Deprivated

Deprivated is not actually a word (hence the nasty, distracting red line that shows up underneath it every time I type it into a document). I have looked it up in a variety of dictionaries, and needless to say, it doesn't exist. Nonetheless, I use it. A lot. Deprivated means suffering from deprivation of some kind. According to WordWeb 5.52 (One of my favorite *can't-live-without-it* freeware programs) deprivation has three meanings - all of them abstract nouns. The first definition is "a state of extreme poverty." Unfortunately, I am very familiar with this particular definition. We'll get to that later. The second definition is "the disadvantage that results from losing something." I know all about this one, too. I am always losing something. Keys, passwords, important documents, lighters...I'm convinced it's genetic. The last definition of deprivation is "the act of depriving someone of food or money or rights." Not so familar with this one. I have more often been the deprivee than the depriver.


Sleep-deprivated, financially-deprivated, nutritionally-deprivated....all of the above apply at times. Sleep-deprivated, in particular, applies not only to me, but also to the rest of my immediate family. My kids stay up too late. My pseudo-husband works and goes to nursing school full time. Sleep has become a bit of a luxury for all of us. Being a mom of three, a pseudo-wife, a full-time student, and the neighborhood go-to-girl leaves little time for rest. I spend most of my days running on the sheer will to stay awake. I don't remember it being this way for my parents. Maybe it was, and I was just to oblivious to notice. I spent a lot of my youth oblivious...a fact that becomes more and more obvious with the steady passing of the days. Or maybe it's just that the pace at which we live our lives has picked up speed. It certainly seems that way at times. What say you?

Lastly, I have no idea the direction of this particular blog will take. I tend to be very random and think in a very stream of consciousness kind of way. Possibly a product of being sleep-deprivated. ;) There may be times that I am offensive. I speak sarcasm fluently. If I offend, remember you always have the option not to read. Although profanity is like a second language to me, I willl do my best to keep it to a minimum, as I know it is not always appreciated. That being said, y'all come back now, ya hear?