Sleep deprivation

I seem to have lost my ability to sleep through the night.

Most nights, no matter how tired I am, and even if I haven't had any sugar or caffeine before bed, the only way I can fall asleep is by taking a Benadryl tablet or gelcap (I have both; I have more antihistamines than God, and that guy has terrible allergies). Frequently, although not every night, I wake up around 2 or 3 or 4, at which point I do fall back asleep. And now, every morning this week, I've woken up at 6 am. Today, I woke up at 6:00 on the dot.

The weird part? I'm much less groggy when I wake up and it's 6:00 than when I wake up and it's 7:00 ... and my alarm is beeping and my bird is beeping.

Loki was very, very alert this morning. As soon as I took his blanket off his cage, he wanted to come out. Not just his little doe/wet-eyed, puffy-feathered "I love you, please play with me" look (along with "Are you ... leaving me?" chirps). No, he full-out Kiwi'd: he launched himself to the front of his cage and started beeping. So I let him out, and he ran around for about 10 minutes while I got ready for work.

I wonder how it is that he's more energetic, alert, and enthusiastic after getting 7 hours of sleep than I am; after all, I only need 7-8 hours, and he needs 10-12.

Weirdo.