’s, etc. You can just call me Grandma.
ummm, talk about issues! 3 pillows – left side, right side – and wherever! water bottle, Grandmama’s quilt and throw blanket from the couch both folded in half!
1. Right there with you on the fan requirement. I dare say there are 100thouses of us, at least here in H-town! And yes, the ceiling fan must be on, the highest setting, even on our 2.5 days of winter.
2. What my fam calls my ‘head blankie’. Yes, it must be super soft and yes, it must block out ALL the light. But it can only cover the top of my head and my eyes, nothing more. And there had better not be an ipad, ipod, iphone, blackberry, macbook or kindle with its light left on! But they *do* all have to be plugged in and charging nearby or I cant sleep, either.
I am with you on the fan! Right now I have two on:) I don’t know how people can sleep without them! I also CANNOT stand to have hot feet. Now that it’s summer, I run cold water over my feet in the tub before I get in bed. No matter how tired I am, if my feet are hot, sleep will not come!
Hi Lindsee,
Gotta have the box fan. I am going to check out the Vornado! I saw another Minnesotan commenting about the cold here. Last time I checked the temperature before going to bed lastnight it was 58. So in June I was turning my space heater on in my bedroom so I wouldn’t be cold while I slept! Unbelievable! Another thing I’ve grown accustomed to – my sweet cuddlebug kitty rests his head on my shoulder and sleeps with me that way. It’s always nice to feel loved. Grin.