Night Terrors

"A dream cometh through the multitude of business..."

There are two things in our life besides our marriage that we care about more than anything else; the pets and the bicycles.  We told our moving rep last week, "The only things we care about getting across the Ocean without incident are the dog, the cats, and the six bicycles.  If everything else breaks or disappears, it won't matter nearly as much."  I'm sure you can relate, everyone has something they care about more than anything else.

Of course, these things are turning out to be the most difficult to get to Luxembourg (Lux).  And, they are the only issues we are actually worried about (well, the Mr. is also worried about whether he should get an Audi or an BMW, but I seriously doubt its at the level of concern over the pets and bikes...at least I hope so.)

Apparently, flying animals to the EU is a complicated thing, in my opinion more complicated than it should be.  The first problem is finding a flight that will take animals.  If we were just taking one animal in the cabin with us, it wouldn't be as difficult.  But, getting a pet in the cabin and two more in the cargo hold is next to impossible.  Turns out, those little flights from Cleveland to a larger hub won't allow pets in cargo at all.  Only the large planes for international flights will take them.  So, after exploring all the options with The Company travel agent, the only solution was to drive to one of the international hub airports.  So, on December 19th, the two of us, the dog, the two cats, and some luggage will be driving for 3 hours to Detroit to catch our 8 hour flight to Frankfurt.  The cats will ride together in the pressurized and heated cargo hold and the dog will ride under the seat in the cabin with us.  Once we arrive in Frankfurt, we will get to drive another 3 hours to Lux (which by the way, is a country, not a city in Germany as many people apparently think).  By the time we arrive there, I'm sure the two cats will have hatched an elaborate plan to assassinate their owners.  They hate riding in the car.  It's going to be rough, no doubt about it.  But, it may actually turn out to be easier on the animals than three flights.

Now, figuring out how to get the fur children to Europe hasn't been the only hassle.  Getting them "legal" has proven to be the worst part of the process.  The EU requires new rabies vaccines at least 21 days before they arrive, a bunch of paperwork, and ISO regulation microchips.  Apparently, they make two different types of chips, 9 digit and 15 digit.  "Merica," always trying to be different, ie. difficult (case in point, the measurement system) is like the only place on earth that uses the 9 digit chip.  The EU uses the more advanced 15 digit chip.  Because we live in Ohio, which must be more backwards than I realized, not a single veterinarian has the means to insert the 15 digit chip.  Most of the ones we talked to hadn't even heard of it.  If I didn't know better, I'd think we were the first people in the history of the State of Ohio to move our pets to Europe.

It has taken weeks to figure out how we can get those chips in our pets.  Finally, after going around and around with every vet office in NE Ohio we determined to purchase the chips and the appropriate chip reader from PetTravelStore.com .  We'll take all three animals, the three chips, and the reader to our USDA certified vet who will insert them and fill out the necessary paperwork.

Sigh.

Of course, a simple solution to all of this, which I'm sure some of you may be thinking of suggesting, is to leave the animals here in the States.  Not an option.  We made a commitment.  Think we're crazy?  Imagine if you had to go through all of this to get your child into another country, and then you might understand.

I'm not going to get into the bicycle shipping issue right now.  Let's just say prejudice against bikes transcends into international shipping.

This whole pet travel issue has created a small wad of stress for my husband and I.  Even after we had come up with a solution for flights and microchipping, it still weighed heavy on us, which brings me back to the quote above (from Ecclesiastes 5, by the way).

I could not fall asleep last night.  Insomnia is something I've dealt with since I was a wee lass, in fact, it's a running joke in the family that I've been tired since the fourth grade.  I'm sure its a stress related thing (fourth grade was more intense than you may think), and when the going gets a little rough, I read until 2:00am.  Anyway, it was about 12:30am when I returned to bed after getting a drink and my husband immediately jumped out of bed.  He walked around the bed until he got to the bedroom door, then turned around, walked back, and laid back down.  "What was that about?" I asked.  "I have to get the microchips for the animals," was his response.  I took me a second to realize he wasn't awake and had been sleep walking.  He has never done that.  I've heard stories of nightly excursions that ended with him in the backyard of his family's house wondering how he got there, but that was when he was 10 or something.  The worst his sleep behavior gets is him acting out his dreams.  Once he was playing soccer another time he was boxing, you can imagine how pleasant that was to wake up to.  Apparently, we've reached a new level of stress that actually gets him out of bed.  

All of this reminds me of how important it is to manage our stress in a healthy way so it doesn't start impacting us physically and mentally.  According to the Mayo Clinic the physical signs of too much stress include:  headache, muscle tension or pain, chest pain, fatigue, upset stomach, and sleep problems.  Mental and emotional symptoms include:  anxiety, restlessness, lack or motivation, irritability  depression, anger, sadness, over or under eating, drug or alcohol abuse, tobacco use, and social withdrawal.

I'm going to self diagnose us and say without a doubt, we are stressed.

So, how do we deal with it?  Recommended treatments are daily physical exercise and relaxation techniques (there's a plethora of relaxation techniques to choose from).  Its also recommended that one focuses on getting a good night's sleep.  Here's some ways to do that:

1).  Stick to a schedule.  Go to bed and get up at the same time everyday, even on the weekend.  This gets the body in a natural rhythm.

2). Monitor food and drink intake.  Don't go to bed hungry or over full.  Being "stuffed" can cause digestive discomfort that keeps your body from relaxing.  Don't take in much liquid before sleep, or you will be getting up in the middle of the night.  Also, avoid caffeine and alcohol before sleeping.  While alcohol may wind you down, it can and often does disrupt sleep later in the night.  Going to bed drunk, can cause night terrors (don't dream drunk, kids) and digestive upsets.

3). Create a bedtime ritual.  Basically, come up with a relaxing routine that you do every night so your body knows its time to wind down.  Take a warm bath, listen to relaxing music with the lights turned down, or write in a journal if that's your thing.  

There are some things that shouldn't be a part of your routine.  Don't do intense exercise 2 hours or less before sleeping; the body will be too "revved up."  Don't browse the internet because staring at the screen for prolonged periods of time will negatively affect your sleep patterns.  Furthermore, don't watch TV right before bed for the same reason.  If you insist on watching TV, at least don't choose a horror flick or a thriller.  Additionally, while reading is a recommended relaxation technique, do not choose material that makes you think too much.  I made the mistake of reading a chapter out of the bike mechanic book once and ended up dreaming about gear ratios all night.  Not calming.  Don't read mystery novels either.  

4).  Get comfortable.  Your sleeping problem may be due to nothing more than your mattress or your pillow or, eh hem, your partner's night terrors.  Find whatever is most comfortable for you to sleep on and do your best to spare the expense within reason.  Its also best to sleep in a cool, dark, and quiet room.  If the person next to you or an animal consistently disturbs your sleep, it's time to talk about getting other arrangements.  For example, we decided to get a new, larger mattress to I wasn't my husband's boxing opponent.

If we get a good night's sleep it will help with stress treatment it will also improve our day.  We will be more "with it" on the job and we will perform better in athletic endeavors.  You'll tire out less quickly mentally and physically.

Anyway, mid-day or mid-ride naps aren't usually an option.