Winter is on it’s way!

At about this time every year I make a post similar to this one – winter is on it’s way to us Brits and I’m very excited about it. Temperatures have rapidly dropped whilst we have cold rays of sunshine beating down on us, scarves have gradually climbed back out of the closet and hot drinks are being permanently pumped into people via a medical drip.

I seem to always get depressed during winter, I majorly suffer from Seasonally Affected Disorder, so the lack of Vitamin D makes for a cranky girl, but still – my soul is happiest in the winter. I love it when I’m driving home from work at my usual time and notice that actually; it’s getting dark already so lights need to go on, when the leaves have fallen from the trees and turned a autumnal orange colour and especially when hot chocolate in bed becomes a nightly routine. Hot baths are a must for cold and creaky bones, which is a known soul soother, snuggly coats are constantly adorned upon frozen bodies and wooly hats are an absolute must to keep your head toasty.

Winter is so incredibly beautiful. Not only is it my favourite season for fashion (mostly due to my epic boots from Aldo which I want to marry), but it’s so pretty in the mornings – when the sun starts to rise and turns the sky a icy pink and grass has a white tinge from frost, it’s impossible to keep a smile off of my rosy cheeked face. The feeling of crawling into my cosy bed after a hard days works when I’m tired, sore and cold is unbeatable. Fireworks will be scattered across the sky like artwork as everyone prepares for firework night and soon enough, dainty fairy lights will be sprinkled across buildings to get ready for Christmas.

So despite the rain which will beat upon the office windows and ignoring the continual loop of colds and coughs – I absolutely love winter and love that it’s fast approaching. My thermals, boots, hats, scarves and coats shall be ready to greet my favourite season, like welcoming back an old friend. So tell me, what’s your favourite season and why? I’d love to know!

Sleep.

It’s currently 20 minutes past midnight and as per usual I can’t sleep. When I am successful it’s one of my all time favourite past times and nothing beats a good afternoon nap where I wake up face down, with the credits rolling from whatever film I put on and a pillow covered in my own drool. I need a full 8 hours sleep in order to function like a normal humanoid – any less and I’ll be a spaced out zombie, any more and I’ll be a cranky bitch from the depths of hell. My body is pretty specific on the exact amount of sleep that I need, and it rarely happens. Sorry world; you get either zombie or bitch Lisa on a daily basis.

It’s not like I don’t try to sleep. Insomnia has always been an issue and throughout my entire educational life I functioned on a maximum of 6 hours sleep as I went to bed at 2am every damn night. Now as an adult I need the elusive 8 hours and it is an up hill struggle trying to accomplish that simple task. Sleeping tablets and sleepy lemon tea don’t even have an effect on me anymore. I’d say it affects my life drastically but it doesn’t because I’ve been used to being sleep deprived since I was about 14.

Various things keep me awake and here’s the top issues I seem to battle every single night of my life…

Sleep time = Contemplate life time.
As soon as my head hits the pillow and my eyes give up being open, there seems to be an adrenaline buzz for my brain. Suddenly I think every single thought that has ever been thought. All of a sudden that boy who hurt my feelings 7 years ago is haunting me, when my mum told me off when I was 8 years old is parading around my head, that movie I really enjoyed is on a 2 hour replay in my mind and every vague disagreement has escalated to a full blown fist fight of what I should’ve said. I’ve tried the whole ‘I won’t think any thoughts’ thing and it doesn’t work, because within 3 seconds I’m pondering if it’s possible to not have any thoughts. It would seem for my over-active brain that it is definitely not possible.

I will die alone.
I’m a single little Pringle and sleep time is the perfect time to suddenly remind myself of that. I will definitely die alone. No one will ever love me and I’m doomed to live a sad, lonely life until I eventually die of loneliness. I should’ve said yes to a second date, that guy would’ve fallen in love with me and we could’ve got married and okay I wouldn’t be happy but I wouldn’t die alone. What if I die in my little granny flat and nobody finds me for weeks because nobody loved me or cared for my existence? Deep stuff, all highly important when I have to be up really early for work.

Demons are waiting.
Maybe I watched Buffy too much as a kid but I’m a big, unfortunate believer in the supernatural. Midnight is an ideal time to think about every single horror/supernatural related tv show or film I’ve ever seen and no matter how rationally I convince myself it’s not true, I always think they’ll be chilling in my room waiting for me to sleep. Especially ghosties. I’m petrified of the thought of ghosts so sleep time is great time for my mind to remind me of that. And if I sleep with any body part other than my head out of the duvet then a demon will scratch my skin off. I don’t know where I got that idea but it’s been in my head since very young and as a result all body parts stay tightly tucked in every single night.

It’s too hot/cold.
In the winter I tend to ‘sleep’ in my thickets heaviest pyjamas as well as a hoody and joggers under a massive duvet yet I’m still not warm enough. In the summer I go the opposite way and ‘sleep’ in minimal clothing with a thin duvet on yet I melt and sweat all over the place. I’ve tried the one leg out/one leg under the duvet trick but demons will scratch my skin off so I end up retreating under the duvet in a hot, sweaty ball. Demons can’t get through duvets so I’m safe there, despite the levels of sweat.

The Internet.
Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Pinterest. Buzz feed. All women stalk. YouTube. Repeat x 15 times.

I had a cup of coffee. A week ago.
I used to drink like 7/8 cups of tea or coffee a day. A few panic attacks later I decided that if I was dealing with panic attacks I’d rather not do it when I’m also off my face on caffeine so I now just have 1 cup of coffee to start my day in the morning. If I can’t sleep then it must be because my bodies still amped on the cheeky extra coffee I had several days ago.

These are the main things that keep me up at night, generally just myself being slightly unhinged which I suspect will be a recurring problem for the rest of my life. I’d encourage you to let me in on what keeps you awake at night? Are you over caffeinated? Worried about demons? Going to die alone? Let me know so I know I’m not the only severely sleep-deprived person!