Sleeping too much?

Does it ever happen to you that it takes all your will to wake up in the morning, even when you've already slept too much? How about waking up from 'short' naps?

When I was little I had to get up at 6 am every day to get ready to school. Even though it was difficult I had no choice, so I just did it day after day. Then after coming back home from school, while everybody was taking a nap I was still going. Nap time was my least favorite part of the day. Everything was so quiet and boring, and I had to tip toe everywhere to not wake people up (I'm a good sister). I would sleep around 8 hours every night, and I didn't need to recharge at all. I also had a really hard time sleeping anywhere that wasn't a bed. Cars? Planes? Couches? The floor? My sister was a veteran, and could basically sleep while standing, but I couldn't, even if I wanted to. On long road-trips I would get so bored that I just wanted to sleep to wake up at our destination, but I couldn't do it. I tried to not sleep enough the night before, but that didn't do it. I thought I had a problem.

Trying to fall asleep at an ikea showroom. Lilo was desperately trying to keep my awake.

Fast forward "however many years make you a grownup" years. I will fall asleep ANYWHERE if I get the opportunity. I sit in the middle of the front row of class to force myself to stay awake, and sometimes I black out for a portion of the lecture; suddenly I 'wake up' and realize that I was asleep! but I know my eyes were open, my head was upright, strange. However, the problem is not the fact that I fall asleep. The problem here is that once I am out, I can't wake up. You know when you wake up after sleeping a couple hours too many, and you are just wide awake and couldn't fall asleep even if you wanted to? That stopped happening to me a long time ago. Yes, I do wake up energized after a long sleep, but more sleep ALWAYS wins over waking up, and it doesn't matter if I am not sleepy at all anymore, I WILL make myself fall back asleep.

Posing as if I was sleeping. This usually starts as a pose, and soon starts turning into the real deal. So Lilo has to take the picture fast.

I think this all started when I started College in Venezuela. I had to get up really early and get on this horrible bus for two hours to get to school. I would be running on 4 hours of sleep, and obviously my body was ready to crash at all times. At first I had a hard time sleeping in the bus, but eventually it became so easy that I would fall asleep instantly. Why is this a problem? well, these buses were very very very uncomfortable. They were the kind that is falling apart, making a huge amount of noise (+ high volume terrible music), filled up with smoke from the exhaust, sticky, and I could go on; but the worst part is how shaky they were. The windows would shake like crazy! and the only way that I could fall asleep was with my head against them. This means that I was constantly being hit in the head as I slept. Yes, I would sometimes get a big blow and wake up, then my body would tell me that I shouldn't go back to sleep, but I had to, because it was now or never. I literally got used to fall asleep against my will while being hit in the head. After hearing the story it is probably easy to see how falling back asleep in a cozy, cloudy, warm bed even when I don't need to sleep anymore is not a challenge.

Sleeping in a random park at my old school in Illinois after moving out of the dorms. They made us leave the building at 6 am! of course I had to go somewhere else and continue my snooze.

Many people think that falling asleep easily is a good ability to have (I once fell asleep on a friend's couch with my legs upright and my head upside down hanging off the seat, with my mouth open of course, and I woke up to laughter and admiration). But not being able to wake up can become a problem. Lilo is constantly trying to keep me awake, because he knows that once I fall asleep he won't be able to wake me up. For example, today he gave me explicit instructions on how to take a '15 minute nap' (don't cover yourself with a blanket, don't sleep in your usual position, etc..) and I slept 3 hours. Then he woke me up against my will after trying for 30 minutes. This will even happen to me in cars! I will fall asleep so deeply, that I feel like I just want to stay there in the parking lot. My mom left me like that once, and I woke up in an underground parking garage having no idea of where I was.

Waking up after a nap at the top of Lake Peak. Falling asleep when I still had to hike back to the beginning? Worst idea ever. 

The worst part?
Just as when I get hungry, being sleepy makes me extremely cranky and sensitive. And I am always sleepy.

We fell asleep while my sister went to the restroom for 5 minutes on christmas eve. 

I have many many more pictures that Lilo and my sister have taken while I sleep in 'funny' situations. But I need to stop here or nobody will ever take me seriously again.

One time in a desperate attempt to wake me up, Lilo made the bed on top of me. This obviously didn't work.

Does anybody else have this problem? I've even started thinking that I might have a nutrient deficiency. Anybody out there can help?