It sounds like it wasn't in sleep mode. I think it was in hibernate based on the way you described that it woke up. Your machine will look like it's rebooting when it is in hibernate mode. Usually you will see on the screen, Windows Is Now Starting and there will be a progress bar at the bottom of the screen.
"Sort of" is harmless "Sort of". Is a filler. But sometimes, "sort of" means everything. Like after "I love you" or "You're going to live" or "It's a boy".