sleep terrors for grown-ups

Last night was a great opportunity to catch up on lost sleep. Or so I thought. I was so tired that I knew I'd fall asleep faster than usual - and I fall asleep fast. Well, I stayed up too late watching Monday's The Closer. Then I was kind of riled. So there I was in bed, making lists of people I forgot to call back and jobs I forgot to do and things I forgot to buy and on and on. You know how it works when everything comes rushing back just when you lie down, right? But I've not finished unpacking the bedroom, so my nightstand is next to me, but without my paper or pens inside. I finally fell asleep, got Josh when he woke up in the middle of the night, and put him next to me in Nathan's spot, where he fell back to sleep pretty quickly. But from then on, I was only able to half sleep. I was having dreams of chasing Tioga in the house, keeping him from doin' his thang on my new floors. They were so vivid that several times I sat up in bed shouting "STOP!". True story. We got Tioga outside of a Wal-Mart, did I already mention that? Well, about 30 minutes before we ran into our future mutt, I walked past this clearance bounce house for the 1,379th time in about 4 days. There were only 3 left. Every time I saw that thing, I kept thinking about how great it would be to have in the snow or rain. All we'd have to do is throw it in the basement and the boys would jump themselves exhausted. After much serious mulling, I put the bounce house back. (Yes! After 5 or 6 trips to visit it, this was the first time it made it into my cart!) Nathan hadn't been excited about the idea previously, and I didn't feel like I could pop home with a surprise $100 purchase. (Although a bounce house for $100 is a steal, I might add.) We paid for everything else, left the store and found the dog. If I would have bought the bounce house that day, I would have most likely walked right past the dog. Coming home with 2 surprises in one day? Not a chance. I love this dog, I really do. But, last night, during my 'night terrors', I was really wishing I'd brought home that bounce house.