Too Early On Tuesday Morning

It isn't even 6:00 in the morning as I'm typing this, and I've been up and out of bed for almost an hour. AngelBoy slept in the laundry room last night and he started rattling the door when he woke up a little while ago, which woke me up....... then ShadowBaby decided it was time to start his day. I put them both on the screen-porch and tried to go back to sleep but that didn't work.

When I got up the second time, I heard a cat outside and I knew it wasn't one of mine. Don't laugh... you get to know what your own cats sound like if you're really a cat person. I turned on the outside lights and there on the garage roof was a black and white cat. Sort of looked like my neighbor V's cat, but they're away in Colorado this week and she always puts her cats and dog into the kennel when they're out of town. Another neighbor on our street has a black/white cat but this looked bigger than theirs.

Just what I don't need-- a stray cat on the roof. I watched the cat for a while, and so did my own three cats. By that time, they were all on the screen-porch and watching to see what the black/white cat was going to do up there. Our garage is connected to the house with a breezeway, and the stray cat was pacing between the roof of the garage, the roof of the breezeway, and the roof of the screen-porch. I'm surprised that my cats weren't meowing or hissing, but none of them made a sound.

Within half an hour, the black/white cat decided that roof-top living before dawn isn't all that it's cracked up to be. He jumped from the corner of our garage roof to the fence between our yard and the next-door neighbor's yard. The neighbors on that side have a pool, so I hope the cat noticed that without having to swim through it as he went on his way.

I guess I'm just going to get started with my day here. We're having a lunch here for the three secretaries in my husband's department at work. I stopped at the Greek Cafe and got some food there yesterday, so all I have to do is heat everything up and toss a salad together. I've met two of the ladies before, I don't know the third. I told my husband to just invite them all to the Christmas party next year..... he didn't think of it this year till it was too late to ask them, so that's why we're doing the lunch.

My husband said not to fuss. But I always fuss. I made up little placecards... I wrapped up truffles in red & green cellophane, tied that with a thin red ribbon, added a small-size candy cane and little tag with the name written in gold ink. The little bundles look adorable. In my basket of party favors, I found three candles in the shape of Christmas ornaments, all the same, so each secretary will get the same favor as they leave.

And last night, I made a little Christmas tree centerpiece out of small oranges from another neighbor's fruit tree. She had stopped by on Sunday with her granddaughter to show her our tree, and she brought a bunch of oranges that she picked from her tree. The oranges are bitter, and not great for just peeling and eating. This neighbor, who lives next door to A, makes marmalade from these oranges. I had them in a bowl and they looked pretty, but I arranged them into a tree-shape last night, and used toothpicks to hold them together. We have some little bunches of red berries on our nandina bushes, so I'll pick some of those later and add them to the orange tree. It will make a pretty centerpiece on the dining room table for today's lunch. But I won't fuss...

Our friend F is hoping to be out of the hospital in a couple of days. I truly think she needs a good rest from her hospital stay. She has had a lot of visitors every day... friends and co-workers. And her phone never stops ringing from morning till night. Add to that all the interruptions from the nursing staff.... seems like they're always popping in her room to check something or other. When A and I went to see F on Sunday, I told her that if ever I'm brought to the hospital, I'll save everyone the effort of coming to visit me. I just cannot imagine myself being in a hospital bed and having people stand there trying to think of what to say next. No one except my husband sees me in p-js at home, so why would I want people to see me in p-js anywhere else? I've already told my husband not to let anyone in my hospital room if ever I have to be in a hospital room. And anyone who knows me also knows that I'd have to be in a coma to be taken to the hospital in the first place. Jeez... just the thought.

Anyway... on that note.... I guess it's time to start the day here. I'm betting that now that I'm wide awake, all my cats are probably sound asleep. And I sincerely hope that the black/white cat that jumped from my garage roof into R & M's yard isn't doing the backstroke in their pool.