Choice: Work through the desperate need for sleep to finish rewriting these awful award nominations for work, OR, set alarm for 4am, in work by 6am, and do them in the relative peace and quiet of the office before people begin crawling up my ass all day.

Allyson, when I face those kinds of choices, I ask myself which I'm more likely to actually do.

I'd probably stay up late to do the awards, because otherwise I'd just fret about them anyway. But I'm a champion level fretter.

I am for sleeping when you need to sleep, although that isn't always possible. I hope whichever way you went works out ok, Allyson.

I woke up early in a panic about a work thing I should have dealt with yesterday, left home a little early (because of course I also puttered around the house for extra time), and had a perfect commute! The bus was right there when I got to the stop, and then it was too full to let anyone else on, so we made record time. I was door-to-door in as little time as it ever takes, even in good weather. Sweet.

Of course, then no one I needed was here yet, but still! I am TCB.

My favorite story about a cat choosing her human -- When we were volunteering, the shelter had a tabby cat named Fifa. Fifa had been an office cat, so named because she had been found during the World Cup. When her office closed, Fifa ended up in our shelter. But she wasn't used to other cats (especially in a group setting), and she developed fear aggression. After a lot of work from volunteers, she calmed down somewhat, but she was still very shy and had aggressive tendencies.

One day, an elderly woman came by, looking to adopt an older tabby. We had quite a few tabbies, including some in the age range she wanted. Fifa jumped to the floor, curled around her legs, and did all those other things that say, "I've found my human." So, even though Fifa was a little younger than the woman was looking for, she adopted Fifa.

Puppies!

Also, congratulations sj.

I am tired & crampy & cranky and filled with Don'tWanna. Bah. Off to work I go.

I picked Señor Sock over his sister because he immediately approached me and played with me while his sister hid. Señor was very playful and brave, plus he loved to jump up on my shoulder while I was walking around.

Squeaky Fromage was a shelter cat who originally belonged to Miriam. But Miriam's other cat Einstein was continuously aggressive to Squeaky, so Miriam asked me if I wanted her. I sat down on the bed in the room Squeaky was being kept in and she immediately jumped on my lap and let me pet her. It seemed like there was an immediate recognition by both of us that we were suited for each other.

She has since proven to be the lapiest lap-cat I've ever known.

eta: Squeaky still hisses at Miriam whenever she comes over, as Squeaky still remembers that Miriam belongs to that evil Einstein.

he woke up one morning and couldn't hear.

That happened to my grandmom. Just one ear though, thank goodness. CB was the first dog we went to see when we decided to get a dog. I insisted we look no further! With the kittens, we were picking from a litter of 5. I knew I wanted a boy and Magellan was the only boy. Bob picked the Professor for her sweetness and Ace Freely eye patch.

Some of my family lives in a different mind set than I do. One of my nieces posted a backyard fireplace made of old tire rims welded together. I posted "But what about toxic fumes being cooked off?" My BIL posted, "Eh, so we die a little sooner, those coatings would burn off quickly."

Ummm. He lives in Casper, Wyoming. I guess that low of a population density makes you think things differently.