Welcome friends to today’s post, Where Bloggers Live 11.2024: Let’s Go Mimis. Confused by that title? Let me explain. The word ‘mimi’ is Spanish slang for sleep. It is derived for the Spanish word for sleep, dormir. And is similar to saying nighty-night. I first heard the term mimis when we moved to El Paso; it wasn’t something said in Panama for sleep. My sister and her sons always said ‘night nightie’ and PC says ‘go to Sleepy Town’. Brennyn and Lauren say ‘go nigh nigh’. How do you and your family say ‘let’s go to sleep’? Maybe just like that?
Today we are sharing our sleep routine. My post might have you going mimis, yourself!! If you start snoring, I’ll elbow you.
Where Bloggers Live Series
The ideas for this colorful series originated with our adventurous leader, Bettye, at Fashion Schlub. She describes this series as being kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…with bloggers! Every month, Bettye challenges the six WBL bloggers with a prompt that invites us to reflect on our lives, dreams and memories. In case you missed it, find last month’s Where Bloggers Live post, here.
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Please find the places and posts where I link-up on this page.
And be sure to pop in to visit my WBL buddies for their mimis posts. They are:
Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Em at Dust and Doghair
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Sally at Within a World of My Own
Leslie at Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After
Where Bloggers Live 11.2024
As I type this, we are tucked into a little log cabin in Pinos Altos, New Mexico. Near Silver City and about 2 hours from home in El Paso. We have come up to the mountains for a writing getaway and our first day has been delightful. There was snow on the ground when we arrived Monday afternoon, and the low Monday night was 22*, brrrrrr. Our going-mimis routine is about the same here as it is at home. Only maybe sped up a little because I am so cold, I couldn’t get under the covers fast enough. Tonight promises more of the same and Wednesday night is forecasted to be the coldest yet.
Here’s what we do to prep for bed, at home and away.
Let’s Go Mimis
The hour or two before bed, PC and I are usually on our laptops. He plays a game called “World of Tanks: Blitz,” which I call “Tankville.” I am often messaging on Facebook with my sister or my daughter Brennyn, or on WhatsApp with my daughter Lauren. This time is also when I work on blog posts most and try to catch up reading others’ posts. About 8:30 pm, PC will shut down his laptop and lay on the couch to watch something on TV. The TV has been on all night but we don’t give it our full attention until about this time of night. Lately we have been watching “Lioness” on Paramount. Not particularly relaxing or sleep inducing, though.
Between about 9:30-10:00 pm, we will tell the kitties goodnight and head upstairs. I check to be sure the back and front doors are locked, the ceiling fan/fireplace are off (depending on the season) and I turn on the porch light by the front door with its green light bulb that indicates someone at our house was in the Army.
Unless we have done a lot of work outdoors or really exercised before bed (we do Supernatural, virtual reality workouts right before or after dinner most nights), we usually don’t shower before climbing into bed. Showering was quite a workout on one foot so doing it more than once a day has been out of the question for me since 08.29.2024.
Mini-Pre-Bedtime Workout
Getting undressed at the end of the day and dressed for bed has made me grumpy with this silly broken foot.
- bootie scooting up the stairs
- pulling myself from the landing to a standing position on 1 foot
- dropping myself into the wheelchair from the landing to roll into our room
- rolling in the wheelchair to get my pjs from the hook on the closet door
- wheeling to the bed so I could climb onto it to change into my pjs, didn’t feel safe trying to stand on 1 foot to do so
- plopping back into the wheelchair
- rolling back to the closet to put my clothes in the hamper
- rolling my chair to the lavatory to brush my teeth and wash my face
- applying my Musely and RoC Retinol night cream
- wheeling to the toilet stall but the chair wouldn’t fit in where the toilet is
- using my crutches or hopping into the toilet
- hopping back out and falling back into my chair
- finally rolling back to the bed to sleep
- putting on the wheelchair brakes beside the bed so it couldn’t roll away from me when I pulled myself onto the bed
- repeating steps 10-14 each of the 2-3 times I got up in the middle of the night
When I finally got the boot, it was easier. Instead of rolling, I was, of course, hobbling. But had to take my boot off to put my pajamas on, then put the boot back on. I could at least stand up at the lavatory by then.
So happy that I am out of that wheelchair and the boot!! Now, I can step up to the closet to get my pjs, step into the toilet, step up to the sink and climb onto the bed.
At the cabin in Pino Altos, we had a very narrow, steep staircase that doubled back beside itself. I am so thankful I was able to get up those stairs. Then there were 2 narrow little steps to climb onto the bed itself, almost as if it was on a pedestal. Still unable to go barefoot so had to maneuver myself out of and into some knockoff Birkenstock sandals resting on the tiny step when I got in or out of bed. Especially precarious in the middle of the night.
Once We’re in Bed
Monday nights are always the best because we have clean sheets. There’s just something about clean sheets!! I can hardly wait to crawl under the covers on Mondays. I like having blankets no matter the season but it was so hot the last 2 summers, that I learned to sleep just under the sheet with the ceiling fan on to keep from roasting.
In the winter we have a very old electric blanket with dual controls. PC doesn’t use it except on the coldest nights. But, boy, I do!! And we have a second blanket on the bed, too. Some winter evenings, I need the electric blanket, the extra blanket and our comforter over me in an attempt to get warm. Thinking I might like a weighted blanket. But are those just for kids? Not sure I should try to inflict that on Paul.
Bedtime Goodies
Once we are both settled in bed, one of us, lately PC, doles out what we call the ‘goodies.’ Gummies. An apple cider vinegar, 2 vitamin C and 2 Elderberry. In the mountains this week, PC has set my goodies on my pillow like a before-bed chocolate at a fancy hotel. We swear by these!! Paul gets very bad upper respiratory infections at the change of seasons – usually going from fall to winter and winter to spring. But – knock on wood – since we have been taking our bedtime gummies, he has stayed healthier. We used to take melatonin regularly but it gave us both the most vivid and often disturbing dreams. So we subtracted that gummy from our nightly goodies.
Give Thanks
I write in my gratitude journal which means I need the ‘overhead light’ on – the light built into our headboard, for which the control is on PC’s side of the bed. Oh, BTW, we always sleep on the same sides of the bed no matter where we are. Paul on the right side of the bed (if you are in it) and I am on the left side of the bed. Left for Leslie. Some nights I ask PC to give me something he is particularly thankful for that day to add my to list.
The gratitude journal I am currently using is on the left. I like it very much because it is a little more than just writing down 2-3 things I am thankful for each night. Have also just begun “Practicing Thankfulness,” a Bible study for the month of November, but I don’t do it in bed. The Bible study goes with “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young.
Lights Out
When I have finished journaling, Paul will flip off the overhead light. Lately, he is on a “Monk” (the comedy-drama about a detective with OCD) kick, so he will roll toward the TV and watch an episode of it. I like to read before bed, but have trouble focusing completely when the TV is on, so I bob back and forth between looking at the TV and looking at the words in my book. Very distracting.
I generally read at night on the Kindle that Brennyn gave me this summer. Right now I am reading “The Happiest Man on Earth” by Eddie Jaku on it.
I can rarely read more than a couple of pages before getting sleeping. Sometimes I conk myself in the head with my Kindle when it slips out of my hands as I am falling asleep. Who knew reading could be a contact sport?
Nightie Nights
Would like to report that we always kiss goodnight but, alas, the honeymoon is over. We need to get back to doing that, though, because it is such a sweet way to end the day. It has been hard for us to hug since I broke my foot and I miss that, too. Need to do better in both departments.
Would also like to report that we never ever go to bed mad (at each other or anyone else) but that isn’t the case either. We often go to bed worried about one thing or the other. PC wakes up and worries at least a night or 2 a week over finances, retirement, the stock market, the 2 of us getting older. And about one of us getting older (me) much faster than the other.
I usually have at least 1 night a week that I worry, too. Or just can’t see to stop ‘thinking’ about things. Can’t turn off my brain. I come from a long line of ruminators and worriers, we both do. So we come by that naturally. When I have trouble sleeping, I would do well to get up, write down whatever it is that is bothering me and then let it go. But I always worry I will wake PC. And with this foot, it was a 3-ring circus getting in and out of bed and moving around the room.
If I think of something in the middle of the night – mid-worry – I want to remember the next morning, I toss my Kleenex box or Kindle or a tube of lotion onto the floor. When I step out of bed and see the lotion or Kleenex box on the floor, I usually remember why I put it there. Usually. Not always.
Room for Improvement
There are a couple of things I think we need to implement now that we are both retired and I am mostly recovered from my break.
- I think we need to start waking up at a certain time. For the last 2 months, we have languished in bed for an hour or more after we have awakened. But that really eats up the morning when we don’t wake up til 8:00 or 8:30 am. If you are retired, do you set an alarm?
- we need to stop snacking (except for gummies, of course) by 7:00 pm. Kitchen closed. If PC does a lot of snacking, he is almost always guaranteed a tummy ache about midnight.
- start turning off the TV by 10:00 pm, so that reading is the last thing we do before we go to sleep
- and we have to start making certain we kiss goodnight
Your Turn
Do you have a nightly go mimis routine? A regular bedtime and things you do before hitting the hay? Is there something you think I need to add to mine? Let me know in a comment below, please.
Then be sure to pop in to visit the other Where Bloggers Live gals. Iris and Daenel are having technology issues so may be late to the party. Heaven knows, I have had my share of those!!
As I proofread this and prepare it to publish, we are home again, home again, jiggety jig. Looking forward to sleeping in our own bed tonight…which has a new mattress on it as of last week. We hadn’t even broken it in good when we left for Pinos Altos. Hope it feels heavenly tonight.
Sweet dreams, everyone.
Hugs and kisses,
Per usual, this was a really thoughtful post, Leslie. I liked all the perspectives you shared. (I think we were a “beddie bye” family when the kiddos were little but you just gave me a fun question for the next family dinner (or group chat).
It’s a very cool thing about your writing, it really makes me visualize what you’re conveying (haha, you might have to be careful with that). But seriously, you do have a gift of telling a story through your writing.
Greatly also appreciated the comfort and candor in the telling. We don’t often kiss goodnight anymore (though usually kiss goodbye) and have been known to break the “don’t go to bed mad” rule (although usually “sleep’ fixes whatever dumb thing we were mad about). Thank you for the sweet take!
You always say just the very sweetest things. I have been feeling so down about my writing lately. We are doing that NaNoWriMo thing and Paul is turning out a masterpiece while I am trying to write little vignettes about things that happened to me, or to my girls. My writing seems so silly and frivolous.
We both need to get back to kissing our honeys goodnight. I think it is the best way to end the day and especially important when you really want to smack your honey instead!!
Love you, friend.
I can’t imagine how you got along with that broken foot. It’s crazy and yet you did it.
And I love the idea of kissing every night before bed. We’ve gotten out of that habit too, but it’s time to start it again.
Rob feels the same about clean sheets. Me? Not so much.
OOXO
Jodie
I am growing weary of this foot and had a little meltdown this afternoon after standing on my feet for most of the day. But everyday is better and easier. Happy to report we have kissed a couple of times before bed since I wrote this post. And even once in the gym!! Scandalous.
I don’t really have a bedtime routine.. other than brushing my teeth and climbing into bed. I do like to put something mindless on like a sitcom I’ve seen a bunch of times that I don’t really have to pay attention to and I’ll watch/ listen until I fall asleep after having set the sleep alarm on the TV. I know they say TV watching before bed is bad but it’s the only truly effective way I’ve found of shutting off my brain so I don’t have a million thoughts and lists playing through my head in an endless loop keeping me awake.
Glad watching TV before bed works for you. It does for PC, too. And I fall asleep while he is watching so I guess it works for me. I always try to read but the TV can be a little distracting. He is watching Monk, the detective with OCD, right now. And I enjoy it, too.
Enjoyed your sleep post – I guess we all have a routine of some kind. Sorry about your foot, glad you’re getting around better now. Glad you’re usually getting a pretty good sleep.
Iris
Thank you!! My sleep is even better now with the silly boot off and our new mattress. In fact, I don’t want to get up in the morning. Yikes!!
Oh, I remember those nights (and days) of booty scooting up stairs. I’m so glad you’re out of the wheelchair and the boot! Although, I have to be honest. I kinda loved my boot after my first surgery. I had lost a lot of muscle tone because I didn’t walk for three months. That boot gave me a lot of stability. I guess it was my security boot!
I don’t really have a nighttime routine. I do get the meds around for the night and next day as well as making sure the coffee maker is ready for Mike. I also get everything down for him since he’s not real steady on his feet yet. That’s partially a selfish reason…I don’t want him breaking my bowls since the pattern has been discontinued! I do a lot of my blogging at night, too. We don’t sleep in the same room right now because the other bed has an adjustable base. I have to admit I kinda like it because I don’t have to worry about bothering him with having the tv on or reading or blogging.
Your cabin getaway looks so cozy, but yikes…those stairs would be scary!
Have a wonderful rest of the weekend, Leslie!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
We got used to sleeping apart (sadly) when my foot was first broken. I liked being able to turn on the light and read if I couldn’t sleep without worrying about disturbing Paul. He usually stays up later than I do, but watches TV in bed, which makes it a little hard for me to fall asleep but we make it work.
My boot had become my security, too. I went over 2 months without walking on my foot but thank goodness, I am walking now. In fact, I am sneaking now and then and walking barefoot!!
We had such a nice 3 days in the mountains. Hope Mike can get to feeling better and maybe you guys can have a little getaway, too.
The bedtime gummies sounds really interesting, and I love the presentation like they are chocolates at a fancy hotel (though I have always thought that was weird because I wouldn’t want to sleep with sugar mouth!). I am impressed that you can push something on the floor during the night and remember what it meant the next morning!
I do sometimes worry about eating the bedtime gummies AFTER we’ve brushed our teeth!! But they are sugar-free. Thank goodness. Putting something down on the floor to trigger my memory to do something the next day works sometimes and sometimes not so much. I will just step over whatever it is and not think another thing about it.
I haven’t heard the term Mimis before. When my kids were growing up we called it nigh-night. Now I just tell my husband, “I’m going to bed.” 🙂
We’re usually both in our recliners watching TV and around 9:30 I start getting ready for bed. Set the table for breakfast, put on my pajamas, take off my make up, make sure doors are locked, set alarm on my phone, write a note for Beth telling her what time to set her alarm or what I will be doing the next day. Then Chuck and I kiss goodnight, we tell each other “I love you” and off I go. I read my Jesus Calling daily devotional, then turn off the lamp on my nightstand.
I do the same thing like you do with the kleenex box! Just recently Beth and I were out running errands and I put a pen on my dashboard, by the speedometer to remind me to do something when I got back into the car! It works!
Great idea to read Jesus Calling at night.
Glad I am not the only one who puts things in strange places for reminders. It backfired on me the other day but I guess whatever it was I was trying to remember wasn’t all that crucial.
So glad the foot is continuing to improve Leslie – and that it makes your evening routine a LOT simpler. It’s amazing how well our bodies are made, and how much we notice when something goes wrong with them! I hope you have some very peaceful, and restful nights now you’re back in your bed with your lovely new mattress. 🙂
Thank you so much. I am sleeping like a champ. The new mattress gets a thumbs up. And not having to wear that orthopedic boot to sleep gets a big thumbs up, too.
If I wake up in the night and start worrying, I try to pray the alphabet prayer. I start by praying for everyone whose name begins with A, then B, and so on. I have rarely made it all the way through the alphabet before I fall back asleep. The other thing I do if I’m worrying about something during the night, I say in my mind over and over – sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep — that often works, too! hahaha!
Oh, my gosh. I have never ever heard of the alphabet prayer but I love that idea. I try to pray and turning things over to God really does help me when I get caught up in a night of worrying. Going to try the alphabet and commanding my brain and body to sleep, sleep, sleep. Thank you!
Hi, Lesley – Great post and questions. My bedtime routine is fairly stable. Shower – jammies – brush teeth – call my mom – read – lights out by 10 pm if not earlier. I’m an early riser (usually up by 6 – no alarm needed). I get up without lingering and go straight to the exercise mat. I find it best to exerices before I am fully awake so that I can’t talk myself out of it! <3
Oh, I love that you call your mom before you go to sleep. That is the sweetest thing. My mom was always lived in a different time zone from me and figuring times to call was a challenge. She could have been asleep just about any hour of the day.
LOVE that you don’t linger in bed in the morning. We HAVE to stop this lounging around business. It really take a chunk of time out of our morning. We have started setting the alarm for 8:00 – ha, 8:00!!! Need to try 7:00 this coming week.
Hi, Leslie!
So glad to read that your foot is so much better!
Thank you, me, too!!