RL absence and O&C update (LONG)

Hi all:

I don't get to read the ng as much as I'd like. Such great folks and
stories that cheer me up and can also make me cry in shared pain. I read
Baha's thread on not feeling very merry and was awed by how so many of the
group have survived such horrible circumstances - not only survived but are
loving kind caring people. I am inspired by their strength and I sent lots
of telepathic hugs out all over the world when I read your stories.

Reading those stories sure put my ridiculously hectic and chaotic few months
in perspective. They were busy but good months and I have two lovely furry
creatures to cuddle at night that make everything alright.

One of those cuddly boys, Otis, is getting FAT!!! Seems that his long
escape on our holidays made him appreciate the comforts of home that much
more. He was nice and slim when we got him back and has been eating
constantly since his return. I've had to put him on a diet for the first
time in his life. He'll also be 9 yo on January 19th so maybe he's getting
his midlife paunch :-)

You can tell that its getting cold again since Otis sleeps under the covers
every night now. Hops up on the bed, burrows underneath the covers, and we
spoon the whole night - just his little pointed head sticking out of the
covers and resting on the pillow beside me. It's really lovely.

Otis also has a new habit. Before, he used to just tap me with a paw as a
first warning at night, usually on the face. If I didn't respond
immediately, then he'd break out a claw and apply light pressure until he
got my attention. Now, he *starts* with the claw. I'm walking around with
what look like acne on my face. They're not zits, they're little tiny cat
scratches. I've got three of them right now. Just add that to the list of
annoying, disruptive and destructive habits of my dear boy.

I've decided that sleeping with the cats is leaving us chronically sleep
deprived. One or the other gets up at 4 AM. If its Otis, he opens the
closet doors and tries to lick the plastic drycleaning bags on my clothes.
Either that or he jumps up on the dresser under the windows and bats the
wooden shades around. If its Chester, its harder to be mad. He jumps up
with his Kramer entrance and starts purring so hard we think he's going to
explode. He'll either present his head to Otis for a grooming, in which
case we are awake to the sounds of cats slurping for another 5 - 10 minutes,
or it jazzes Otis up and he hits the closets. We've tried locking Otis 2
floors down in the basement but he yowls so dramatically, that it wakes us
up anyway. We've tried locking Chester out of the bedroom but, since he's
discovered his inner cat, he scratches and makes a scene until we let him in
anyway. G*d forbid we forget to close the door to the ensuite. Chester
will fish around in the garbage can until he gags from the way it rubs on
his neck. This is crazy! Do you *all* have such a time sleeping???? Are
we all sleep deprived crazy people??

Otis now also defers to Chester at the food dish. Some kind of battle has
been won somewhere - Otis sits back patiently and waits for Chester to have
the first crack at it - even if Chester hasn't yet arrived at the dish.
Weird.

And Chester - still a total angel. He really is.

OK - my 3 hours a night of sleep this week has caught up with me so I should
go and tumble into bed.

Thanks for listening to my cat ramblings.

Susan M
Otis and Chester
Who'd better sleep tonight!

Susan M wrote:

Thanks for listening to my cat ramblings.

Nice to hear from you, Susan. Aww, those kitties of yours. Scritches to
them both. But you are not alone in the sleep-deprivation department;
Frank started yowling at 3.30 this morning. Since I had stayed up late
to watch a movie on TV, I got three hours' sleep this night. I can never
get back to sleep after waking. The other night, I awoke to the periodic
CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE of a thick paper bag that both Nikki and Frank
have adopted as their new favourite sleeping place. Apparently they were
waging war over who got to sleep on it. Right now, it's occupied by
Frank, and Nikki is inside one of her many boxes strewn aroun d the
flat. Tonight I must remember to hide that paper bag somewhere.

--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

in article , Marina at
wrote on 12/10/04 10:57 PM:

Susan M wrote:

Thanks for listening to my cat ramblings.

Nice to hear from you, Susan. Aww, those kitties of yours. Scritches to
them both. But you are not alone in the sleep-deprivation department;
Frank started yowling at 3.30 this morning. Since I had stayed up late
to watch a movie on TV, I got three hours' sleep this night. I can never
get back to sleep after waking. The other night, I awoke to the periodic
CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE of a thick paper bag that both Nikki and Frank
have adopted as their new favourite sleeping place. Apparently they were
waging war over who got to sleep on it. Right now, it's occupied by
Frank, and Nikki is inside one of her many boxes strewn aroun d the
flat. Tonight I must remember to hide that paper bag somewhere.


my trouble is the the cats do not seem to need to move ALL NIGHT. I do. So,
usually after my 2 a.m. bladder break, I go sleep on the couch (which is
more comfortable than my bed. SUgar and Grant often stay on the bed and
Pearl goes into one of the cat trees or her little bed. I love falling
asleep with them all pressed up against me though. If I don't have to go to
the bathroom, we stay all night in the bed, but Pearl often doesn't. I think
my moving bothers her

"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...
my trouble is the the cats do not seem to need to move ALL NIGHT. I do.
So,
usually after my 2 a.m. bladder break, I go sleep on the couch (which is
more comfortable than my bed. SUgar and Grant often stay on the bed and
Pearl goes into one of the cat trees or her little bed. I love falling
asleep with them all pressed up against me though. If I don't have to go
to
the bathroom, we stay all night in the bed, but Pearl often doesn't. I
think
my moving bothers her

You are such a devoted slave to move to the couch! I'm glad to know that
we're not the only ones that put up with a lot in the sleep department!

SM

"Marina" wrote in message
...
?The other night, I awoke to the periodic
CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE of a thick paper bag that both Nikki and Frank
have adopted as their new favourite sleeping place. Apparently they were
waging war over who got to sleep on it. Right now, it's occupied by Frank,
and Nikki is inside one of her many boxes strewn aroun d the flat. Tonight
I must remember to hide that paper bag somewhere.

LOL = I hope you remembered - I'm always forgetting to do things like that
and regretting it in the wee hours of the morning.

I didn't realize that Frank was such an early waker. All this time, I've
been thinking that Otis will get easier as he ages. Frank is 17 yo AND
STILL DOES IT!!!! Yikes. (Happy belated purrday Frank!)

Susan M
Otis and Chester

Hee hee! I guess that little chat I had with Otis worked then. I
told him he's got a good thing going in your gorgeous house and he
should really stay in more. Better to have a midlife paunch than to
roam all the time ;-)
I'm sorry to hear about your sleep deprivation. Vino used to be worse
in Vancouver but here he starts at 6:30 am and only goes on for 5-10
min. He stops sooner if we absolutely and totally ignore him. He has
another crack at it about an hour later but that's when I usually get
up anyway. I hope things improve for you guys in the sleeping
department!
Purrs for your life to slow down a bit so you can get more time on the
NG. Purrs for Archie too. I hope you guys have a nice Christmas :-)
Take care,
--
Britta
Sandpaper kisses, a cuddle and a purr. I have an alarm clock that's
covered in fur!
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album



"Susan M" smawdsley remove @shaw.ca wrote in message
news:wkuud.457334$Pl.347208@pd7tw1no...
Hi all:

I don't get to read the ng as much as I'd like. Such great folks
and
stories that cheer me up and can also make me cry in shared pain. I
read
Baha's thread on not feeling very merry and was awed by how so many
of the
group have survived such horrible circumstances - not only survived
but are
loving kind caring people. I am inspired by their strength and I
sent lots
of telepathic hugs out all over the world when I read your stories.

Reading those stories sure put my ridiculously hectic and chaotic
few months
in perspective. They were busy but good months and I have two
lovely furry
creatures to cuddle at night that make everything alright.

One of those cuddly boys, Otis, is getting FAT!!! Seems that his
long
escape on our holidays made him appreciate the comforts of home that
much
more. He was nice and slim when we got him back and has been eating
constantly since his return. I've had to put him on a diet for the
first
time in his life. He'll also be 9 yo on January 19th so maybe he's
getting
his midlife paunch :-)

You can tell that its getting cold again since Otis sleeps under the
covers
every night now. Hops up on the bed, burrows underneath the covers,
and we
spoon the whole night - just his little pointed head sticking out of
the
covers and resting on the pillow beside me. It's really lovely.

Otis also has a new habit. Before, he used to just tap me with a
paw as a
first warning at night, usually on the face. If I didn't respond
immediately, then he'd break out a claw and apply light pressure
until he
got my attention. Now, he *starts* with the claw. I'm walking
around with
what look like acne on my face. They're not zits, they're little
tiny cat
scratches. I've got three of them right now. Just add that to the
list of
annoying, disruptive and destructive habits of my dear boy.

I've decided that sleeping with the cats is leaving us chronically
sleep
deprived. One or the other gets up at 4 AM. If its Otis, he opens
the
closet doors and tries to lick the plastic drycleaning bags on my
clothes.
Either that or he jumps up on the dresser under the windows and bats
the
wooden shades around. If its Chester, its harder to be mad. He
jumps up
with his Kramer entrance and starts purring so hard we think he's
going to
explode. He'll either present his head to Otis for a grooming, in
which
case we are awake to the sounds of cats slurping for another 5 - 10
minutes,
or it jazzes Otis up and he hits the closets. We've tried locking
Otis 2
floors down in the basement but he yowls so dramatically, that it
wakes us
up anyway. We've tried locking Chester out of the bedroom but,
since he's
discovered his inner cat, he scratches and makes a scene until we
let him in
anyway. G*d forbid we forget to close the door to the ensuite.
Chester
will fish around in the garbage can until he gags from the way it
rubs on
his neck. This is crazy! Do you *all* have such a time
sleeping???? Are
we all sleep deprived crazy people??

Otis now also defers to Chester at the food dish. Some kind of
battle has
been won somewhere - Otis sits back patiently and waits for Chester
to have
the first crack at it - even if Chester hasn't yet arrived at the
dish.
Weird.

And Chester - still a total angel. He really is.

OK - my 3 hours a night of sleep this week has caught up with me so
I should
go and tumble into bed.

Thanks for listening to my cat ramblings.

Susan M
Otis and Chester
Who'd better sleep tonight!

Thanks Britta - could you come back and tell him to sleep through the night
too? :-)

Otis was up between 4:30 and 6:30 this AM. I'd prefer the five minute
routine. Not only is Vinco ridiculously adorable, but he's even polite
about early mornings! Awwww.....

Thanks also for the Archie purrs - I'm worried about him and feel terrible
for Jane's teacher. Her mom's just had brain surgery and is incapacitated
in Toronto, school life isn't super easy right now, and then this d*rn cat
has gone on a tear. I hope so much that she gets him back.

Merry warm Christmas!

Susan M
Otis and Chester


"badwilson" wrote in message
...
Hee hee! I guess that little chat I had with Otis worked then. I
told him he's got a good thing going in your gorgeous house and he
should really stay in more. Better to have a midlife paunch than to
roam all the time ;-)
I'm sorry to hear about your sleep deprivation. Vino used to be worse
in Vancouver but here he starts at 6:30 am and only goes on for 5-10
min. He stops sooner if we absolutely and totally ignore him. He has
another crack at it about an hour later but that's when I usually get
up anyway. I hope things improve for you guys in the sleeping
department!
Purrs for your life to slow down a bit so you can get more time on the
NG. Purrs for Archie too. I hope you guys have a nice Christmas :-)
Take care,
--
Britta
Sandpaper kisses, a cuddle and a purr. I have an alarm clock that's
covered in fur!
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album



"Susan M" smawdsley remove @shaw.ca wrote in message
news:wkuud.457334$Pl.347208@pd7tw1no...
Hi all:

I don't get to read the ng as much as I'd like. Such great folks
and
stories that cheer me up and can also make me cry in shared pain. I
read
Baha's thread on not feeling very merry and was awed by how so many
of the
group have survived such horrible circumstances - not only survived
but are
loving kind caring people. I am inspired by their strength and I
sent lots
of telepathic hugs out all over the world when I read your stories.

Reading those stories sure put my ridiculously hectic and chaotic
few months
in perspective. They were busy but good months and I have two
lovely furry
creatures to cuddle at night that make everything alright.

One of those cuddly boys, Otis, is getting FAT!!! Seems that his
long
escape on our holidays made him appreciate the comforts of home that
much
more. He was nice and slim when we got him back and has been eating
constantly since his return. I've had to put him on a diet for the
first
time in his life. He'll also be 9 yo on January 19th so maybe he's
getting
his midlife paunch :-)

You can tell that its getting cold again since Otis sleeps under the
covers
every night now. Hops up on the bed, burrows underneath the covers,
and we
spoon the whole night - just his little pointed head sticking out of
the
covers and resting on the pillow beside me. It's really lovely.

Otis also has a new habit. Before, he used to just tap me with a
paw as a
first warning at night, usually on the face. If I didn't respond
immediately, then he'd break out a claw and apply light pressure
until he
got my attention. Now, he *starts* with the claw. I'm walking
around with
what look like acne on my face. They're not zits, they're little
tiny cat
scratches. I've got three of them right now. Just add that to the
list of
annoying, disruptive and destructive habits of my dear boy.

I've decided that sleeping with the cats is leaving us chronically
sleep
deprived. One or the other gets up at 4 AM. If its Otis, he opens
the
closet doors and tries to lick the plastic drycleaning bags on my
clothes.
Either that or he jumps up on the dresser under the windows and bats
the
wooden shades around. If its Chester, its harder to be mad. He
jumps up
with his Kramer entrance and starts purring so hard we think he's
going to
explode. He'll either present his head to Otis for a grooming, in
which
case we are awake to the sounds of cats slurping for another 5 - 10
minutes,
or it jazzes Otis up and he hits the closets. We've tried locking
Otis 2
floors down in the basement but he yowls so dramatically, that it
wakes us
up anyway. We've tried locking Chester out of the bedroom but,
since he's
discovered his inner cat, he scratches and makes a scene until we
let him in
anyway. G*d forbid we forget to close the door to the ensuite.
Chester
will fish around in the garbage can until he gags from the way it
rubs on
his neck. This is crazy! Do you *all* have such a time
sleeping???? Are
we all sleep deprived crazy people??

Otis now also defers to Chester at the food dish. Some kind of
battle has
been won somewhere - Otis sits back patiently and waits for Chester
to have
the first crack at it - even if Chester hasn't yet arrived at the
dish.
Weird.

And Chester - still a total angel. He really is.

OK - my 3 hours a night of sleep this week has caught up with me so
I should
go and tumble into bed.

Thanks for listening to my cat ramblings.

Susan M
Otis and Chester
Who'd better sleep tonight!

I don't know if this will help, but Soncek sleeps through the night since
I've gotten him used to about an hour of playing before going to bed. He
even does it himself sometimes (if I'm too busy reading rpca).
Lots of purrs and best wishes for your good nights' sleep,
--
Polonca & Soncek

"Susan M" smawdsley remove @shaw.ca wrote in message
news:wkuud.457334$Pl.347208@pd7tw1no...
snip
OK - my 3 hours a night of sleep this week has caught up with me so I
should
go and tumble into bed.

Thanks for listening to my cat ramblings.

Susan M
Otis and Chester
Who'd better sleep tonight!

Thanks Polonca - you know, I've haven't been doing the playing thing before
bed for quite a while. I feel pretty winded after having talked both crazy
kids into bed and then I retreat right into my private time. I should
probably see if the playing works. Otis doesn't play so much these days
since he gets lots of opportunity to catch mice and things outside. When
he's been stuck indoors with the cold, then he likes to play a bit more.
How old is Soncek now?

Take care,

Susan M
Otis and Chester

"polonca12000" wrote in message
...
I don't know if this will help, but Soncek sleeps through the night since
I've gotten him used to about an hour of playing before going to bed. He
even does it himself sometimes (if I'm too busy reading rpca).
Lots of purrs and best wishes for your good nights' sleep,
--
Polonca & Soncek

"Susan M" smawdsley remove @shaw.ca wrote in message
news:wkuud.457334$Pl.347208@pd7tw1no...
snip
OK - my 3 hours a night of sleep this week has caught up with me so I
should
go and tumble into bed.

Thanks for listening to my cat ramblings.

Susan M
Otis and Chester
Who'd better sleep tonight!

Soncek is 5 and a half years old.
Best wishes and purrs for sleeping through the night,
--
Polonca & Soncek

"Susan M" smawdsley remove @shaw.ca wrote in message
news:An7vd.474999$Pl.186697@pd7tw1no...
snip How old is Soncek now?

Take care,

Susan M
Otis and Chester

"polonca12000" wrote in message
...
I don't know if this will help, but Soncek sleeps through the night since
I've gotten him used to about an hour of playing before going to bed. He
even does it himself sometimes (if I'm too busy reading rpca).
Lots of purrs and best wishes for your good nights' sleep,
--
Polonca & Soncek

"Susan M" smawdsley remove @shaw.ca wrote in message
news:wkuud.457334$Pl.347208@pd7tw1no...
snip
OK - my 3 hours a night of sleep this week has caught up with me so I
should
go and tumble into bed.

Thanks for listening to my cat ramblings.

Susan M
Otis and Chester
Who'd better sleep tonight!