Needed: A little night magic

Sleep.  What's that?  I have been denied a decent night's sleep for so long I've forgotten how it feels to wake up well rested.  It's not for lack of trying.  Jak has taken to waking me up at all hours of the night needing to be let out, then he wants water, then food, then to be allowed upstairs so he can curl up in his bed there, then he barks repetitively and purposefully for me to come upstairs too to cover him up with his blanket.  I have tried various solutions to this problem and all still require me to physically get out from under my sheets, lift him off the bed, carry his 35 lbs to the back door and wait for him to finish thus losing a good 30 minutes of sleep (and another 30 minutes to fall back into sleep again)  Now, if that wasn't bad enough.  His midnight wanderings to relieve himself arouse Alex and spark his interest in what is happening within a 6 block area of the house.  Alex now begins to let everyone know that he is on duty and not be be messed with.  This continues on and off for at least another hour before he decides that it is all clear and he can crawl back under the kennel building for his own blissful nap.  Luckily I have no neighbours who care about the noise he makes.  Then.......there is my own inability to get a good rest without taking an Advil sometime before I crawl into bed.  An old stress fracture in my foot and now a pulled muscle in my thigh are constant reminders that I should slow down as I am not as young as I would like to be.  Zumba was the culprit in the latter injury but I NEED Zumba to stay fit.  A catch 22.  So, I catch a nap or two at work over lunch, as the early evening news blasts across the tellie, and usually in the last 20 minutes of the show I have been waiting all week to watch. Sigh.....