What is sleep?

Okay, can someone PLEASE tell me WHAT sleep is & how I get it? OMG! I remember being sleep deprived during my last pregnancy because I had to pee 10 times in 6 hours. I remember the pregnancy induced nightmares that made no sense. I remember gas that would wake the dead. What I DON'T remember is how I finally overcame it all & finally got some sleep. When you add a toddler to the mix, sleep RARELY happens. During my last pregnancy I didn't catch a cold or anything either. I sure as heck have a doozie of one now though. I felt it comming on Saturday afternoon, so I did light housework, finished the NASCAR pillows, wrapped a few gifts & basically rested the rest of the day. On Sunday, we met up with our DD's Godparents for a gift exchange. Since they live about 140 miles from us, we met them halfway. I felt it beginning to hit me on the way to the meeting. By Sunday night, I felt like I'd been run over by a Mack truck, then the truck backed over me only to run over me a second time! DD & I slept until almost 11am yesterday, then I napped a second time about 3:30 pm. DH came home from work about 4:30 & I headed to bed about 9pm. DD keeps waking up & has woken me enough times that now I am awake. I am getting her diapered behind up today, she can nap about noon (as will I because I'm sick) & she IS sleeping tonight. My parents will be here on Christmas Eve & we are to go see my parents & a brother on Christmas Day. My brother is Wiccan & his coven celebrates Yule. Since many members still have Christian families (like ours) this lets them celebrate Christmas with their families. I guess there is a TON of drama going on at my Mom's house. My brother vents about my mom & mom about my brother. Personally, I think BOTH of them thrive on drama, are feeding off of each other & the truth about everything lies somewhere in the middle of their stories. I just let them vent, try to get them to look at the situation through the others eyes & don't talk to anyone about our convos. My Mom is a great lady, but unless there is something going on to worry about in ANY of our family members lives, she's not happy. My brother has been dealing with SO much the past 3 years or so. He relocated from the Midwest to be close to his family, had to bury his infant son, his wife left him & then died on Christmas Eve last year, he lost everything he owned that was stored in the Midwest in a fire & he's been unemployed for close to 8 months now. Toss in living with my parents at the age of 40 & it equals misery. My mother is a lady that has to be the family member with the worst problems. She's manilipulative in that way. What she doesn't seem to realize is that it is driving her entire family away from her. I love my mother, but the sympathy train has nearly forgotten about her station. Most of her problems, were created by her. I no longer have the time, the energy or the emotions left to keep holding her hand. Her guilt trips no longer work on me. When she would accuse me of laying a guilt trip on her my relpy was often, "Well MOM, I learned from the master didn't I". I make a consious effort NOT to be like her in so many ways. My mother is 61 years old. She needs to grow up & act like it. I am the only one in my family that has the balls to tell my parents the way it is. I'm only blunt when I've been given no other choice. I love my family, but my family doesn't seem to see me as the person I've become. They still see me as the 18 year old that was a carbon copy of her mother. Only my sister & one brother can see me for the person I am today. My sister & I have come to many of the same conclusions in regard to my parents over the years. We did this at the same time without even speaking to each other about it. We do our best not to gossip, talk bad about people or family (unless we are trying to figure out what the problem is & if we can help them see it), we support each other & each others choices, & don't hold my parents actions against them. We know our parents did the best they could with the knowledge they had available to them. Another thing we do that our parents have NEVER done is to vote.