It sure is cold... hey, wait a minute!

The past few nights, I've been waking up in the middle of the night, shivering. I curl into the fetal position, grab my fleece blanket I have on standby just in case, and go back to sleep. When I wake up for the day, I only have a vague recollection of being cold at some point.

Two nights ago, I figured out what's happening.

Popper is the only dog that sleeps on my bed all night long. He has super short fur, and it's kind of thin, so he usually wears a sweater in the winter. Apparently, he's been dragging my comforter off of me and nesting it into a cozy bed. Last night, I got the hint, and turned on my heating blanket before laying down for the night.

This morning, my comforter was where it was supposed to be, and I was toasty. Apparently Popper was too.

Now I just need to remember that when Popper begins stealing my blankets, it's the time of year to turn the electric blanket on!

The Alarm Clock Fish

I've got a clown loach that's decided when he wants fed, it's time for me to get up.

I've had Krusty the Klown loach for roughly 7 years or so, and he's about 6" from nose to tail tip. He lives in a 30 gallon aquarium right beside the head of my bed, and I leave the light on all night long. I woke up this morning to him making this awful noise at the surface of the water, and then staring at me to see if I was up yet. He has never made this noise when I'm not lying in my bed. I'm fairly certain he has figured out that the first thing I do when I get up each morning is turn off the aquarium light and feed the fish.

It's extremely annoying (I don't like being woken up - and sometimes he does it at 3am!) and I strongly considered selling him, since he has long eaten all the little snails that once plagued my planted tank.

However, I've been leaving the light on during the day, and off at night, and that likewise seems to have solved the problem as he can't see me anymore in the pitch black.

Unfortunately, I no longer have a nightlight. :(