THE STUPID THINGS WE DO....

I hope the neighbors weren't awakened at 4:30 this morning by the calamity going on at Casa de la Flaming Bore. I happened to be up tending to sick Little Bit's needs, and when I blindly tossed out a bag of litter box remains, Critter escaped. Just what I didn't need! Since becoming a house cat four years ago, Critter has only been on the loose once and she about got run over that time. She can't be trusted to stay in the yard and behave herself. So instead of going back to bed, I put on my shoes and sweats, grabbed a flashlight, and headed outside to find her. The search was on.

"Critter baby, where are you?" I asked, half pleading and half royally pissed off---mainly at myself for being tricked by a goofy ball of fur in the middle of the night. She's a vocal cat, maybe she'd meow back at me and I'd have her back inside in no time. On the other hand, maybe the neighbors would call the police to report a disturbance and Critter would have to post my bail bond.

Ah-hah! There she is by the backyard gate! I bent forward to pick her up and--DASH! Away she went. I could hear her elusive little feet scattering about leaves in the front yard. Every time I'd get halfway close to her, off she'd run. Hide and go seek. She was having a blast.

After about 10 minutes of this ridiculous routine, I retreated inside. I didn't want to wake up Big Bore, but Critter is his cat and I needed his input. Leave her alone or keep looking?

"Forget it. She'll come home when she's ready," he said, more or less awake.

Okay, the master had spoken. So, I kicked off the shoes and went back to bed. Five minutes later, guess what big lug was dressed and out on the front porch calling for Critter? Not I---but I got up again because I felt guilty since this charade was all my fault in the first place.

"Have you seen her?" I asked Big Bore, who was now sitting in his porch chair, bundled up from the cold, watching for the little princess.

"She was over by the trash bin and when I went to grab her, she ran over to the corner." My aren't we getting our exercise this morning?!

I was freezing, so I went back inside and back to bed--again, but I couldn't get back to sleep. Around 5:30 I heard Big Bore out back talking to Critter. I got up ONE MORE TIME, opened the back door to see what was going on, and here comes a big cry baby kitty galloping back inside.

"It's about time! I hope you enjoyed yourself!"

For some reason we're having a hard time staying awake today.