tin foil and cats

So, in an effort to get more/better sleep every day, I decided to put tin foil on my bedroom windows to keep the sun out. Boy does it work! I have to keep my bedroom door open, though (for the boys to have easy access to their litter box), so there's still a good amount of sunlight in the room.

I always figured that the answer to my not-always-present sleeping problems was the sunlight. Not so, my friend, not so. I slept really well the first day or two with the foil on my windows. But now it seems my body is so used to trying to sleep with sunlight that I think it's rebelling against having actual darkness to work with.

Foil also seems to be a great insulator. If the room's cold when I go to bed, it's cold when I wake up. If the room's warm when I go to sleep, it's always warm when I wake up (sometimes to the point of discomfort). This foil idea is amazing, though. I got the idea from some of the guys I supervise. Of course, they live in the Dorms on base or have skylights in their rooms (if they live off-base), so their foil isn't quite as apparent. People expect that of the "dorm rats" on base. And the guy who lives off-base is lucky enough to have the skylight, so no one sees his foil. You can spot the foil on my windows from a mile away! Foil is apparently GREAT at reflecting sunlight.

I've recently learned exactly how attached I am becoming to Oscar & Ziggy. I had an unpleasant dream about them last night and I woke up crying. It also made me a little sick to my stomach (the circumstances in the dream, that is). I talk to them... we have conversations. Okay, Oscar and I have conversations. Ziggy just meows to imitate Oscar's "barking" and then stares at me blankly when I answer back.

They sleep with me... not so uncommon, right? Except for the fact that Oscar tends to sleep like a human. He snuggles up next to me, then is really restless until I cover him up with my blanket to mid-torso. He won't sleep if his arms or head are covered up. Sometimes he even sleeps on his back (much like humans). It's adorable. Ziggy couldn't care where or how he sleeps as long as he's comfortable. He usually sleeps either completely under the covers, down where my legs & hips meet, or on a pillow next to mine (if not on my own pillow, seemingly trying to smother me). The pillow next to mine (aka Ziggy's pillow) has some fake lamb's wool on it. It's something that my friend Kelly gave me when she was cat-sitting for me. Ziggy will only fall asleep for the night if he's touching someone or if he's on that silly pillow.

Such simple (sometimes complex) creatures, yet they give me so much joy. But they're not fans of the foil. They run away from it. I guess it makes too much noise for them.