This column should be quite interesting given that it was written on one of those sleepless nights that seem to occur too frequently these days. Ever have one of those? Mine seem to be happening more and more and you can just about set your clock by me.

I’m up at least twice a night, same time every night without fail. Luckily I am one of those people who can get by on less than 8 hours of sleep so getting up doesn’t bother me too much but it confuses the heck out of the dogs. Every time Momma gets up, whether it’s to tinkle or get a drink of water, they think everybody is supposed to get up.

I thought when I quit working overnight I would have no problem settling back into a normal routine of sleeping at night like the rest of the world. I suppose it takes your body time to readjust after several years, but I hope it kicks in soon and with the time changing this weekend it would be perfect timing.

If I followed the dogs cue, we’d go to bed with the chickens. I’m usually in bed by 10 but getting to sleep is another thing, once we all get situated and settled. My husband says it’s time for a new bed and he has his sights on a California King while I’m dreaming of one of those "Sleep Number" beds with goose down bedding and lots of plump pillows. We also have totally different habits when it comes to getting to sleep. He has to have music to get him to sleep whereas I like the room dark, cool and quiet. I love music but it keeps me awake and before you know it, I might find myself singing or tapping my toes and fingers to the beat.

It’s rare that I get a full night’s sleep, but the bigger issue is all those "other" distractions that keep me awake. I’m also a light sleeper, so the least little sound wakes me up and I take a lot of ribbing about it. My husband says I hear things even the dogs don’t hear. Now don’t tell my husband I let the cat out of the bag, but he’s a big scaredy cat when it comes to noises. He’s always telling me "Aw, honey, you’re just hearing things" so I get up and check things out while he stays safe and snug in bed with the dogs protecting him.

Many times I find myself wide awake with ideas for my columns and I find myself up putting pen to paper in the middle of the night. I guess I tend to be so busy and preoccupied during the day my brain doesn’t have time to catch up until my body slows down. My husband and kids think I am totally nuts when a brainstorm hits during the middle of the night. My Keurig coffee maker has paid for itself several times over in keeping me fully charged while churning out columns and meeting deadlines.

Ever since the kids came along, getting up to check on them is a habit that is ingrained in my blood. I miss those days when they were just babies and life was simpler. As they’ve gotten older, I find it almost impossible to go to sleep until I know my kids are home and safe in bed.

The other thing that makes getting a good night’s sleep difficult is that age old issue that plagues many — snoring times three. You think you’ve got it bad? Try dealing with a hubby and two dogs snoring in unison. But really it’s not the snoring that gets me, it’s trying to contain my laughter so I don’t wake them up. One of these days I’m gonna video it for the whole world to see and to prove that I couldn’t possibly make this story up, after all I do have a reputation to uphold, especially now that I write for the paper.

You’ve heard me say this before and it bears repeating — there is never a dull moment in this family no matter what time of day or night.