It's a toss up as to which of them snores loudest, the old man or the old dog. Honestly though, they are not the reasons for my insomnia -- for me it's the side effect of a cancer drug that I'm stuck taking for the next five years. The only thing I can do is go with the flow. No sense in staying in bed staring into the darkness.

I'm up. Maybe I'll work on a hub, maybe I won't. I think about the twenty-five ways to say the same thing. Can't make a hub about that and call it content rich or evergreen. Let's just call it late night craziness, one line of words that can be transposed in twenty-five different ways, and yet each time express practically the same thought.

It's an old word play game, with a new twist.

The hubber homeward hubs her weary way. The weary hubber hubs her homeward way. The hubber, weary, hubs her homeward way. Her homeward way the weary hubbers hubs. The weary hubber homeward hubs her way. The hubber, weary, homeward hubs her way. Her way the weary hubber plods her way. Her way the weary hubber homeward hubs. Her way the hubber, weary, homeward hubs. Her way the hubber homeward, weary, hubs. Her homeward weary way the hubber hubs. Weary, the hubber homeward hubs her way. Weary, the hubber hubs her homeward way. Homeward her way the weary hubber hubs. Homeward her way the hubber, weary, hubs. Homeward her weary way the hubber hubs. The hubber homeward, weary, hubs her way. Her wary way the hubber homeward hubs. Homeward the hubber hubs her weary way. Homeward the weary hubber hubs her way. The hubber, weary, her homeward way hubs. The hubber hubs her weary homeward way. Weary, the hubber her homeward way hubs. Weary, her homeward way the hubber hubs.

OK. That was boring enough to put my readers to sleep, but not enough to put my brain to rest.

Over half of us have trouble falling asleep at night, and even worse, almost half of us have this problem several nights a week. In today's world, there are endless reasons for sleepless nights. However, the good news is that we have the ability to quiet our minds for a proper good night's sleep.

Here are a few tips:

• Scrub that sleeplessness away -- Don't fall from your computer to your pillow. Instead, develop a restful night time routine. Take a hot shower or bath about an hour before bedtime. Warm water reduces tension, the cooler air when you get out of it -- reminds your body's thermostat that it's time to sleep.
• Get rid of a heavy load -- In other words, you might be sleeping under too many or too heavy of blankets. Being overheated will keep you from falling asleep.
• Gran-sleep -- As we age our hormones and brains change, and so does our life-long internal clock. Seniors get sleepier earlier and then often wake up late at night. If this is your problem, there is a simple cure. Replace your lights with higher watts, as brighter lights in the evening will keep you wanting to fall asleep too early.
• Get off the fat train -- The more fat you eat during the day, the more likely you are to wake up during the night. Make sure your evening meals are the leaner ones.
• Check your medicine cabinet-- Some of your prescriptions and over-the-counter meds (such as weight loss pills, diuretics, blood pressure meds, and cold medicines) actually have more caffeine than a cup of coffee.
• Get rid of the blue -- Blue LED lights on any electronic device, such as an alarm clock can cause sleep problems.
• Listen to soothing sounds or songs -- There are a variety of free online helps in this department (see video below for example)

Well, for me, the sound of rain with or without music doesn't get me back to sleep laden eyelids, but it does make me want to go pee, so I sometimes go back to the anagrams -- since a trip to the bathroom always has me fully awake for several hours.

It's not lost on me that those sleepless nights are sometimes the best inspiration for hubs in the days that follow. There is a lot to be said for sitting in the dark. However, not much to be said for keyboarding in the dark,when you later realize after several paragraphs, that you've accidentally had your hands positioned over the wrong keys.

Turning on lights is not an option, as it reminds the elderly Beagle she needs to go out and pee again. It also has it's hazards, when waking an angry sleeping bear of a man who requires absolutely darkness to sleep.

So often, for me, it's back to the search for the perfect anagram. Perfection has it's requirements -- it needs to be the result of transposing the letters or a word or phrase in such a way that a new word or phrase is produced, without the addition of others letters, and without the omission of any.

At one time, anagram making was a serious study, and the Jewish Rabbis and the schoolmasters of the Middle Ages believed that great truths could be discovered from the anagrams upon the words and phrases of scripture.

No longer serious business, however, a great deal of amusement may be had in a quiet way. Additionally, sometimes with the right people, in a group setting it can be a game. In a group setting, some words and phrases are selected and written on slips of paper. Then, they are shuffled or shaken up in a container and members of the party then take them in turn.

Well, even if my night time companions were to wake up from their snore-a-thon, I'm certain that mentioning the word "anagram" would get me four eyeballs worth of staring, since since neither of them speak the language of this word nerd. Even reading it limited to only parts of the Sunday paper.

They'd never believe that playing at anagrams is not merely an interesting and amusing way to spend time. It is a useful, intellectual exercise, and does much to help one in thinking and in the use of words. It is a pastime that has a useful role in stimulating the brain.

In this country alone, over seventy million people suffer from sleep disorders. So much more goes into the whole issue of insomnia, than keeping oneself amused, when having to accept it as part of life, even temporarily.

There are over one hundred kinds of sleep disorders, such as:

• Insomnia
• Sleep apnea
• Restless leg syndrome
• Narcolepsy
• Parasomnias
• Bad sleep habits

Take your sleep problems seriously and seek medical attention if this becomes more of a lifestyle, than an occasional event -- your life may depend upon it. Sleep disorders and sleep problems, if properly diagnosed, are easily treatable and correctable, often without medication.