Why Unions are Bad (or Conversations with Cats at 11PM)

I stayed up late last night (yes, 11PM is late for me. I’m old, what can I say?) and didn't spend as much time playing with TheDexter & TheAnnabelle pre-bedtime as I usually do. The following conversation resulted.

For reference:  TD = TheDexter, TA = TheAnnabelle, Me = Me. Also, I have translated from Cat to English so those of you who don’t speak Cat may also enjoy this, and because my written Cat language skills are not nearly as strong as my verbal Cat language skills.

TD (sitting on nightstand staring at me): Play?

Me (laying in bed, facing the nightstand): No, it’s sleepy time.

TD (looks at TA, who is sitting on her throne in the closet, then looks back at me): My union steward says this “sleepy time” you speak of is not defined in our union contract. Play?!

Me (sighing): Actually, I believe it is defined in Addendum B, paragraph 3 as any time the human(s) is/are laying in the bed, especially when it’s dark, to facilitate the process of energy restoration.

TD (looks worriedly at TA, who shifts slightly, then looks back at me): My union steward does concede that is in the contract; however, we argue that since you did not fulfill the minimum “Daily Play Time” clause in the contract that you cannot yet declare “Sleepy Time”. Play!

Me:  No. I played with you earlier in the day, in anticipation of this, and that play time is to be included in the “Daily Play Time” calculations. It is sleepy time, go chase your sister.

TA sits up and stares menacingly at as both.

TD (nervously): I wish to file a grievance then.

Me: A grievance? About what?

TD (gulps): For being denied the opportunity to fulfill the duties for which I was hired.

Me: You were “hired” to chase, and be chased by, TA so we humans could enjoy “Sleepy Time”. By all means, please, go fulfill your duties.

TA looks sternly at TD, jumps to the floor and leaves the room.

TA (resolutely): Past practice indicates that is not true. While that may have been the “official” reason for my hire, past practice indicates that I was hired to be played with by you. If you do not play, I will file my grievance and I will file it all night long. PLAY!

Me (reaching for the cat toy in the night stand): Fine. We will play.

TD (distracted by the shadows created by a car pulling into a parking space outside our window): Umm, never mind, I think I found something more interesting. (TD jumps to the floor and begins to stalk the shadows before turning back to me) But, I reserve my right to file my grievance at a later time. (TD continues with his shadow stalking).

Me: Ugh. This is why unions are bad.

DST = No sleep

Daylight Savings Time (DST) is killing me. Or really the transition from DST back to normal time is wreaking havoc on me and the ATC household. I've always had problems with the transition to DST in the Spring. I'd have headaches and feel out of sync for a couple days, but then I'd be fine. The transition back to regular time has never been an issue.

This year things are different. This year there is TheAnnabelle and TheDexter. This furry duo, who are normally my partners in napping, have decided that their internal clocks are not getting reset like all the other clocks in the house. Nope, not this time.

TheAnnabelle has taken to waking me up at 3:00AM. Since I'm normally semi-conscious around that time (usually just enough to roll over to find a new "comfortable" position to sleep) it didn't seem like such a big deal at first. But each morning she has been getting more insistent that I actually WAKE.UP.ALREADY! purrrrr TheDexter has started to assist her in this mission. He wanders the upstairs meowing as loud as he can.

This morning TheHusband got up at 4:00AM because he just couldn't take it anymore. I followed him into the office at about 4:30. The office = refuge from the furry terrorists. *sigh* How sad is it that we have taken to hiding in our office to get away from our daily wake up "call"? Pretty sad, I know.

If anyone has any tips in regard to how to change the internal clock of a cat, the ATC house would be greatly appreciative if you would share your wisdom with us. We desperately need some sleep.

This is what happens . . .

... when I take "vacation" time.

napping

lots of napping

I have taken a lot of naps the last few days (I did work out with TheHusband on Monday morning, and now can we say OWWW) and woken up to TheDexter napping with me. Let me tell you how hard it's been to quietly slip out of the bed to get the camera when all I really wanted to do was rub that furry belly.

Today we (TheHusband and I) are off to the Como Zoo. We are in for a fun day of polar bears, flowers, and mini golf (and some mini donuts if I have my way)!

This is what happens . . .

. . . when a certain kitty, TheDexter, tries to take a nap away from his sister.

He forgets to tuck his tail in sometimes.

Jackpot!!

At least for the kitties. . . 

On Saturday I decided we needed to take drastic measures so TheAnnabelle would let me get some sleep. This meant moving a dresser from the guest room into the master bedroom. When I pulled the dresser away from the wall, this is what I discovered. TheDexter & TheAnnabelle were in kitty heaven. What was included in this treasure? 

- 18 toy mice, in varying states of destruction.

- One pen (that should have been in my purse).

- One shiny fuzzy ball (which are obviously not as important to hide as the mice).

I tried to take a picture of TheDexter rolling around in this stockpile, but everytime I tried he'd run away with one of the mice and wouldn't come back until I put the camera down. I wonder where the new stockpile will be.

This is what happens . . .

. . . when certain kitties find they simply must be in the same window.

TheDexter and TheAnnabelle L.O.V.E. to sit in the windows and watch the neighborhood, especially now that the weather has gotten nice. While they do have a kitchen window seat designed just for them, they really prefer to sit in the upstairs windows (TheDexter finds he can be both brave and safe at the same time). And while there are three different windows they can sit in, this is the favorite and is worth being fought over.

Luckily, the screen is screwed into the frame on the outside. Not so luckily, it's not screwed in across the bottom. Now the two little miscreants aren't allowed to sit in this window until we can figure out a "fix" for the bent screen frame. It's way to tempting for TheAnnabelle, who actually did try to squeeze through there while I was taking the picture. It's also way to tempting for the bugs who want to come into the house.

This is what happens . . .

. . . when you have a smarty pants cat that likes to get attention (cat in question not shown in picture).

A Rare Moment

In the year (just over really) that we have had TheDexter (on the right), TheAnnabelle (on the left) has rarely let him get this close to just sit (play time is a different story entirely). AND I have never been able to get a picture of it. Sweet!

This is what happens . . .

 . . . every time we refill the reservoir on the humidifier.

"Hmm. . . I should probably fill this." is what I think.