Backsies Is What There Is Not: You Can't Take It With You

Holy mackerel, this week went by quickly! I'm nervously typing this as Pete saunters into the room and gives Ruby, who is sitting in my lap, the stink eye. He is feeling a little displaced (a little?!), as he likes to lie in my lap while I'm on the computer, too. And not that I'm playing favorites, but the difference between having a 25 pound cat in your lap while you're working who is also lying on at least one arm, effectively cutting off all circulation while you're typing, as compared to a 1 pound kitten who curls up in a little ball and purrs merrily, is exponential.

Here are my 10 Things of Thankful for this week:

1. The boys haven't pounded Ruby into the ground yet, and she probably deserves it, because she's getting very brave and sassy around them. Fletcher is a tail swisher; his tail is always in motion, from a little flick to a whip, and Ruby finds it irresistible. She sneaks over and gives it a little swing, gets braver and gives it a pat, then moves on to a full-on pounce, and he just looks at her as though she is just an annoying little sister. Pete still snarls and hisses on occasion, but he will stay in the same room as her, which she accepts as a challenge to poof up as big as she can and do a sideways, bouncy advance on him. Fortunately for her, she can also bounce away pretty quickly, and all is still well.

2. We have given Ruby the run of the house now, and she chooses to sleep with me at night. It's very sweet to have her snuggle up next to me (I have a fuzzy blanket that I throw over the top of the covers in cold weather that is an absolute cat magnet - I predict that by Christmas, I will have 3 cats on the blanket with me on a cold night, leaving little room for me). I have to lie very carefully, so I don't roll over and squish her. Very.

3. Aleve. I am thankful for it on many levels, but it's especially comforting when I have spent the night sleeping in one position, because I don't want to disturb the purring fuzzball next to me.

4. I left preschool one day this week, picked my husband up at his office, and drove us to a restaurant clear across town for lunch (big 5 mile trip!). As we were getting out of the car, I reached in the backseat to get my purse aaaaaand - no purse. Whooops! Seems I forgot to get it out of the cabinet where I keep it during school (at the requisite 5 feet off the ground, if there are any state health inspectors out there reading this), as I already had my arms full with stuff that I was taking home to work on over the weekend. I'm so thankful that I didn't get pulled over by one of the many police officers I passed on my way from point A to point B to point C.

5. For the purposes of clarification, let me state that I never HAVE been pulled over by the police.

6. Obviously, we switched drivers for the trip back from the restaurant. Then I had to resume driving with no license from my husband's office back to preschool to get my purse, which is a total of four blocks. And yes, I saw a police car on my way. And no, he didn't pull me over.

7. Even though all three kitties seem to be getting along together fairly well, I still come home from an absence worried that there will have been a re-enactment of "The Gingham Dog And The Calico Cat" in my house. I came home yesterday to find:

I call this "Still Life With Cats"

8. I took my daughter and a friend to see the high school play last night. We went to eat first ("Welcome to Moe's!"), then to the 9/10 Center to see the play. They even let me sit with them! I love listening to them talk about all things school and boys.

9. The play, "You Can't Take It With You," in case you were dying to know, was excellent. The acting, the costumes, the set - oh, the set! It was beautiful! Lots of detail, completely in keeping with the WWII time period of the play, right down to the telephone, the typewriter, the snake. WHAAAAA??? Yes, there was a live snake in a glass cage on the set. And THANKS TO ME, that snake didn't escape, because I spent the entire play keeping at least one eye on it to make sure. YOU'RE WELCOME, FELLOW PLAY PATRONS, YOU'RE WELCOME!

10. It's Saturday. The weather is weird. Warmish. Terribly windy. Spitting a little rain. But my mommy is coming this morning to meet her new grandkitten and take me on a belated shopping expedition for my birthday. Time to move the kitten off my lap, get out of my jammies and get ready!