crash sleeping

I have a lot of trouble sleeping really. It's a combination of having a lot on my mind, and having a weird sleep cycle. Most of the time however, once I have fallen asleep, I stay asleep till morning. However, sometimes I have a problem that I refer to as "crash sleeping". That's what happened tonight.

Basically what happens, is that I get really tired around 10 or 11 at night, and so I get ready for bed, read a few pages of whatever novel I am working on, then turn out the lights. As you may guess, I "crash", and fall asleep right away. I then have several vivid and sometimes frightening dreams, and I wake up with a start. I look at the clock, and usually, I've been asleep for about 20-30 minutes. Tonight it was about twenty minutes. After I have woken from my crash, I think to myself, "dang it, I crash slept!" (I like using terms that I make up). I am then wide awake, and can't fall asleep for hours usually. It's 2:30 right now, and I woke up from my crash at about 11:30. I still don't feel tired at all. Going off past experiences, it could be as late as 4 or 5 before I find sleep again. Not a great thing when the phone could be ringing as early as 6 to tell me if I have job substituting for the day.

I guess I'll read a little more of my book...