Goofy

The picture of total contentment, trust, and goofiness: Pyewacket sleeping in my office chair.

Pyewacket is pretty photogenic, even in this less-than-graceful pose. Dinah, on the other hand, is almost impossible to take a decent photo of. Like Doña, who was pure white, Dinah's soft black fur makes her look like a black blur in most photographs, which is especially weird when taken head-on--she looks like a black lump with eyes. So, no eyes in this one.

Bob, after being awakened about eight times in as many minutes by Pyewacket--she would jump up on the bed and either a) lick him to wake him up or b) nibble on any exposed skin: knuckle, forearm, knee, lost his patience. He would bop her gently on the top of her head, say, "No!" sternly, then pick her up and drop her on the floor, after which she would immediately jump back up. Lather, rinse, repeat.

So he picked her up and put her out in the hall and closed the bedroom door. I knew Dinah was still in there with us, but since it was around 2:30, I figured she'd be okay for the four hours or so until my alarm went off, and if she needed to get out, she'd let me know.

Around 4:30 I heard scratching at the door--from the inside--and I got up and let Dinah out, then closed the door again. Fairly soon after that, Pyewacket burst through the door--I had apparently not latched the door firmly. So I got up, put her out again (hugging her, I kissed her on the top of her head and said, "It's okay, Bob just needs to get some sleep, you have to stay out here") and made sure the door was closed properly.

She had a little tantrum out in the hall then, crying and sticking her paw under the door and generally expressing her displeasure, but we didn't relent. I went back to sleep and it really was funny how different it felt to sleep so deeply for several hours without being awakened several times. In order to let Bob get some sleep, if I feel her get up on the bed between us early in the morning, I'll try to grab her and pull her over to me, and about half the time she'll stay and fall asleep. The other half, it's the battle of her wanting Bob to be awake and pet her, and her wanting to chew on him.

I hate to have to put her out of the room, because that means Dinah has to be put out, too, and she's no trouble at all at night. She sleeps in her chair quietly, and about once a week will get up on the bed and wake me by touching me softly, then lie next to me for about a half hour, then she leaves. She's like the wind.

It was strange not to have them in the bathroom with me this morning. Normally they both come in and have drinks of water, play under door, wash each other on the bathmat, etc., while I take my shower, then Pye usually leaves and Dinah stays to bite my wet hair, one of her true pleasures. It makes her purr. I lean down and she rubs my head with hers. Very sweet. Very strange.

But I took my shower alone this morning. When I finished and went out in the hall to go downstairs, they were both waiting to go down for breakfast.