And I'm blaming it on NATE. At least in part. I remember his saying on the WAYD board some time ago that "the only thing better than a cat is 2 cats." And he talked abt his 2 cats/one of which I think is named for a poet. And how happy they were. And how much he & his bird enjoyed them. And as of this month/I've been living here for 3 yrs. Which makes Six 3.4 yrs. old. And she's been an only pet all that time. I'm gone for a big chunk of each day. And sometimes most of my weekends. So I've been thinking for some time now that Six needs a playmate. A companion. A cat of her own. The Humane Society had a 12-hour Adopt-A-thon last week. Two friends of mine went down to check it out -- they wanted to get a puppy. So I tagged along/only intending to window-shop. Becuz I've had my heart set on getting a pure-bred Maine Coon kitten someday when I can bear the thought of parting with $600 for a cat. (I've never 'paid' for a pet before. But the Adopt-A-Thon deal was $30 for any cat, dog or ferret/inc. shots & spaying/vs. the usual $45 fee. Which is still a bargain compared to $600 bucks!) If I mean to get a cat/I'd just as soon bring home a stray off the street/which is how I got Six. I'm always leery of animal shelters -- some of the ones I've seen have pretty shitty living conditions. (Maybe anything's better than being homeless & hungry...) But all the cages were very clean at the Humane Society (altho' the dog section was a bit stinky) And they feed them all Iams or Eukanuba/which is what I feed Six. That impressed me. And the cats & kittens were almost all very friendly & outgoing when you walked up to their cages/except for the odd shy one. (They have a foster-parent plan where volunteers bring home the new arrivals for a few weeks/to hand-feed them if they're too young to eat solids/& give them their meds if they're sick/& generally get them used to living w/people. Which also impressed me.) Long story short/a week ago Monday I bought home the most adorable 12-wk.old little long-haired kitten/grey with white socks & a white patch on his chest. Green & yellow eyes. He weighed 4 lbs.6 oz. Possibly a Maine Coon mix - he seems to have a long body for his age/with the *longest* ear hairs I've seen since my 6th grade science teacher. And a really long, fluffy tail. And the kind of facial structure I've seen in Maine Coons/vs. the pushed-in noses you see on Persians. He's the picture of ardorableness/like all kittens. The shelter dropped him off at the vet's early last Mon. morning to get his little furry balls snipped off. (Another plus: if you adopt from the Humane Society/they let you pick the vet for the spay/neuter from their list of participating vets. And the animal clinic I take Six to was on their list.) And I picked him up that afternoon & blew off work to make sure he recovered from the anaesthesia & got settled in okay. The minute I set his carrier down in the living room/Six started acting like she wanted to murder him! Sure, I expected some tension/but not a continuous display of hissing/snarling/growling/ baring her teeth & swatting at the cage door trying to get at him. How incredibly rude! I certainly bought her up better than that. So I had to keep him locked in the spare bedroom all day & nite. And when I finally left him alone so I cd go to bed/he cried & cried. (How can a creature that weighs less than 5 lbs. meow loud enough for me to hear it outside while I'm taking out the garbage?) And evil-ass Six was outside the door half the nite/going nuts trying to pry it open & having hissy fits. I finally dragged my boombox into the room & gave him some love & put on the radio for him. Which didn't seem to help. Then I popped in a CD -- the Bach Suites for Cello. Had him purring up a storm (he purrs incredibly loud too -- louder than Six & she's 5 times his size). So I named him Johann Sebastian Bach. But I call him Sebsatian. (His shelter name was Larry -- ugh!) Day 2: I left Sebastian locked in the bedroom w/ his litter box/food & water while I went to work. And spent the whole time fretting that Six wd find away to get the door open & I'd come home to a kitten carcass. But he was still safely locked away when I came home. And extremely glad to see me. (Why don't men rub their face all over yours & purr like a motor boat when you come home from work?) So, by the night of Day 2 I thought, okay/she's used to his smell in the house/I'll leave the door cracked & make sure Sebastian stays in here with me & let Six wander in & introduce herself properly when she's ready. Six wandered in/IMMEDIATELY jumped up on the bed with us & went straight for Sebastian's neck/ hoping no doubt to snap it in two. Fortunately he was on my lap & I was able to kick her off the bed before she cd get hold of him. Sebastian remained imprisoned until the night of Day 4. By then/I was sick of having 2 litter boxes & 2 sets of food bowls to tend to/so I decided to take Sebastian out. I showed him Six's litter box/put his food & water out downstairs but far removed from Six's feeding station. And I basically followed him around while he explored the house. And eventually found Six. And proceeded immediately to bound over to her & try to rub noses. More fireworks. But the cool thing was/little baby Sebastian held his ground! And Six didn't lash out to scratch him this time -- she just hissed like a punctured tire until he finally bounced off & went on abt his business. Six slinked away/casting dirty looks over her shoulder/& parked herself under the dining room table. Sebastian went crazy/dashing all over the place/doing that weird sideways run kittens do (I had forgotten how hysterical that is!)/having a ball with every dust bunny he cd find. (I knew I'd find a use for them if I just let them accumulate.) And he'd make regular overtures toward Six/who wd hiss at him but didn't try to bite or scratch. Progress! But bedtime became a bit problematic. Six & I have a nightly ritual: When I'm ready for bed/I lock up & turn off the lights & tell her it's bedtime. And she usually beats me upstairs/jumps on the bed & waits for me to give her her evening brushing. And she purrs & we play & then she settles down on the pillow next to mine & goes to sleep. But of course/Sebastian followed us right upstairs & onto the bed. Which enraged Six/who ran over to the night table & jumped up onto the window sill/growling & hissing like all get-out. So I figured/well, I'll brush Sebastian until she decides she wants her fair share & jumps back onto the bed. Not even! Six kept her evil self parked in the window all nite/growling & hissing at Sebastian if he came anywhere near 'her' pillow. So,I took the brush & went over to the window to brush Six/ so she wdn't feel neglected. And she smacked me in the face -- twice! Deformed, polydactyl little bitch! I finally got Sebastian to settle down between my knees & as far from Six's pillow as possible/and we all eventually went to sleep. Six was still in the windowsill when I got up for work the next day! Fast Forward to Day 9: They are now friends. I haven't seem them grooming each other yet -- Six ain't having that. They don't curl up & sleep together. They won't eat out of the same food bowl yet -- Six still hisses if he tries to share her food while she's eating. But I think all that will come in time. All 3 of us slept together in the same bed last nite w/Six on her pillow & Sebastian not two feet away from her on *her* side of the bed. :) But it's the feeding arrangements that are driving me crazy! Six has gained so much weight becuz she keeps eating Sebastian's Iam's Kitten formula! When I pick her up she's as heavy as a damn bag of groceries -- & it's only been a week! That Iam's is a high-carolie food esp. formulated for kittens/who need more nutrition per serving becuz their stomachs are so small. Right before Sebastian came to live with us/I started feeding Six Eukanuba Weight-Control formula/becuz I noticed she's getting a bit porky. (She weighs abt 15 lbs). I tried Iam's diet cat food but she hated it. She loves the Eukanuba. But once she got a whiff of that Kitten formula/she was on it like flies on dogshit! I can holler at her if I bust her poaching Sebastian's rations & she'll back off/but I'm gone all day & both food bowls are accessible to either of them. Plus, Six can't free feed. I tried it when I first got her/and a few times since then/& it just ain't happenin'. She eats like a dog -- gobbles up however much food I put in her bowl. Then throws up 5 min.later. It wasn't hairballs/just undigested food from stuffing herself. (But I've noticed since Sebastian's been here/she hasn't upchucked once... what's *that* abt? Was she puking just for attention?) Six is not a morning cat -- sleeps in while I'm getting ready for work. (Our habits are so much alike it's scary.) So I leave a small portion of food in her bowl before I leave the house. She sleeps the whole time I'm at work. Then I feed her several small portions throughtout the night after I get home. (She gets abt 6/8 of a cup. of food each day/dry food only. Canned food is a special treat/maybe once a month/becuz even the expensive canned food makes her shit stinky.) Now she's eating her diet food & bogarting Sebastian's kitten food -- & she's turning into a BIG FAT SLOB! Sebastian eats Six's food too. I stop him when I catch him & plunk him down in front of his own food bowl. I'm sure the diet food won't hurt him/but I'd feel better if he were eating strickly the kitten formula. He's awfully thin & I want to get his coat nice & glossy like Six's Guys -- what can I do abt this? Granted/Six is getting a lot more excercise now/which will hopefully help her lose weight. The two of them chase each other all over the fucking house -- @ 5A.M. WHEN I'M TRYING TO GO TO SLEEP! Which is the other thing that's driving me nuts. I know cats are mainly nocturnal/but they have all damn afternoon & night to play tag/from 1:30 when I leave for work til 11pm when I get back home. Why can't they run around like banshees while I'm off working my fingers to the bone to support them in style? Most of the cat owners I know feed their kitties any old supermarket crap -- & they like it just fine! But I know the extra cost of good cat food will pay off later/when my cats live longer & stay healthier in their old age. The one time I fed Six supermarket catfood she got a UTI 3 days later -- & it was HELL trying to get those pills into her! (Plus/that cheap stuff makes their shit stink -- even the dry formula.) And why do they sound like a stampede of wild horses? They're only cats -- how can they be so damn NOISY when they run around? They start at 5am/when I come upstaits to bed. And they don't even have the decency to run around downstairs/where the floors are tile & they don't make so much noise. Noooooo -- it's up the stairs/down the hall/back to the other end of the hall & into my bedroom. Sebastian dashes under the bed where Six won't follow him/then runs back out when she's not looking/scrambles back downstairs/& it all starts again. (Six was trained early on not to get under beds. Her 1st nite with me/she climbed under the bed in the spare room/tore a hole in the muslin cover thingey that protects the bottom of the mattress/& climbed up INSIDE the mattress. I spent a hour calling her & she never responded. When I finally figured out where she was/I shoved the broom-vac under the bed & turned it on to scare her out of there.) My crib is carpeted upstairs/but it's just cheap wood floors under the carpet/which doesn't seem to absorb sound at all. They keep at it til 6 or 7am/when it's broad daylight outside. By then/the neighbors & the garbage truck & the lawn service guys w/their leaf blowers & every fucking other thing are creating all kinds of racket/so I don't fall asleep til 7:30 or 8am. I have to be up by 12:30 at the latest if I plan to get on the damn Nordick track & get my excercise in -- which I've bagged for the past week. Even if I sleep til the absolute latest I can/I get up @ 1pm & go work bleary-eyed & have to suck down a quart of Sumatra or 3 espressos just to wake up by dinner time. I adore both these cats/but they're making me crazy from sleep-deprivation. Even as I'm typing this they're tearing around the house. And it's enuf of a hassle trying to watch my own weight -- I have NO CLUE how to make cat lose weight when it's chowing down on high-cal kitten food behind my back. Any suggestions at all wd be gratefully appreciated.

Lock up Six when you feed the kitten, then put away the kitten food when he's done and let Six out again. You're lucky - at least six didn't react by hiding under your bed and refusing to come out even to crap.

yeah, thats a good idea. our two did this when the leetle one was introduced. try exercising with them before you go to bed...play with both of them intently, try to get them to burn some steam. I know all too well the galloping thud of two cats chasing each other around up and down the hallway. As far as sleep deprivation, it will ease in time. YOU HAVE A BABY KITTY!!!! You should be loosing sleep looking after it (and Six). Newborn parents loose mucho sleep too! For what its worth, our cats have eaten grocery store gruel forever and are not only content, but healthy as can be, especially the 9 year old...she still runs and plays and flip flops all around and has one of the greatest dispositions i know in a cat. Though she has a little kitty pooch, but still in fairly decent shape. Love is the greatet nutrient. Our cats drink water out of martini glasses. A martini glass suits them perfect as its wide and tall. I don't think you need any suggestions other than try and get their activity on a schedule. We do this and our cats sleep until we wake, and then they are the peachiest love sponges. We get them excited and all stirred up around 10pm...then they are good and pooped when we crash. Be glad they are getting along...this flurry of activity will subside. trust me.

i can't read all the for time is short. i only have one cat. introducing a new cat to a household takes time. months, maybe. keeping them in seperate rooms is good. put something with the other cat's smell in the room. alternate who get's free run of the house. let them sniff each other through a slit in the door. it's all about gradual introduction. and if all else fails, eat one of them.

i have two kitties. one is a maine coon mix names buttons. the other is a russian blue mix named sylvia plath. 5 am is about kitty wake up time. sylvie will gallop around the house and get in faces about that time unless outside or shut in the garage. buttons is quiet. both kitties have pooches. buttons is just plain fat, but sylvie has one too and that's just from being spayed, because there's less there than there was. i don't know a solution to the food problem. buttons loved the kitten food. sylvie loves the adult food. after about six months i put the kitten food away. old cats don't like their space invaded. they fight. sylvie wants to play but she's learned to be vicious. now they mostly stay out of each others way. if they don't chase each other it's considered an excellent day.

Sorry Natums -- I cd've sworn you said you had 2 cats. I don't see how I can lock up Six when I feed Sebastian & vice versa -- he's a kitten & needs to eat several times thruout the day/doesn't he? That's why I leave food out for him. I thought of just bagging the kitten food altogether/but when I talked to the vet last week he said kitten food really is better for them til they're at least 6 or 7 mos. old. (Sebastian's only 3 mos.) Six is used to going all day w/just the small amount of food I've left in her bowl before going to work. Then she gets to chow down (in small portions) after I come home. She wasn't going hungry/believe me -- she'd get up to eat/then sleep all day til I came back home. A couple of times when I've gotten sick @ work & had to go home early/her bowl was empty & she was literally back upstairs in the exact same spot on the bed that she'd been curled up in when I left the house. Now I suspect she's getting a workout from Sebastian while I'm gone. As soon as I hit the door/they both come running to greet me. But Six used greet me then head straight for her bowl & park in front of it. Now/she greets me & heads to the back door so I can let her out on the lanai -- for some quiet time away from her rambunctious little brother! They're tearing around downstairs now & making an insane racket. It's amazing to me that they haven't broken anything yet. Scratch that -- Sebastian did break the lamp in the spare bedroom/but that was while he was under solitary confinement. And they really are so adorable together. Even when they smack each other/the claws are always retracted. (Six is declawed/but she was like that when I found her. I refuse to do that to a cat/so Sebastian will be keeping his claws.) I can't wait to finally get a picture of them cuddled up together like loving siblings. If I can borrow a digital camera/I'll ask Mark to post it. I'm no longer afraid if Six hurting him/which is *such* a relief. Still stumped on the wieght control issue tho'. I know they have Prozac for dogs now -- do they prescribe Meridian for cats? (just kidding.) I'll try playing with them more right after I get home to see if it tires them out. But kittens are like the Energizer Bunny on meth -- which is what makes them so cute. I guess the sleep deprivation won't kill me. But my coffee consumption might! We had a blood drive @ work today. I'm B+ which I understand is pretty rare/so I always make a point of donating when the Bloodmobile comes. My hemoglobin, b.p. & temp were all fine. But they wdn't take me this time becuz the nuirse said my pulse skipped 10 beats while she was checking it! (Which I didn't feel at all/& I get irregular heartbeats a couple of times a year/so I know what they feel like.) I told her I'd had 2 espressos for breakfast & a cup of regular joe just before I came down to donate. She looked at me like I'd just confessed to spending the morning speedballing! (Who thinks of their coffee consumption when they're going to give blood? It's hard enuf to remind myself not to go out for drinks the nite before -- & they they don't even inquire abt yr alcohol consumption in the screening interview. You can get nixed for taking asprin/but not for liquor? What if a newborn ends up getting transfused w/someone's boozed-up blood donation?) You think they'd be glad to have a pint of healthy B+ blood for free! So Be Nice To Me -- I Became A Blood Donor Reject Today.

It's not the caffeine in your system they're worried about -- it's the strain on your irregularly-beating heart when they take your blood. I've been rejected from donating blood four times for having too high a pulse (at the time...it's usually fine).

i wouldnt stress the kitties diet so much. keep em seperated during the day so six won't get the kitten food, bring em together when you come home and just keep an eye out. if you see six eating the kitten food, let her know how you feel about it. i think its cute you are fretting about them getting enough food. don't worry, they will let you know if they are hungry. little isabella has a knack for getting locked in closets for extended periods of time. shes kinda of a runt, even though shes 5+ years old, she's a pretty tiny adult cat. when i go into our closet, which happens to be a walk-in, she sometimes, scoots in and hides. well....this morning, i wake up, get dressed and guess who i see waiting on the inside, yawning, purring and happy to see me? Isabella. Now my first concern was man, shes been in there for 8 hours, she's got to go to the box and she MUST be hungry...but no, she just hung around me in the bathroom and watched me get ready. she was in no rush to get her grub or go to the bathroom. they are durable. don't sweat it RC. kittens are fun and soon she'll be grown.

You've got a cat named Isabella, Patrick? My sister has a mutt named Isabella. I figured she was the only one in the world with a pet named Isabella. She's also got a cat named Sally and another mutt named Lucy.

yes. Isabella after Miss Rosselini. and while im speaking of that fine Italian goddess...id like to express my appreciation for Vogue Italia...the pictures are infinitely better.

I didn't know B+ was rare. That's what I am too. But last time I donated, I didn't make it to the door. I was on the floor confused and surrounded by cooing women who were putting cold-packs on me. I miss having a cat so much... I think we're going to have to move really soon, so I'll make sure it's somewhere I can have a pet, then I'll get Blur from home. Nobody pays attentiont to him since I left home.

I can't live without a cat. Even with my allergies. I'm a lot grumpier without one. With our first cat I snookered my wife into it. We went into the local pet store and I said "You want to hold the kitten?". That was all it took. She couldn't give it back. We had Troubles for twenty years.

But Weather, you're in luck! I just heard on the NPR news not an hour ago abt a new company that's making genetically altered, allergen-free cats! They snip off a protein from the cat gene repsonsible for making the sebaceous glad secretion that causes allergic reactions in humans. Then clone a kitten & voila -- you heve a non-allergen producing frankenkitten. (It may have 5 legs/but hey - no more sneezing & runny eyes!) I imagine they'll be on the market just in time for the Xmas push. Thanks, folks, for all yr support. The kitties thank you too.

Woah. I'm not allergic, but I wasn a 5-legged cat.

What! You weren a five legged cat! COuld've sworn you were a human.

poor kitties. i gave sylvie a bath today, followed by a flea treatment. porr thing, i hope she doesn't get a cold.

I seem to have lost my ability to type. I also have difficulty assembling proper sentances and. Stipud medication bad things.

tbone, what's the medication for?

Attention Deficit. At least, that's what we're trying. I've always been scattered and prone to procrastination and things... But lately I've been forgetting where I'm going multiple times before getting there, finding myself unable to listen to someone talk to me for more than a couple minutes, and absolutely unable to do my work, schoolwork, stay awake in class, read a book, or keep up with sorabji. I failed all but one of my classes. I zone out a LOT. Too much. I only feel sad when I think about it, but it's really easy not to. I don't really know what it (the meds) is doing to/for me yet... I think the process of getting to a doctor to find out what's wrong has started some motivational momentum, but I'm still having trouble focusing on things I enjoy, which is bad. Medication doubles on monday. The week after that, (if this doesn't do it) I move to the prescription version of Meth. Fun times. My parents (a social worker and a counselor) both are having a hard time with this. I think they feel that they should have spotted it a long time ago, so they're (particularly my mom) are coming up with lots of theories on what it could REALLY be... Depression, anxiety, and all sorts of shorter-term ailments that have the same symptoms. Maybe I just need a cat.

Don't you drink a lot of coffee and/or caffeinated beverages? Try cutting that out and see what happens... Sometimes prescription medication is the answer, sometimes it's not. I would look for homeopathic remedies first, before I tried the ritalin angle. But, you didn't ask me, so I should just fuck off.

I'm soooo pleased to find a bunch of feline freaks like myself! Our family cat died last August after 16 wonderful years, but it just so happened that while she was at the vet, I ended up with a kitten that was rejected from two different shelters (no fault of her own- there was a quarantine at one and the other refused her for being a non-resident). Although it looked like another routine trip to the vet for Daisy, I got a call at work one day from my sister (she's the vet) saying that Daisy took a turn for the worse. I called back and asked how long she had left, and she said "Hours." So I took off from work early (tearfully citing a "family emergency,") and luckily got there in time to witness her peaceful passing. When I returned home, Daisy's toys were lying about the floor, but not dormant- the homeless kitten was gleefully batting them around. Somehow this helped me cope. In the 16 years that Daisy was around, I've never been in a position where another homeless cat came along... so I've had this one ever since, as it was obviously meant to be. Daisy was the one constant during the most turbulent times in my life- parents getting seperated, depression, college, breakups, job losses......and it's as if when she left, she somehow saw to it that I wouldn't be left w/o a feline guardian angel. This new one is my bestest pal. I'd be a complete wreck without her.

I value your opinion, Agatha. No fucking off is necessary. My caffeine intake isn't really very high right now. I'm poor enough now that going to coffee shops regularly is out of the question. I certainly miss that, though. And for some reason or another, I haven't been into making my own very often lately. Caffeine doesn't really given me the effect that most people experience... And that's one symptom of ADD. My psychiatrist seemed to think that my significant caffeine use was a symptom rather than a cause. But then, it's one of those things that's diagnosed by trial-and-error. If my meds get me high rather than getting me better, I'll know to look in another direction. I really don't know what's wrong with me, and it doesn't matter, really. I just want to be better. I'd also be willing to try any suggestions you or another sorabjiite might offer. What sort of homeopathic remedies are available for attentive/memory problems? I know I definately need a cat. I might as well just do it, since I haven't seen or heard from my landlord since the day I first saw the place.

i carry a notebook everywhere i go, just to help keep things sorted out. the actual writing down of things, times places is a memory trigger. kitties are definately calming. if you are around the cat enough for several months, you can develop a psydo-psychic bond with your cat. which can be helpful when things are bad. don't be afraid to go nuts sometimes.

I used to keep a supply of "Fat li'l Notebook"s around, and filled them regularly, but they were essentially useless for reminding me of things. I can write things down all I want, but I'll never remember to look at it again. I did get some quality journaling done with them instead. However, some friends discovered thise little windows into my weird side, and started nabbing them and reading them. High School. (sigh) Anyway, the writing down part isn't enough. I have a PDA with an alarm that helps some. My girlfriend moved out over the weekend. She's becoming a live-in peer minister with the campus Lutheran group. I'm going to need to find a better alarm or something. I started to rely on her to kick me out of bed in the morning.

i'll set my alarm really loud and have it across the room. that way, i'll actually have to get out of bed to turn it off. sometimes i go straight back to bed though. it's not the best plan, but it work better than some things.

That doesn't work for me and I have 3 alarms.

i stopped using the usual alarm. I think the BEEP BEEP or the BUZZZZZZZZZZ sound is soooo bad for the brain, when waking up, day in, day out. So I put it on NPR and cranked it up.

Radio alarms are MUCH more pleasant for me too, even if it's turned up so high that distortion disguises the music... The honking just makes me angry. I used to set it to a country station to motivate me to get up and turn it off. I once used my computer's mp3s and my stereo as an alarm, but I forgot that the volume was WAY up from last time I used it... That hurt me.

if I wake up to the alarm beeping, it sets me off right off the bat. I am shaking for at least 10 minutes. I even cringe when they play that damn sound on the radio in a commercial or on tv. I don't know what is about it, but I cannot stand the beep.

I found myself waking up a half-hour before my alarm for a long while because I was afraid of being awakened by the beeping noise. So I too set it on NPR and now I easily wake with the alarm. I find the news stories creeping into my dreams sometimes, but that's not so bad.

My dad's amazing -- never uses an alarm clock. Gotta be up at 5:00? No problem. 5:30? ditto. 6:15? He's there. Me on the other hand, I need that blaring alarm, which I hit the snooze button at least 3 times before getting up.

I'm like your Dad, Dougie. It's called having a clock-head. I need my alarm because I always try to fall back asleep, and that's when the oversleeping occurs.

technically, if you have to use an alarm, you're not getting enough sleep. when you wake up to voodoo glow skulls or something, it's difficult NOT to get up.

And just where have you been sleeping Pez???

in my bed. i almost never use my alarm anymore, because it's a rare day that i have a pre-noon appointment. should i feel smug?

I have 3 alarms, all across the room in different locations... Somehow I end up getting up shutting all of them off and sleeping for another hour or so without remembering any of it... It scares me actually.

place one in your bathroom, next to the shower and have it on real loud....?

thats just out of hand. If you have to go to such lengths to wake up, maybe you should see a doctor, perhaps there is something about your diet or activities that could encourage more normal sleep patterns.

Hal, depression in young people causes them to sleep too much. You should go to the doctor about this.

my sleeping is fucked. I don't get enough during the week, so on the weekend it seems my mind figures that it's a free-for-all, and if i don't set an alarm i'll sleep for 12 hours, or maybe 14. It's scary. first year in college i lived with this woman..... She had a clock radio on either side of her bed, just inches from her ears, and everyday they went off on full volume, both set on the BEEP. First one at 6:30, 2nd one at 6:45. Our bedroom walls were attached so for 8 months i woke up in a panic. I can laugh about it now, though. HAH! i hope you feel better soon Tbone, it's kinda scary to see you type differently ;(

I'm getting over the effects of starting the meds now. They aren't supposed to last more than a week or two. The only thing I'm worried about is becoming boring without my scatteredness... unless I was already.

Never!

My body is so screwed up. I get up so damn tired all week along at 5 am, after going to sleep at 11. I have to take sleeping pills everynight, or I do not sleep. Then on weekends, I stay up late (maybe midnight, woo hoo, I am getting so damn old), and wake up on my own at 6am, and cannot get back to sleep. I need my sleep so badly, because by monday I am so damn worn out from not getting enough sleep over the weekend that I start the damn cycle over again. "i almost never use my alarm anymore, because it's a rare day that i have a pre-noon appointment."- you suck. if voodoo glowing skulls scare you, first of all, how did you fall asleep in the first place, and secondly, why have them in your room?????

I quit drinking for 13 days and all I did was sleep and that's not like me,so I'm drinking again and sleeping less, it works for me.

i read somewhere...all the negative impacts sleep deprivation can have on your body. adults needing roughly 8 hours a night. so i made a point to be in bed by 11 (thought sometimes i screw up) and I get up at 7. I dont have a hard time sleeping or waking.

i hate my clock if i really want to wake up i do, no alarm. once you get used to it, sleeping 3 hours a night for a number of days feels great. really. euphoric. it's pretty simple, sleep when you are tired.

I wake up when I need to. If I don't, Mr. Bell wakes me up by sticking HIS ASS IN MY FACE. I also have two cats. Who are slowly but steadily driving me insane. Mr. Bell is the senior cat, he's eight, and Mr. Shadow is the young 'un, he's six. And they're both little bastards. I wouldn't be too worried about sebastian and six--Bell and Shadow fought all the time when I first brought Shadow home, and now they sleep together, clean each other, etc. They're positively gay.

sylvie doesn't attack buttons anymore. buttons will approach sylvie, sniff her butt, then hiss. it's sorta funny.

I'd stick to sleeping only when I'm tired, but I'm always tired.