Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Friday, April 6, 2012

Stress and Soffit - or - Is There Such a Thing as Sleep-Carpentry?

Happiness

Shortly after we were married, Grant took a job as foreman at a housing plant.
Where they built pre-fabricated homes.
He was good at his job.
And it was two minutes from where we lived.
He was home for lunch every day.
As well as for breakfast and dinner.
For his new bride, life was perfect.
For the man actually going out to work . . .
It wasn't.
The job was very stressful.
Many bosses.
Several without any knowledge of building.
Any knowledge.
He carried on.
For two years.
He had a family to feed.
But the stress started to tell.
He developed health issues.
And stopped sleeping.
That's when he started making noises about going to school.
Grant had been in school when we started dating, but had quit to take a job after we were married.
Now, he realized that he had made a mistake and wanted to correct it.
I was unconvinced.
How would we provide for ourselves if we had no income?
So he continued on.
Growing more and more unhappy.
And sleeping less and less.
One time, he suddenly snorted, sat up on the edge of the bed and started getting dressed.
“Honey, where are you going?” I asked. “It's 4 AM.”
He jumped and looked around. “Oh,” he said. “Oh.”
He pulled off his shirt, lay back down, and was instantly snoring.
Is there a term for sleep-dressing?
Probably . . . sleep-dressing.
Moving on . . .
One night, around 3 AM, I was sleeping quietly.
Suddenly, Grant shot up in bed, grabbed me by the collar of my pyjamas, pulled me to a sitting position in the bed and shouted, “You hold the ladder! I'll nail the soffit!”
My sleep-fogged brain vaguely discerned that these were 'house-building' terms.
“Honey, you're dreaming,” I said, rather shakily. “Go back to sleep.”
He wasn't to be deterred.
He shook me slightly. “Okay?!”
“Okay!” I said.
“Good.” He dropped me and flopped back onto the bed.
Seconds later, I could hear his soft snore.
He had been asleep the whole time.
I, however, would probably never sleep again.
I was finally convinced.
Grant went back to school.
He studied History, Arts and Anthropology.
Finally achieving a doctorate.
His health instantly improved.
As did his sleeping habits.
He no longer sleep-dressed.
Or roughed up his wife.
And you can bet that the installation of any soffit was in broad daylight.
With real hammers.
And real soffit, for that matter.
Going back to school was a good decision.
Though with two tiny babies and a wife to feed, it had seemed anything but.
It just took some convincing of said wife.
Fortunately, he was a good convince-er.
Hmmm.
Sometimes, I wonder if he was really asleep . . .

10 comments:

  1. Yeah....I was wondering about that. Thank goodness he got back on his correct path.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sleep-carpentry. Is it real? Topic for another blog . . .

      Delete
  2. lol Men are monkeys, You will never know but its good he went back to school
    People can work and study. No big deal.
    :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had a hard time letting go of the income. But I found out that going to school AND feeding a family definitely CAN be done! It just takes ingenuity. And resourcefulness. And a lot of work. I have to go lie down now . . .

      Delete
  3. Heeheehhehe! Farm Boy once yanked the pillow beneath my head and threw it 'cross the room. He was buckin' hay upon a hay wagon in his sleep.

    Men! Ya gotta love 'em!

    God bless ya and have a marvelous Easter weekend sweetie!!! :o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love it! Farm boy would definitely compare favourably with my Husby! These men who keep on working. Even in their dreams! Happy Easter Weekend to you as well, my dear!!!

      Delete
  4. He was asleep. Super decision, and you've even travelled the world from it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It definitely was the right decision. And it's so true. It opened the world to us . . .

      Delete
  5. I love sleep stories. We had to really watch one of our boys because he wasn't always sure where the bathroom was in the middle of the night. One night when he was about 4 years old I caught him spraying into the trash can in the laundry room! He was asleep the whole time!

    ReplyDelete

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