D. C. Donahue Books

John 3:16 – Be thankful, grateful, patient, charitable, kind, and smile, as it is infectious. God Bless America, Protect Our President and Military!

Way to go! Team USA is making the round of 16. Next up: Belgium in Seattle tomorrow, July 6 at 8 pm ~~~ Let’s cheer them on to victory!

To begin with, I consider myself a sleep enthusiast aficionado… Not!

I will do everything possible to attain a good night’s restful sleep. It just doesn’t work out perfectly that way all the time. Some of the reasons are that I like to drink plenty of water, coffee, and, since the heat spell, green tea with honey. Which, I might add, I think they put something addictive in, as on a hot day it’s so good!

However, part of the problem is that I sometimes get sidetracked and drink these things right up to the point of retiring for the night. For example, I am typing this prompt at 10 pm on Thursday to stay ahead of the game. This weekend, for us, will be fun-filled for sure! So, just poured a 20-oz cup of coffee since there was still some left in the pot. It’s sort of like the Irish around a good bottle of whiskey or wine shared among friends. It would be a terrible shame and an Irish insult to not finish it.

In my attempt to stay on point with today’s prompt, here are some of the things we tried in the past and have more recently used.

1. Try to get to bed at a reasonable hour most nights, especially during the workweek, before 11pm, and wake up between 6-8 at the latest. A charismatic speaker hired talked about how one feels when getting up to relieve oneself at 4, 5, or 6am, feeling totally refreshed, but then heads back to bed for that extra hour, waking up and feeling like crap. That was your body signaling to you when you woke up the first time, feeling good; your day should start! Go for a walk, jog, or exercise; read; have an extra cup of coffee; have an early breakfast, or, if married, you can figure it out.
2. If you are retired, like some of us folks, try not to power nap in the afternoon, and if you do, keep it under 35- 40 minutes. You can thank me for this sage advice that night when you find it works.
3. If you are taking a sleep aid, we have tried several over the years, such as Benadryl. The FDA now suggests that long-term use may be linked to dementia. Go Figure!
4. More recently, we have tried nd by no means are we recommending you try them- but for us they seem to help – Natrol Ultra Sleep Gummies, Sleep Patches my wife finds helpful, and, most recently, at the recommendations of public figures like Mike Huckabee and Bill O’Reilly to take their word on how it helped them – Relaxium Sleep Quick.
5. My only suggestion is to take them 1-2 hours before you want to go to sleep, don’t drink alcohol, unlike me, if you can help it -No caffeinated drinks, such as coffee, tea, soda, included, and certainly no Red Bulls!

That being said, we don’t suggest you try any or all of these, as we know, just from walking down a health and beauty aisle where these things are sold, that we are not alone in our search for a good night’s sleep. It may be one of the fastest-growing markets in the HBA (Health & Beauty Aids) sections of the store. Hmm! Wonder what the markup-to-cost factor is on these items to pay Mike Huckabee and Bill O’Reilly to do their ads!

Point to Ponder: As an aging male, and I am sure my wife would agree, when you hit a certain age and follow the doctor’s orders to stay hydrated, plan on getting up at least twice a night for bathroom breaks. Unless you limit your liquid intake before you retire for the evening. You younger folks don’t have to take my word for it; just ask any aging adult over 60, especially a beer drinker, and then add 1 or 3 more trips. See, I can be nice only because you actually thought I meant over 60??