*hands her a feather down comforter (THE best kind) and some Wheat Thins*What can I say? You and I are much alike in this time of sleep deprivation. If I ever thought I may have been an Insomniac before, I was wrong - THIS is insomnia. Waking day to day, not wanting to leave wherever you're lying, whether it be a warm bed, a stiff couch, or the concrete steps outside the church that you had passed out on screaming, "GOD, LET ME SLEEP" just the previous night before. As for work, I have no idea where you are employed, yet I feel those exact feelings of negativity, impatience, and the constant running to stay on your toes on the fear of being easily replaced after one slipup. And it's true - minors are the easiest to dispose of and gain another. As much as we hate returning to these places, we must because such is the way of life - to be upon our own independence, while also loathing it and wishing we could go back to the days when we simply woke up, ate what was lying atop the table, and never thanked our guardians for giving us so much that we obviously took for granted.Sleep? What is this sleep everyone speaks of? When some people are just reaching the climatic point of their sweet, sweet dreams, I am simply clenching my eyes shut while the only thought crossing my mind is when I'm going to fall asleep, and how I will know I'm remotely close. Yet instead of prolonging my sleep and waking up sequential hours after the rest of the world, much like the falling asleep part, I must awaken at the timely hour of work, school, and breakfast - no matter how much I want to or in this case don't want to.Look at me - I'm so tired that now I've gone and posted this insanely long comment about sleeping.~Spiffy Pariah~

I don't know how demanding your tasks are at work right now, but it sounds like you need to take two days of vacation, turn a weekend into a long weekend, and just get out of there.Go home and try not to think about work. Even if you need to clean the house up for the next BAN, at least you are not at work. You can get that taken care of without the stress of employment weighing in on you.And if you can't take the vacation time for some reason, call in sick. I can't believe I'm advocating this, but call in sick when you aren't. Although, you could argue that you are sick - sick of work. Plus the joyful giddyness of playing hooky for a few days might be the first step to relieving some of that stress.Take a few days to take care of things around the house, read, and relax. And most important, even if you have plans for the weekend that require you to get up to an alarm, you still have 2 days of playing hooky that will not require an alarm to be set.You need a few days away from work where you are away from work for no other reason than to be away from work. Take them.

Thank you! Your post was wonderful. It helps to knwo that there are other people going through the same thing I am. (Go figure, the school counselors were right in saying that knowing you're not alone helps.)Again, thanks for the reply.

The tasks at work are pretty demanding. We're understaffed and I am doing three peoples jobs (including my own.) Still, I am surprised to hear your advise, although I much appreciate it. Hearing it from you, I don't know, the fact that you know me, and that you acknowledge and reaffirm what I'm feeling somehow makes it feel less like I'm going crazy and more like it's just a crappy time right now. Which is a lot more bearable. Thanks.