Thunder and Cats
I did extra cat duty today, because we haven't had a lot of visits this week. During my shift there was a thunderstorm which completely freaked out the cats. When it started I was working with a shy kitten who I had finally coaxed into my lap. He was purring and happy and then this ominous roll and you could actually see the fur on his back raise up. Then he high-tailed it (literally) back into his cage and the safety of his box.

Many of the other cats started pacing and looking uneasy, casting odd glances at the ceiling. Even the ones that are usually calm and relaxed got tense and uncertain. After shy kitten I went to one of our bigger cats (she easily weighs over 25 pounds) and, unlike the kitten, decided my lap was safety and leapt into it with an ease that belied her heft. She huddled into my lap, spilling out of both sides, and leaned into me like I was the second coming and she was born again. I talked to her and petted her and the thunder moved on. So I returned her to her cage. A few minutes later another boom and she pressed against the cage wall doing everything but rattling her tin cup against the bars and yelling "Attica!"

After one particularly loud crash all the dogs in the kennel area started barking like the end of days, which only made the cats more uneasy. I swear I was just this side of singing "My Favorite Things" to get them to calm down.

...

In other news, my insomnia has given rise to an unexpected problem. When I go too long without sleep I take an Ambien to give myself a respite. It works like the proverbial dream and I love knowing I can count on a good night's sleep every now and then. The problem is that I have one of the side effects of Ambien - sleepwalking. With my luck this also includes sleep snacking. I'll wake up in the morning to discover I've eaten the last of the cookies I made for book group or fixed myself some toast and left the jam out. I have also, to my extreme embarrassment, posted in my sleep to Facebook (full of nonsense and spelling errors). Now I've screwed myself big time. Apparently I've changed one of my passwords in my sleep and have no fucking clue what it is. I even gave myself a password hint, which means absolutely nothing to me.

Suddenly not sleeping doesn't seem too bad.