Never Sleep in a Turtleneck

I love that I live in a town where people are comfortable going to the gas station or grocery store in their pajamas. You can tell that they are pj's because usually the pants have little clouds or piggies on them. Sometimes they are even shuffling around in their slippers (or house shoes as some people call them). I give them a lot of credit for being so uninhibited.

I like to think of myself as a free spirit but have to admit that I still have some inhibitions that I need to work on. I want one day to walk my dog in my pajamas. I'm not saying that I don't go out in clothes that I've slept in. I'm just saying that the clothes I've slept in aren't regular sleepwear.

It started many years ago when I was in my early teens. I used to love to go to Easter Sunrise Service at the big dome-shaped center in Pittsburgh. There was nothing like being in that dome as they rolled the roof back and people were singing the Hallelujah chorus to the rising sun. I went ever year throughout my teens. But, being a teen this gig started early in the morning - before sunrise obviously. The center was about 45 minutes from my house so you can start to figure out that I had to get up way too early to get there on time. After my first year of setting the alarm by 4 am, getting dressed, schlepping my way to the trolley to meet my friend and walking about a mile from the trolley stop to the center, I was not looking, or feeling very festive.

The next year I decided that I needed a little more sleep so the best way to shave time off of my trip was to get dressed the night before and sleep in my clothes. That way I could sleep an extra 30 minutes. I tried very hard not to roll over too much in my Easter dress but I always woke up a little wrinkled. That was a small price to pay for extra sleep. I decided I was on to something.

Since then I have found that there are occasions where sleep is more important than wrinkled clothes. I can roll out of bed, brush my teeth and start my morning activities before most people have found a clean shirt to put on . For example, it takes me 5 minutes - tops - to get out of bed and out of the house to walk my dog. If I need to go to the grocery store, I just slip on my shoes, brush my teeth (if I think I might be in close proximity to anyone I know at the store) and jump in my car. Sometimes if I'm feeling like I want to be more "put together", I'll run a brush through my hair. Other times, a quick finger-comb on the way out of the door is all I need. I know that there are times when I look like I should be pushing a shopping cart filled with aluminum cans instead of holding my dog's leash (who by the way, is dressed in a cute t-shirt that says "what happens in the dog park, stays in the dog park" that he also slept in), but at least we're getting our exercise.

The thing is, I don't do these things in my pajamas. I'm still too inhibited to do that. Instead
I shop for comfortable clothes that can be used for dual-purpose sleeping and day wear. I some times work at home so it's easy to just get up in the morning - in my sleep /work clothes and get busy. Easy is the name of the game. I know I'm lacking that "dress-up" gene that some women have. They won't leave their houses without full make-up and clean clothes. What's with that??

I recently realized that I have limits when it comes to sleeping in my clothes. (Just so that my friends aren't appalled reading this new information about me and decide they need to bring Lysol and a breath mint when we meet for breakfast, remember I said "occasionally"). Anyway, when I travel for work, I often don't get back to my house until 1 or 2 am in the morning. Being exhausted (this is my excuse), I will sometimes take off my pants or jeans and just sleep in my shirt. One morning, after one of these late nights, I woke up and my heart was pounding from the scary dream I remembered. I was being kidnapped, dragged by my neck out of my house, chocked, and I was having trouble breathing. I couldn't figure out why I had such a terrifying dream. I did a mental checklist of reasons this might have happened. I hadn't recently seen any scary movies, read any horror stories in the newspaper, driven in rush hour traffic or found a hair in my food. After a moment, it finally came to me. I got out my list of "do's and don'ts" and added "at least once, walk the dog in your pajamas" and "never sleep in a turtleneck". See, I do have my limits.