Sleeeeeeep.....white noise

So one of my problems, I've realized, is that I haven't been getting enough sleep. I mean, I know I don't get enough sleep, but I've always thought of it as an annoyance or a fact of life. (Is it still only an annoyance if I want to punch someone in the face for waking me up?) The realization is how profoundly it affects my mood and health. One would think a month-long bout of pneumonia would have taught me this but no...it took a really good night's sleep to remind me of who I can be when well rested. And then a bad night's sleep to remind me of the Crab Monster I've been lately.

And yes, I am writing this at 5 a.m. and I got up at 4, but I feel pretty good right now.

To help with my sleep, I bought some ambient music and white noise last night. It seemed to work.

First the white noise. I have to do more research on this and am planning on buying a white noise machine. I saw a note on iTunes about the differences in white noise, recommending tracks that provide the full spectrum of frequencies. I compared white noise tracks from Parasme and Ambient Music Therapy and could definitely tell the difference. The AMT is hissy. The Parasme is a fuller "sound" and was easier to listen to and ignore, if that makes sense.

I bought two AMT tracks: rainy ocean waves and rain. They also have some white noise, which I didn't catch at the time. I don't know if the white noise woke me up this morning but I definitely couldn't get back to sleep with it on.

Oooo, field test! A big truck is banging around outside but I can barely hear it. I've got the rainy ocean waves on now (which sounds better than the plain rain).

I also bought an AMT album: Ultimate Sleep System, which is three tracks of dreamy music. I have a lot of ambient music but these tracks seem different and sleepier. I did not find them distracting and slept right through them.

All this is just playing on my stereo through two large speakers on the side of my room opposite the bed. The sound is running parallel to the windows, so does that mean it is perpendicular to the sound coming from outside?

N.B. These tracks are available on iTunes and Amazon. I think it is the differing pricing schemes on these sites that make the prices vary so much. On Amazon, each track (some over an hour long) are 99 cents and the album of three tracks was $2.97. On iTunes, the long tracks are considered an album and everything is $9.99.