The BIG, LOUD in the Middle of the Night

A BIG, LOUD storm woke me, just before 2 a.m., moving in really fast. The thunder and lightning were so fast and constant you couldn't even get to the count of 'one'... And then the sleet and hail started.


Zumi Cat has become storm-phobic in the past year and a half (notably since we moved into this house),  and it's really sad to see him get scared. He sleeps with me, so I knew the instant he was freaked out (the moment of the first thunder). He wanted O-U-T...out, Out, OUT! But I don't know where he thought he would go. It was so incredibly loud on our roof and windows! He didn't want the closet (his normal hideout), and when I offered to let him out of our room, he realized it was louder and scarier out there, and ran right back in. The poor thing was completely panicked!


I finally grabbed him and jumped back into bed, throwing the thick covers over us and curling myself around him. I held and petted and soothed, and the BIG, LOUD storm passed quickly. Zumi finally relaxed and seemed to feel safe under the covers with me, purring a soft, calm purr instead of trembling violently and rumbling with the panic-purr.

Poor big handsome fraidy-cat!

(Not an actual photo of Zumi)

And WHERE is Nom-Nom Kitty now??? She ran out of the bedroom when I offered to let Zumi out, and by the nightlight in the hall I saw her run on away. When Zumi ran right back in the bedroom, I went down the hall to bring her back. It was insanely loud in the rest of the house! I didn't see her right away, and at that moment the hail intensified hitting the windows and that's when I decided to just hunker down under the covers with Zumi. You know, so I could soothe and comfort him. 


After the storm passed, I went out of bedroom to get Nom-Nom and bring her back so she wouldn't have to sleep alone. (Crazy-cat-lady behavior, I know. Don't judge.)  But we (Zumi was on my heels every step now) can't find her ANYWHERE!  What the what, cat???  It's not a big house. And she's a chatty cat - there's a vocalization for every move she makes and every time she hears her name. She is disappeared! I am giving up the search, although I'm more than a little freaked out that I can't find her. I'm hoping that she's just hiding someplace really good, or that the Aliens which have abducted her will return her by morning.

(Not an actual photo of Aliens sucking Nom-Nom out of our house.)

I love a good storm, but Zumi's hysteria, and now the disappearance of Nom-Nom, took all the fun out of that one! I would like to just go back to sleep now...


(Does anyone else have storm-phobic cats? Thankfully none of my dogs have ever really been, but this is my second cat that is. And for that matter, has anyone else had their cat abducted by Aliens? Outer-Space Aliens, I mean; not the illegal ones that might kidnap cats for who-knows-what purpose.)


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8:00 a.m. Update of Situation:
When I got up this morning and left the bedroom with all fuzzy-kids, Nom-Nom was amongst them. The Aliens not only returned her (as I knew they would because she is kind of a nutcase), but they put her back in the bedroom so she wouldn't have to spend the rest of the night alone. The Aliens are crazy-cat-ladies too!


And something woke me up this morning by pressing fingertips between my shoulder blades and gently nudging, repeatedly. Himself was sound asleep, but I woke him up anyway to make sure. Because it was a very definite sensation. So weird. 

September Morn...

It's here. September. Finally.

I know we're like 5 days into it already, but today is the first day it has felt like September. It's the last of my much-needed 4 days off from work, and I got up early anyway because I wanted to experience as much of it as I could. Weird? Maybe. But I figure I can enjoy a nap later.

It was still dark when I got up, and the temp was in the low 60's here. The A/C unit was finally relieved of duty (at least for a while), and I'm sure we could hear an audible groan of relief before it passed into a coma. I opened every window I could, grabbed my cup of coffee, and nestled into my favorite corner of the couch to let it come to me in the early morning silence.

The fresh, cool wind blowing through is like salvation for the soul. It is crisp and clear and fragrant with hope. The air moves over me, with a sensation that is never truly replicated with fans and air conditioners. It's a caress of nature, alive and changing and vibrant. I'm under-dressed for the new chill it carries, but I relish every moment of it. The 'burbs are oh-so-quiet this early on a holiday, and there is peacefulness that is so rare to find here. I can hear the wind moving through the plants and trees, softly rustling and then vigorously gusting, as if shaking off the dust and dread of the summer we've had. The wind chimes on the patio are tinkling in delight.

The bratty cats have even taken the morning off from wrestling and general brattiness to enjoy the change. They move from window to window, sitting on the sills and peering through the screens at the early morning world, longing to go out to explore. Soft little noses are twitching as they scent the flowing air, chuffing at sights and smells of things they want to hunt. They, too, seem to relish the feel of the moving air.

We can hear the odd random leaf skittering along the quiet street. Soon there will be more, as Fall edges in to overcome Summer.  It is undeniably my favorite time of year!

September is the initiation of change, the precursor of the delights of Autumn. You can almost sense the 'click' of the transition locking in. There is much to enjoy and anticipate in this early month:

• The welcome changes in weather patterns
• The return of the desire to cook (and eat!)
• The beauty of changes in plants and trees
• The enjoyment of outdoor activities
• Festivals, markets, fairs, and football

It's time to enjoy this day and make the most of it. September, I salute you. Welcome back!

What does September mean to you???

Awake'ish...

Bit of a different kind of night around here last night. Our grandbebe is staying with us for a few days. (Cutie Patootie is the 3 yr old son of The Man's daughter.) Last evening we had dinner with his great-grandparents, who enjoy feeding him as much of anything and everything they can in each visit. He complained that his tummy hurt a few times, but he was running around performing for their guests, so it's sometimes hard to really gauge.  He went to bed and seemed normal enough when we got home.  Sure enough, at 1 a.m. I'm awakened by a phone call from my son (19 yr old) - which is just the right degree of nerve-rattling in itself - and he's telling me that Patootie is throwing up and he doesn't know what to do. He's calling me from his own bathroom, which is next door to our bedroom. Don't you love the communication capabilities we have now??

I robe-up and find my two big boys in the bathroom trying to help the little one clean up.  It was such a grossly adorable scene: Noah trying to get him out of icky pajamas, Alex trying to wash his face off, and Patootie crying and telling them to "stop it!"  It was just so heartwarming! Except for the vomit, of course.  The Man gets up, too, and we all set about removing the dirty bedding (I know that child's stomach is not big enough for all the grossness that came out!) from the futon (that will never recover, I'm afraid) and getting the little one back to bed. The big boys then dispersed with apparent relief.  Patootie seemed to still have a tummy ache going on, writhing and moaning every little while, so I sent The Man back to bed and stayed to keep watch.  Sure enough, an hour later, round 2; thankfully mostly-contained by the wastebasket the big boys had thoughtfully placed on the floor next to sleeping bebe.  Poor little soul!  It's been many years since I've sat with a sick little one, and it's still just as pitiful to see them go through it.  And I am still filled with wonder at the capacity in such little bodies!

While changing his clothes and cleaning his face, he suddenly stops crying and says, "I feel better. Can I just go to sleep now?"  And it was like a switch had been flipped. Down he went and right to sleep, with no more moaning or turning. The Man checked on us right after that event, and  I stayed with Patootie another hour before convincing myself that he seemed peaceful enough that I could go to bed.  Then I lay awake for what felt like forever, listening for any sounds from him and feeling a flashback to that guilt that we feel when there isn't any magic wand to wave over them to make them feel better.

Thankfully today is my day off.  I got up relatively early, worrying about checking on him, and thinking I might still make my massage appointment this morning. But I don't think I will.  Patootie is still sleeping peacefully, thank goodness (as is everyone else in the house), and I really hope he will feel better today.  This has been a reminder of how grateful I am that my child-rearing days are behind me!  I adore him, but I am, quite comfortably, way out of practice with the art of middle-of-the-night-nursing/laundry/vigil process!  I consider that to be one of the big perks of accomplishing 'the raising of the cubs'.

(I can also report that other than a few minutes of excitement and an extra trip outside, the dogs were able to quickly go back to sleep without any apparent signs of being traumatized; and the bratty cats couldn't be bothered to even take notice of the event.)

As I mindlessly check in on the virtual world while waiting for the coffee to work it's magic, I'm presented with a video of a news report on the Vatican's position of consideration of the possibility/probability of alien worlds and beings: http://youtu.be/0h5L7IEqBjc   I honestly do not know what my thoughts are on this at the moment.  I'm really open-minded to the possibility and wonder of a lot of things, but aliens have not really been in my radar.  (However, I will admit that I've always had the opinion that vomiting children are associated, in some way, with aliens.)  Anywho, it appears that this really is legitimately newsworthy, and linking with NASA and the government. Who knew?  I, for one, did not.  If feels a little wacky to me, so of course I now feel compelled to hunt around for more stories.  Or just have more coffee.  We'll see.

Bon jour...

Kitty-Mania erupts in my bed every morning between 4:30-4:45.  They're silent as ninjas, I'll give them that, but they feel like flailing Sumo wrestlers on top of me. Who can sleep with that going on?? The Man, that's who. Totally oblivious. Lucky bastard.  Anyway, this nonsense is almost always started by the aforementioned bratty-cat supreme, Zumi.  He gets up from his place at my side, where he cuddles peacefully all night, stands on top of my legs, and proceeds to gently smacking on little Nom-Nom. I think it's his I'm-The-King moment. He lets her sleep in his (our) bed all night, as long as she stays out of His Zone, until that time that he must wake her with kitty domestic violence. And then they slap and kick and roll and body slam each other quite gloriously until I intervene.  It's kind of annoying, but also really funny and cute, so it's hard to be mad at them. When they wrestle any other time there is much caterwauling and usually some drama, but not at The Awakening. They're Sumo Ninjas. Sumo Ninja Ingrates.

My favorite early morning smells:  #1. Really good coffee brewing. Current house choice is Cafe Du Monde's Coffee and Chicory from, of course, Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans. Maybe I can't bodily go there right now, but my mind spends a good bit of its time there. (My mind is always going somewhere!)  #2. Turbinado sugar.  I love sugar, and Turbinado raw sugar is the richest, made by only partially refining the sugar cane. Imperial Sugar has the best one I've tried. It's dense and oh-so-slightly moist still, and the fragrance is dark and thick and rich and a bit reminiscent of molasses, but without the harshness. If you're discerning enough to not drink peasant-coffee, you'll love what Turbinado does to your brew.

There has to be a better way of dealing with all this hair than having to spend so much time blow-drying in the morning. I have other things I'd rather be doing, thank you. I love my hair. But I don't want to have to 'do' it.

I dislike having to work on Saturday mornings. Dislike is too mild. Yes, I'm grateful to have a job (don't get me started on the lack of available jobs), but I really hate going to work on Saturday morning. If I had a telecommuting job I wouldn't mind (and oh, how I wish I did!). So there's my bit of negativity for the morning.  Well, that and the hair.

So, to not end the morning's thoughts on negativity (which is bad juju for the day): Let's go out into the world today and not be mean to each other. Mean sucks.  Being snarky is okay, but don't be mean.

Off I go...

Rise and Shine...

Why does Zumi Cat insist on waking me up to let him out of the bedroom 30 minutes to an hour before my alarm goes off?  He knows that I get up at the same time every morning. Does he really think he's going to perish in that last hour if I don't let him out Right Now???  Cats.  He's lucky he's gorgeous.

We had a power blinkage at some point in the wee hours. You would think it would be during the day when all the power is being sucked up by the 'burbs trying to stay cool, but not this time. So I'm discombobulated because little things did not come back on after the blink: the air purifier that keeps our room from being like a tomb of silence, the little light over the stove that keeps me from tripping over previously mentioned bratty cat as I stumble to the kitchen, and the timer that is set on my Beloved maker-of-coffee. Yes, I had to actually flip the switch myself and, I hope you're sitting down, WAIT for it to brew.  I know, I know.  But I'm okay.

Thank goodness my alarm is on my cell phone so it doesn't fail with power outages!  It only lets me down when my phone takes a trip to New Mexico at rising time.  Fortunately it goes to New Mexico at various times of the day, so it only left me without an alarm once.  I'm not sure what it does when it goes there, but I'm almost jealous that it travels out of our time zone far more than I ever have.  Except that it just goes to New Mexico.  That one is pretty far down on my We-Have-To-Go-To-There list.

On that note, I can't wait til the current financial affliction is over so that I can get an iPhone. I'm pretty sure I'm the last person without one. My boss, who can barely comprehend text and email, has one. Hordes of small children have them! Anyway, I can't wait to have my own iPhone so I can get the groovy apps for enlightenment, such as Yoga, and Shiva Nata ( http://shivanata.com/ ).  Isn't that awesome?  Yeah, I'll be one of the cool kids.

Are jellyfish thinking anything???