After a long weekend running a garage sale and entertaining family that came in from out of town, I found myself falling asleep behind the wheel as I drove home from work last evening. For those of you that know me, sleep is a rare commodity. For those of you that don’t know me, I was “blessed” with my Mom’s don’t-need-much-at-all sleep gene.

It all began when I was twenty years old and was up all night cramming for a final during my freshman year of college. I got maybe three hours of sleep. I woke up feeling completely refreshed and ready for the day. Throughout the test I kept wondering when I was going to shut down or even just collapse…but I never did. During work that day I kept expecting me to drift off and fall asleep at my desk…but I never did. A full twenty hours after I woke up that morning I was still going strong. “Amazing,” I remember thinking to myself. “I don’t even feel tired.”

When I was a child I would hear Mom still up countless hours after I’d been tucked in and could hear her banging the pots and pans in preparation for breakfast the following morning. For a while I seriously thought that she never slept. Mom and I don’t suffer from insomnia or any type of sleep disorder – we just simply don’t require that much sleep to function. My family later realized that ALL of my siblings are blessed/cursed in this manner. None of us need more than 3-5 hours of sleep at night to be at our best when we wake up.

On the flip side of all of this comes my seemingly semi-monthly “reboots.” There will come a day when my body will say “Okay, Ken. It’s time to get more than just a few hours of sleep and we’re getting it…tonight. No excuses.” I’ll then pass out and sleep anywhere from 8-10 hours. After that I’m good for another 30-40 days of just needing a few hours each night.

My most incredible “reboot” came on what I’ve come to refer to as The Lost Weekend. It happened on a weekend during the winter of 2002…

After having made plans with a buddy of mine named Nik to get drinks after work and make a night of it, I found myself with a slight fever around three o’clock that afternoon while I was still at work. Ever the trooper, I stayed at my desk wrapped in my coat while my teeth chattered. I hit up Nik in instant messenger and told him that I didn’t think I was going to be able to make it due to the fever getting worse. He sauntered back to my desk and told me that I should head on home. I wrapped up my project right at five o’clock and hit the road.

At the time I lived less than five minutes away from work in a tiny loft in downtown Kansas City. I got home, dove into bed, glanced over at the clock and closed my eyes.

…5:20 p.m. Friday night.

I opened my eyes after what felt like twenty minutes and found my room completely dark. I hadn’t moved at all during my slumber as I woke up in the exact same spot where I had crashed, which surprised me. I’m typically a thrasher at night.

“Are you serious?” I thought to myself. “I only slept forty minutes?!?” It was then that I realized that the AM/PM light had switched.

…6:03 a.m. Saturday morning.

I had just slept twelve hours. Wow. I got up, went to the bathroom, and then laid back down. Out.

“Who the hell is honking their horn at six in the damn morning?!?” And that’s when I noticed the clock.

I heard a car horn out in the parking lot of the building where I lived and opened one eye to peek over at the clock. “Who the hell is honking their horn at six in the damn morning?!?” And that’s when I noticed the clock.

…3:17 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

“What the hell?!?” I had slept for another nine hours. I had two messages on my answering machine from my son’s mother telling me that he wasn’t going to be able to make it over for the weekend as he was under the weather. Perfect timing, as so was Dad.

After listening to the final message I put the phone back onto the cradle and laid there looking up at the ceiling fan, which was not on. Out.

My eyes opened and the room was completely dark once again. I glanced over at my alarm clock.

…9:43 p.m. Saturday night.

Really?!? I quickly called my daughter’s mom and told her that I didn’t think it was such a great idea for me to pick her up on Sunday as I still had my fever and was apparently extremely tired. I finally ate something – instant mashed potatoes was the ONLY thing on the planet that sounded good at the time – and then laid back down. Out, again.

…4:32 a.m. Sunday morning.

“Now this is just ridiculous.” I got up, walked around, and then decided to watch a movie that I’d rented through Netflix, “Force 10 from Navarone”, which I barely remember. I spent more time focusing on not falling back to sleep than I did the flick. Oh well, I managed to stay awake for the 2+ hours it took to finish the movie. I debated on what to do next as it was now closing in on seven o’clock on Sunday morning when I made the mistake of laying back down.

…2:28 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

It was about this time that I began thinking that someone was playing an elaborate prank on me. I grabbed my laptop and checked the time AND DATE. Yep, it was really Sunday. I read the news online for a while and then…out, again.

…6:17 a.m. Monday morning.

I simply couldn’t believe this. I had slept the ENTIRE weekend. I woke up feeling 100% refreshed and got ready for work. Once I arrived and made my way to my desk the guy next to me asked me what I did over the weekend.

“Oh,” I said with a quirky grin, “I slept.”

Boy, did I.