The problem with sleep...

I have been suffering from insomnia for the last week and I have managed to get sleep by drinking until I was so tired I passed out. Unfortunately, this method is counterproductive. I don't want to drink a six pack a night and I definitely don't want to deal with a hangover when I am watching the girls, so.....what to do? I tried counting sheep, listening to relaxing music, going to my happy place, reading and just about everything else you can think of but nothing seems to be working. I nap during the day and it doesn't help. I stay up all day, even if I haven't slept all night, and it doesn't help. I work out and it makes sleeping at night more difficult. I don't work out and stay at home all day and I'm still awake at 3 am watching a Pauly Shore marathon.(Desperation makes you make poor movie choices.) On days that I drink coffee, I'm tired and can't sleep, on days that I don't I'm still tired and can't sleep. Now...let me make clear what I believe sleep to be. Sleep, in my definition, is more than 3 hours of uninterrupted brain rest. Anything else is a nap, not sleep. This afternoon for example, I tried desperately to get some sleep. The girls went down for a nap at 2:15pm so I lied down. By 3pm I was looking at the clock wondering if I should get online and research the Great Depression. Finally at 3:30-3:45pm I heard the girls crying in the other room. I waited for a few minutes to see if they would go back to sleep and then got up to get them. Andrea beat me to it and thus I went back to bed. From 4pm-5:30pm I napped. From 5:30 to 7pm I lied in my bed tossing and turning, trying desperately to get back to sleep. After an hour and half of thinking and turning...I got up and took a shower. This sucks! It is very difficult to suss out why this is happening. I am super happy. I love my life and I am not anxious about anything. I just can't stop the thought processes. They aren't even always really intellectual thoughts, sometimes they are just random things. Why do they give you 10 hot dogs but only 8 hot dog buns? What's the best way to grow tomatoes? Should we get a dog? What am I going to wear tomorrow? Should I have eggs or cereal for breakfast? Sometimes it's even just statements like...I should call mom tomorrow or Maybe I'll take the girls to the dog park in the morning or even, I should do more yoga. I don't know what is making my brain so active, but whatever it is, it's keeping me from sleep. As I am writing this, it is almost 1 am and if you factor in my 1.5 hour nap, I have slept 5.5 hours in the last 40. By the looks of this evening, it will be a while before I can achieve REM status so...we'll see how long this lasts. Any thoughts would be appreciated as, it's obvious, I don't have any answers.