TEN YEARS AGO TODAY: PAMPAGE DEBUTS!

Back in those days it was called a personal page before all this blogging business started.

Sadly, I didn't do any sort of archive keeping in the beginning and I'm not 100% what the debut page looked like although I have some ideas which I will hopefully post this weekend.

Since insomnia seems to be the theme of the week, I bring to you this PamPage historical nugget (which I edited slightly for spelling):

Insomnia: February 1, 1998

It is 2:15am and I am wide awake. I can recall going through most of my life (so far) and never being awake at this hour except for writing college papers and going to wild rock n' roll clubs. Now it's getting to be a disturbingly regular occurrence. It's like the most minute blip on my regular life radar results in indigestion and insomnia. Is this a getting older thing or am I evolving in some strange and undesired direction?

Sometimes, I simply can't fall asleep. I will usually toss and turn and do a variety of relaxing and breathing exercises before I will get up. Other times I wake up, sometimes as little as 30 minutes after I've gone to bed. I actually don't mind not being able to sleep half as much as I mind being very tired the following day.

My methods of dealing with it usually involve one or any combination of the following: alka seltzer, ginger tea, mineral water, Hyland's Calming tablets (homeopathic remedy which I highly recommend). I sit on the futon and usually read or sometimes channel surf which is always interesting at this hour. Last night I read for over an hour. Tonight I've already drank 2 big cups of tea which is herbal, but nonetheless, I suspect it isn't helping my cause.

We are in the process of buying our first home which I suspect is at the root of this latest wave of sleeplessness. We found the house last weekend. The worst part was the time between when we knew it was what we wanted and the time we actually signed the offer, which lasted about 24 hours and resulted in one um, spirited discussion. On Friday we brought a stack of paper to the mortgage broker and saw what we were in for with the bank and signed those papers.

It's especially hard doing this for the first time because the whole homebuying thing is this maze of complicated paperwork, agreements, inspections and even though there are a lot of safeguards in there, and you can do your homework and ask questions, the process is totally mystifying and terrifying. At every turn I'm wondering if we're just getting suckered, or if we've naively paid too much or blindly agreed to some fee or certification that's completely bogus.

But I'm also thrilled about the house and with the idea that there will be actual places to put things. Our place now is so small. The house has a shop built on. Great, I am thinking. A whole shop where we can put our wrench, 2 screwdrivers and ball of twine. A utility room: hand wash can be dried in a separate room instead of being an obstacle course in the living room and dining area. It's a good change, it's just overwhelming at times.

I think I might be able to sleep now.