Monday, August 25, 2014

Sunday, August 24, 2014: The Supervisor and the Extended Absence

Throughout the early (emphasis on early) morning I occasionally woke up to find that Tommy was still sleeping on the bed. I can’t remember the last time that she had slept on the bed with me all night (or at least whenever I woke up). We slept in and didn’t wake up until almost 8:00. I of course greeted Tommy and let her know how nice it was to have some of her good old habits back.  
We spent the morning playing, resting, finishing laundry and folding. I didn’t do much resting and Tommy didn’t help very much with the laundry or folding which was all my clothing, so I completely understand. She spent much of her time supervising from her new resting pad, a grocery bag that she commandeered when it was emptied but before it could be stored.
We spent a quiet day without much incident.  At one point Tommy did come into the study to check up on me. I made the mistake of picking her up. As we neared the living room where she would jump down onto the chair she got a little to exuberant and one of her claws came in contact with my nose. I yelled “Ouch!” as she jumped down.
After I did a little clean up and placed a small bandage/dot on my nose I returned to find a very timid Tommy. I felt bad because it was an accident and it wasn’t her fault. I tried to explain it to her using yesterday’s stepping incident. I don’t know if she understood, but we spent a few minutes just laying on our sides staring at each other. It was one of those weird times when neither of us is sure whether it’s petting, playing, or apology/forgiveness time. In a way it’s a time out for us to just sit and enjoy each other’s company.
We played again later and had to trim the fleece teaser. A loop was created by all her chewing and pulling when we play and her claw was getting caught.  This also reminded me that tomorrow we need to have another mani/pedi (paw/claw) date at Petco. Over the weekend, she was occasionally getting a claw caught in the carpeting when we were playing, so she must need a nail trimming. I hadn’t realized that it had been six weeks. I’m going to need to start putting a reminder in my calendar to handle this every five weeks.
While I was typing in the study, Tommy came in and as I put it “screamed.” This told me that something was up that she wanted me to investigate.  I got down on all fours and followed her. About every six feet or so, she would turn around and check to make sure I was following her.  We got to the scratching post in the living room and she just sat under it. I’m not sure what happened, but after a few minutes, I was dismissed as she moved by the screen door and laid down.
Since I got Tommy I haven’t been walking as much as I once did. I used to average about 100 miles per month. Since it was such as beautiful day, I decided to take a walk.  I went almost 5 miles and as I was on the elevator going back to the condo I found out that I had lost my keys. Rather than face the wrath of Tommy twice I went to retrace my steps. After walking most of the route, I got a call from the front desk telling me that my keys had been found in the driveway.  After retrieving the keys, I opened the door and found a very unhappy kitty.  No amount of petting, treats and apologies seemed to work. She was having none of it.
After walking over 9.6 miles, I didn’t have any energy left. I showered, ate dinner and headed for the bedroom before 9:00. Tommy stayed in the living room and under the dining room until I finally brought her in around 11:00.
She first curled up on the bed and then went to the window for some fresh air. I had a funny feeling that this would be the routine for our sleeping hours.

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