The End! YaY!

Thank goodness the end of November has finally arrived. It started off bad and ended up even worse. It was not a very good month for writing. But I was committed; determined to finish.

On November 22nd, I completed the required 50,000 words for my NaNo Novel and became an official Winner on their site. Anyone making it to 50K is considereded a winner. I continued to write, however, until my story was finished. I had planned to end it tonight, the last day of the challenge and I did. 66,152 words, 20 chapters.

I was a different kind of story for me, something I had always wanted to write...a murder mystery. Okay, well now I can say I did. Or rather, I've written the bones for one. It certainly is not complete and I will get a better feel for how things should be when I start the editing...rewriting. I'll need to make it longer, and probably more exciting.

But I'm patting myself on the back for sticking with it everyday, through one of the roughest months I've ever had with my family. One death, two hospitalized, make that three, I was in there one night. My mother is home, not doing as very well. Adjusting to a complete new way of life. My husband is in the VA hospital, kidney failure from his severe diabetes. My mother-in-law was burried on Monday.

I finished my novel. YaY! Now I won't be so stressed and can go back to work on making some final corrections to the Scrungy books and getting them ready to send to publishers.

And I can return to blogging....

Update: Still Climbing

My goal of 50,000 has been made, but my story has not ended. At first I thought I would just keep going to maybe 100,000, but I realized I wouldn't be completing a novel in 30 days. So I'm bringing it around to a close, and hopefully, will be able to say, by the end of November that I completed a novel in 30 days, which was the premise for NaNo in the first place.

So, my meter on the sidebar shows 100% but I'm continuing to climb.

November 23rd, the day after Turkey day, I wrote, with no pressure at all, 2,763 words.
Tonight I casually added another 2,081.
I'm not pusing myself...I'm not interested in going back to the hospital anytime soon. I'm being a good girl and resting up like I'm suposed to be doing.

My mother is better, she'll live. They got to her in time.
My heart went back into normal sinus rhythm after 36 hours, just as I went to the Dr. office on Friday morning. Everything is quiet and calm...for now.

Gretchen didn't even bite my ankles when I came home from the hospital on Wednesday night.
In fact, she's being really sweet and cuddly.

Whee...I Did It!

Whoopee! Yahoo...Toot! Toot!

I made it to 50 K!

Now I can just coast until November 30...

I told everyone around me when I started NaNoWriMo that no one could get sick, die or have a melt down until Dec, first!

Well, everything started off fairly well. I was a little stressed in the beginning. Things got better in the life around me situation and it got easier to find a writing pattern that worked. Until...
Last weekend I began to get antsy about finishing this. For once I wanted to complete something! Anything! From start to finish...and in record time.

I began pushing myself a little more and increasing my word count. By Monday I was moody, I hadn't achieved what I thought I needed to do...but that little nagging voice in the back of my head said I was about to have a crisis and if I'd just give a little more to my writing time I'd reach 50 K early and then I could coast. Since I'm not physic, and I don't listen to that nagging voice very well anymore, I wasn't thinking that the person around me to have a crisis would be me. I have a very sick husband, and I expected he'd be the reason that I wouldn't be able to finish. Then everyone wanted to crash land at once. We learned Monday that my husband's mother, back in the Midwest, was very ill and would not make it. My mother is having problems and I wasn't feeling well, and the family out here, was close to cancelling our Turkey Day plans. And got cancelled because...Tuesday night I went into the mother of all A-Fib episodes and spent the next twenty-four hours in the hospital....away from my computer, 3,000 words shy of my goal. Worry, worry, worry!

So now, I'm home. I'm still in A-fib and feel really lousy, but not critial yet. Good friends brought us a Turkey dinner tonight. Sadly though, my mother-in-law died while I was in the hospital. My husband is, of course, too ill to return home, that's okay, everyone knew that. My mother is finally going to give in and go to the doctor on Friday...tomorrow, and so am I. Yuck....More interruptions!

But guess what? I did it! Some this afternoon and some tonight! 50,024...and counting...maybe tomorrow, if I'm still around.

I may be dead tomorrow, but at least I finished something. My novel is not anywhere near being complete at just 50,000. I've got 17 Chapters and 189 pages (double-spaced, of course).
I'm thinking that if I don't croak from this atrial fibrillation, (chronic) then I might get close to 100,000 words on this novel, but certainly not by the end of November.

I've enjoyed competing with my writing partner...Thomma Lyn who has kept a head of me all the way. But we're both estatic that we did it! However, the race for us to finish our novels is not over...I may be ill, and lagging a bit, but I'm going to finish this novel and it will be a good one. As soon as I get my heart to cooporate, I'll continue my little writing sessions each night.

Cat Tuesday: Mike's Adventure in British Columbia

For more cats on Tuesday....go here...

Mike's Adventure in British Columbia

with Kellie the Orange Cat

Mike is currently in Skǻne, Sweden with Gretchen's sweetheart, Yoggie. He just got home from Taipei Taiwan and his visit with Adan and Michico. So there's lot to write about. Today, I'm going to post what Mike had to say about his visit with Kelly the Orange Cat in British Columbia, Canada.


Mike here:
On October 29th, I teleported up to British Columbia, Canada for a week's visit with Kellie.
Wow, what a trip that was. Lots of exciting things happened that I had no idea were going to happen. After spending a week with the Ballicai in Tennessee, I figured Kellie and I would just kinda hang out around her house, like I did at Mao's. Just have lots of snacks, play with her toys and just get to know here.

Well…I no sooner popped through the Chunnel at her nice warm house, when the next day, Kellie and I flew off to Galveston, Texas to join up with the Lucky Luxor Road Trip. I met Dragonheart, and MontyQ. Lux of course, and Parker. I'm going to go visit Parker when I get back from Sweden. They were a great bunch of cats to be touring the country with in a big, red, double-decker bus. We were singing all kinds of fun songs as we passed from one state to the next, visiting a lot of cat blogosphere friends along the way. A fellow cat called, Monty Q, was the loudest singer in the group. He had a little different tone than the others, however. In any case we visited a lot of great kitty fellows until Kellie and I got to Daisy Mae Mause's house in San Diego. Then we flew back up to British Columbia for a few more days.

Kelly and had a great time playing tent wars in her pink cubes. And guess what? I won, yay!
And I enjoyed hanging out in Kellie's cat tree, too. We batted balls all over the place, had lots of fun spazzing time together. Kellie's mum seemed to like me, too. That's always import that the beans like me, after all, it is their house I'm staying in. I wasn't too bad, I don't think. Kellie said I was a bit mischievous, but presently, I can't remember….

On November 5th, I said goodbye to my lovely, new friend, Kellie and her beans. She had a lovely home and lives in a very lovely country. But before I give you her interview, I have to tell you what happened to me on my way home.

You see, it never occurred to any of us in Gretchen's household that teleporting through worm holes in cyberspace would require a passport. Not one us thought about technical difficulties with a bunch of fiber optic cables, until it actually happened. Now, mind you I'd been flying across the border from Canada to the US with Kellie, twice, and traveling all over the States in a bus full of cats, so it just never occurred to me that I'd need some kind of identification. I mean, to the real world, I am just a fluffhead, right?

Well, I was whizzing along through the wormhole, I always keep my eyes shut tight, so I don't get so dizzy, but anyway, here I am, whizzing along at top, light speed and all of a sudden I land on the hard pavement outside the US Border crossing between Canada and the States in the middle of the night.

Wow, imagine my surprise when I found myself lying there in a lump of fluff, starring at the toe end of the border guard's boots. I looked up and smiled at the biggest guy I'd ever seen. He was staring down at me with his hands on his hips, and he had meanest scowl on with face I'd ever seen.

The next thing I knew, this giant hand comes down and grabs me by my tail, no less, and holds me up eyelevel with his face. He still wasn't smiling, so I figured, uh, oh, that's the end of Mike the World Traveler. Not only was I at a dead end road in my existence, but I found out I couldn't even charm this guy with my Mysterious eyes. His head wasn't filled with fluff, so it must have been filled with cement. He couldn't hear or understand a single telepathic transmission that I was frantically sending out.

He took me inside the building and put me on the counter in front of a broad lady with a badge pinned to her buxom shirt, and said, "Look what just fell out of the sky! You figure it's some kind of spy…an illegal alien disguised as a poor imitation of a stuffed cat?"

The lady officer turned me over a couple of times and then found my tag. You see, almost all fluffheads are made somewhere in this world and they have a tag of ingredients, sewn into their body somewhere. Mine happens to be a white tag sewn into the inside of my left, hind leg. So it stands out like a sore thumb.

Well, the lady could read. She grabbed the tag, and held it, and my leg, up close to her bifocals and muttered the words "Made in China." Then she uttered the most amazing words. "This ratty, old thing was probably dropped out of an airplane by some little kid. It's not a threat to us," she laughed a terrible scratchy kind of laugh and then opened the door to a closet full of various kinds of things. I figured it must have been a place that held all the stuff they confiscated off the people trying to bring things across the border that they're not supposed to.

I didn't think I'd ever get out of that closet. When the lady shut the door, it was terribly dark in there. I must have sat there for hours, before I realized that I had been tossed on top of someone's laptop computer. I managed to get the thing open and turned it on. I quickly tapped in my pass code and shwoooosh! I was back in cyberspace, hopefully on my way home, to Gretchen.

A few seconds later I plopped through my portal, and whew, what a relief it was to be home again. When I explained my frightening experience to Gretchen's mom bean, she quickly made up a passport for me to carry on all my next adventures.

Here's what Kellie revealed to me in my interview with her:

Sunday, November 4, 2007
Mike's time with Kellie The Orange Cat

Kellie: I have had so much fun with Mike! We have done so many things that I am a little tired and in need of a nap and I suspect Mike is too.

Mike: How long have you lived with your bean(s)

Kellie: In one month it will be my 6th year Gotchaversary! My Mum and I picked each other out in December of 2001.

Mike: Do you have a favorite bean?

Kellie: My favourite bean is my Mum, she is very good to me, she talks to me, she feeds me good food, buys me the toys I like and is very cuddly.

Mike: What's your favorite food?

Kellie: I really like Fancy Feast stinky goodness too, but I'm not allowed to have it anymore because it makes me have digestive troubles, so I now just eat Science Diet dry food.

Mike: What's your favorite treat?

Kellie: My favourite treat is Tempations, I wish I could have a whole bowl of them :)

Mike: Where do you like to sleep?

Kellie: I like to sleep anywhere my Mum is. I sleep cuddled up to her in bed, cuddled on her chest or lap while she reads or watches t.v., I even sleep on her feet or on her lap when she is on the computer.

Mike: Do you dream? What are your dreams about?

Kellie: I dream alot. My Mum laughs sometimes when I reach out or meow when I am sleeping. In my dreams I am chasing the fuzzy coloured mouses that live in our house. We have them everywhere! Over the years my Mum says she has bought at least 10 12 packs of the mouses and they are always disappearing. They are very sneaky and hide under the washer, dryer, stove etc.

Mike: Do you like fluffheads, you know, those crafty little creatures with fiberfill for brains?

Kellie: I love fluffheads. My Mum has lots of them, but the majority of them live in my Grandpa's attic. We do have a few at our house, including a sock kitty that Monty Q's Mum made. She is my Sisfur Cherry.

Mike: How many fluffheads live with you and your bean?

Kellie: Right now we have 2 teddy bears, 1 Halloween kitty and my sisfur Cherry.

Mike: Do you get along with your fluffheads? Really?

Kellie: I get along with my fluffheads, except my sisfur Cherry sometimes scares me and I pounce on her and rough her up a bit. Usually, my Mum has to take her away from me or I will just keep bunny kicking her.

Mike: Do have a special fluffhead friend?

Kellie: Cherry is my special fluffhead, she is the only one I allow on our bed.

Mike: Do your fluffheads ever talk to you? Do they talk to your beans, you know, like I can transmit my thoughts to one special bean in my house?

Kellie: Of course they talk to me, they are not mute. Cherry and the Halloween cat sometimes taunt me and try to get me in trouble, but usually they are nice to me.

Mike: You have a very nice place here; tell me about your weather and your surroundings, what is it like outside your house? (Mountains, seaside, desert, woods, etc.)

Kellie: We live in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. We are an hour's drive from the Washington border. Our town of 30,000 people is located between two lakes, which is very nice in the summer and also very busy because a lot of people come to visit our town in the summer. We grow a lot of fruit here in the summer; cherries, peaches, apples, pears, apricots and the list goes on and on......

Mike: Are you an inside only cat or do you get to go outside?

Kellie: I am an inside only cat, although I have a nice closed in deck that I get to go out and play on in the summer time. Sometimes I whine to go out on the deck in the winter and my Mum lets me out but I come in very quickly:)

Mike: Do you keep secrets from your beans? Sometimes Gretchen and I conspire against her mom bean in the middle of the night. It really freaks her out. Do you do things like that?

Kellie: I sometimes try to drive my Mum crazy by staring at the wall for a long period of time, until she finally gets up and tries to find what is on the wall and then I walk away. It is so funny!

Mike: Have you been gifted with any hidden talents?

Kellie: My Mum says I have a hidden talent of being able to tell the time. I am always waiting for my Mum at the window at 5:05 to greet her when she comes home from work. I can also tell when my Mum or Grandpa's car drives up. When I am home with my Mum and my Grandpa drives by to park I run to the window to greet him.

Mike: Is there anything in your house that bothers you? That you're afraid of?

Kellie: I don't like the sucking machine that my Mum walks around the house every couple of days. I don't know why she has to accompany it around the house, but she does. My Mum wishes that I liked it so she could vacuum me, but I'm afraid it would just suck me right up!

Mike: Do you stalk and capture real live critters like mice, spiders and stuff? What kinds of critters do you stalk? Do you eat what you catch?

Kellie: I stalk, capture and eat spiders and flies that dare come into my house. A few years ago I also stalked and captured 4 bats that I captured out on my deck (the deck is enclosed with screen and lattice work. I brought them in the house and my Mum was not impressed. I killed one and left the others alive and fluttering around the house. Mum phoned Grandpa and he came and captured them and put them back outside, even after all my work of capturing them for her! That same year I also caught a bird and brought it in. I left it by the front door for my Mum, I also took a bite out of it and then threw up beside it. Again, my Mum was not impressed and I was no longer allowed to go outside while Mum was at work :(

Mike: Do you have siblings or housemates? Do you get along with them?

Kellie: I am an only cat.

Mike: Do you have a sweetheart?

Kellie: Sadly, I am still a single girl.

Mike: What is your most fun activity?

Kellie: My favourite activity is to chase bouncey balls and coloured fuzzy mouses around the house.

Thanks, Kellie, I had a great time, too!

Mike the World Traveler

Murder is Not Easy

For the past 17 days, Gretchen has been annoyed, bothered, and frustrated with my late night hours and this novel for NaNo. At 2:30 AM every night, she's catloafed by the door giving me her, "It's Time For Bed Look." She sits and stares at me like that until I get the hint and go to bed.

Last night, or rather at two this morning, she decided she'd help me end my writing session by giving me the clues to where the next body should be found. I have maps all over the room, diagrams, and such, that she finds quite interesting.

After studying them a bit she put her paw on the spot she thought was right. "Here," she said. "This is where the next victim gets offed."

"Well, problem solved," I said. "I'm happy, so I'll just shut things down and go to bed." Now she's happy.

Yes, I'm still working on that novel and will be for thirteen more days. See ya on Tuesday. Mike has returned from Taipei Taiwan and his visit with Adan and Michico. He had a wonderful time. But due to the novel writing thing, I'm a bit behind in getting his adventures posted. Tuesday I hope to post his trip to Canada with Kellie the Orange Cat. He's going to take a rest for a few days, unwinding and getting caught up on his sleep. See you all on Tuesday!

Two Awards...Wow!

I feel so special for the thoughtful awards given to me this week. I'm just now getting time to post them for all to see. Rhonda gave me the medal of Awesomessness and Thomma Lyn gave me with Smile Award.

It is an awesome pleasure to display them both on my site.

Now, I would like to give to my new friend Rhonda, the Smile Award, because her comments on my post, as well as her site, makes me smile.

I would like Thomma Lyn to have the Medal of Awesomenss. She is the Awesomeness person I've ever met. She's also my, much needed, critique partner and proofer, and she's an awesome writer and I'm honored to be listed among her friends and have her as my Bloody Murder Writing Buddy for the Nano challenge. She keeps me going.

Thank you both...

Cat Tuesday: Mike's First Adventure

Cats on Tuesday... here and here.

Mike the Mysteries aka Mike the World Traveler.
Episode 1 of Mike the Adventurer

When you last heard from Mike he was getting things set up so he could go to Tennessee and stay a week with the Ballicai. He wanted to get out and see the world. So Gretchen arranged for Mike to go for a trial visit with Marilyn MonREOW, Chairman Mao, Brainball, and Dorydoo. And of course their beans.

Mike had lots to do to get ready to leave. Mike already has his own story site called Mike the Mysteries, however, he figured since he'd be whizzing around cyberspace, through thousands and thousands of fiber optic cables, dizzying wormholes, and the like, that he'd need a teleporting station that he could come and go from. So we gave Mike a new site called Mike's Portal. It's a special place to teleport from to those of whom he will be visiting. There is an agenda kept by Gretchen and she tells Mike when and where he's going to next. His host will get the Portal Key and Password when it's time to pick him up. So far this has worked great. Anyone can go and visit Mike's Portal site, but in order to leave an outgoing blog or incoming blog, they will need the password.

After Tennessee and a short rest, Mike took off to visit Kellie the Orange Cat in British Columbia, Canada. Currently, Mike is visiting Adan and Michico in Taipei, Taiwan.

Mike has left all his notes with me to type and post, but I've been kind of wound up with a novel writing challenge that I got behind. So here's Mike's report on his trip to Tennessee. (Sorry Mike, I'll get caught up eventually.)

Mike here:
On October, 19th, Mao pushed the teleport button and suddenly I was whirling through cyber space to East Tennessee and the Ballicus household. Poor Brainball had been sick and everyone's nerves were a little frayed because Brainball had such a time of it for awhile. But they were happy that I came when I did.

I landed with a whump! Right onto the Ballicai's fuzzy, yellow, jellybean pillow where I rested with Mao for a few minutes so I could recover from my dizziness. That was my first time, ever that I went whizzing through cyberspace and it really was a little like what the TV series, Stargate showed. The wormhole just sucked me right along at a super high speed and within seconds, I popped out the other side and onto the yellow jelly bean. Wow, was that fun.

Soon after I caught my breath, the excitement began. Everyone was so wound up that I was actually there that we all started spazzing around the house, well, all except Marilyn, she's an older lady cat and a little too sophisticated for all that spazzing that Mao, and Dorydoo, do. After that we all piled into Brainball's favorite spot in the bath tub. We had a blast banging around in the tub for a while, then everyone settled down a bit and Brainball gave me a nice bath. He has an extra strong tongue and he was able to get most of the stardust out of my wiry fur. I felt so much better after that bath. I was really grateful, too, that the Ballicai's lady bean didn't throw me into the washing machine and dryer like Gretchen's bean did once.

The Ballicai have the niftiest purr pads. They're made out of some kind of gray stuff that feels soft, and is really cool to lay on. They all let me take a nap on their purr pads. Even Marilyn. It was really hard for me to nap at their house. There was so much to see and do. While Marilyn napped I sat beside her and watched all kinds of critters outside the window. Way cooler than what's outside the window at home (no offence, Gretchen…but it really is) .

Mao and I got on the best. We've become good buds. We loved spazzing around the house, and kind of knocked something's over. But honest, I wasn't' the one who did it. It just sort of happened.

Poor Marilyn kinda got whopped by Brainball while Mao and I were spazzing around the place. I think after he'd been so sick for so long and was now feeling better, of course, that he just had a lot of pent-up energy, and I think I kinda made him nervous, so he took it out on his sister Marilyn. It was over in a second and everyone was getting a long again, but I'll have to admit this one was kinda my fault.

Mao is a riot, he has these insane little sticks that he tries to kill every chance he gets. He calls them evil coffer stirrers and sneaks up on them, grabs them and runs to the bathroom where he bats them around until…they're…well you know…dead! We we're also caught bopping the water bowls about, just to watch the water slosh around. Some of spilled out on the floor, but their mom bean is a kind lady and knew that when cats have company they can get a little rowdy. Sorry, lady bean, we didn't mean to make such a mess.

I lucked out. The real felines had to have a Frontline treatment while I was visiting and I was able to convince their bean that because I have artificial fluff for fur, I didn't need to have that stuff put on me. She agreed. Whew! Got out of that one, easy enough.

After that was over, we all played bat the kibble out of the bowl and all around the kitchen. That was fun, too. Don't worry, the real kittles ate 'em all up when we got done with our game.

I took my interview sheet with me and before I left, they were all so very kind to answer my questions. They giggled a lot during the interview, but here's what I learned about the Ballicai and Tennessee:

Mike's Visit With the Ballicai!
The interview is too long for this post and I hope you will click on this link and enjoy what I've learned about Mao, Marilyn, Brainball and Dorydoo.

Mike here again:
I teleported back home on October 26th and that was the end of the fun time I had in Tennessee with my new best Bud! MaoMao. I just call him Mao. I must have been a good boy because I was invited to come back anytime. Whew, I' was exhausted when I got home, too, but it was so worth the dizzying speed at which I had to travel in the wormhole, through cyberspace. I didn't once fall out of warp speed, either.

Thanks for having me Chairman Mao, Marilyn, Brainball and Dorydoo (Dorydoo and are both black and sometimes her mom bean had trouble telling who was who). And thanks again to the Ballicai's mom bean and daddy bean. You were swell beans and treated me like I was one of your own. I really enjoyed my stay with you.

Till next time...

Mike, the World Traveler

Note from Bean: Mike rested up a few days and then he went to stay a week with Kellie the Orange Cat in British Columbia, Canada. He had a whopping, whirlwind tour…but I'm saving that for next week.

Veterans Day--How Could I Forget

How could I have forgotten this day,

to honor

all of the men and women who have,

and do so still,

put their lives on the line

everyday for their country.

They've fought, bled, died,

and were wounded

for me.

So that I may blog

and say what I will,

freely.

How could I have forgotten my father's courage,

my stepfather's bravery,

my husbands willingness,

to serve this country,

to risk their lives,

for me.

So that I may

live as I see fit,

buy what I want to buy,

dress the way I want to dress,

drive the size car I want to drive,

speak my own language,

worship whom I choose,

travel throughtout the country at will,

live where I want to live,

work where I want to work,

learn as much as I can learn,

or not.

To speak as I choose,

to support,

to protest,

to rant,

to rave,

as

I

choose.

These brave men,

my father's,

my husband,

lived through all the pains

and angusih of

wars and conflict.

Still today they are sometimes

vilified,

hushed

and

spat upon.

Yet, true and loyal they remain

Their will the world

cannot bend.

We just had a world Blog Blast for Peace. It was great to see all those peace banners and show my support with my own banner; however, I wished I would have remembered earlier today, to honor the soldiers in my family, and my husband, and pass that around. I am ashamed that I forgot to post something this morning. My head has been so entrenched in NaNoWriMo that I had not even realzied what date this was, until I finally sat down to read the paper and saw this full page banner. I quickly found the banner on the web and put it here for all to see that I am not ashamed of the men and women in the past, present, or the future, who honor our country, and fulfill thier duty with love and loyality. They would like to see peace. Desperately, so would I. But we need them to stand for us, no matter what....

I am proud of my friends in uniform. I salute you all.

That Time of Year

This picture came with my Window's programming.

But I thought it was appropriate for this time of year.

I'm still Nano-ing

See you with a cat short-story on Tuesday

Mike is writing about the adventures he's had so far.

Have a great weekend.

Dona Nobis Pacem

Blogblast for Peace

Cat Tuesday: The Adventures of Ragpuff: Episode 2: The Pits

For more cats and their stories....check out Gattina here.

Ragpuff continues to tell his story from the day he was dumped far away from the apartment buildings he'd taken refuge at, by an unscrupulous hand. Lost from his first home, he now finds himself even more lost in a strange landscape, a bewildering place full of mounds of gravel, rocks, and no water.

The Adventures of Ragpuff
Episode 2
The Pits

I was not at all happy about my new situation this morning. My tummy was rumbling loudly and I'd gotten really thirsty. I knew there had to be water around this place somewhere. And I needed to find shade, too. The sun was getting hot here, and all there was, for as far as I could see, were mountains of little rock. It was a strange and eerie place, and I definitely didn't want to spend the night there. You have no idea, either, how sharp those bits of gravel are on my poor, tender paws. Not at all like the kitty gravel I used in my litter box back home. I'm really worried that I'll never be able to find my way back home again. I really miss that silly talking woman and the man who didn't talk much. Even more, I miss my special chair in front of the window. It was all for me, my very own…my very comfortable, safe chair, in my very comfortable, safe house, with my very own bowl of kibble and my very own bowl of water. If I ever find my way back home, I will never go outside again.

Oh, if only I hadn't been so gullible this morning and let that lady trick me into thinking she liked me and was maybe going to feed me like the rest of those people were doing that lived in those buildings. Yech! I was really getting dirty there on that black, smelly surface where they kept all those monster cars at night. First my pretty white feet turned black and now, out here, my fur got coated with this chalky white stuff from all those rocks and it felt terrible on my tongue. I didn't like licking my fur or my paws.

Since I'd first got put out here, I had spent the morning wasting a lot of energy trotting around in circles, trying to find my way out of this place, so I figured I'd just have to climb to the top of one of those tall mounds of rock. I picked the one with the funny looking arms sticking out. Not only was it the tallest mound, but it also happened to have the sharpest rocks. By the time I got to the top of it, my paws were very sore, and my poor claws, they were all torn to shreds, but it was worth the climb. Right at the top of that pile of rocks was this funny thing that looked like a long a black tongue. I had to leap up a few feet to get on it, but there was shade. A breeze was blowing, too, and it cooled my fur. I'd been panting pretty hard by then.

After I rested a bit, I walked along this black tongue until I got to a little tiny cage like thing in the middle of it. There was even more shade there, but still no water. My fur was thick with this rock dust by then and I really had to fight the urge not to try and lick it off.

You'd never guess what I found in that little cage thing. A chair! It was kind of soft and cool because it'd been in the shade all day. The only problem was I still needed a really good drink of water. So I didn't stay in that chair long.

After I rested a little bit, I continued to walk along those tongue things, up and down and up and down, until I came to a little house and some grass. Some real grass. I was so hungry I even nibbled a few blades of grass. I never ate grass before, and it was kind of coated with that white dusty stuff, but I managed to taste a bit of tanginess. It didn't help the rumbling in my tummy that much, nor did it help my thirst, but at least it was something.

There was a lot of cool shade under the porch next to the house, so I crawled under there and managed to take a nap. All the time I was snoozing I kept dreaming about my water bowl, filled to the brim with fresh, cold water. I thought I was slurping it up, until I woke up. I found I wasn't lapping up water at all; I was licking that nasty, gritty dirt on my paws. Yech! Yech, yech, and yech!

I must have slept all afternoon because the shadows were long and the sun was no longer hot when I woke up. My thirst was excruciating by then, so I got up to go look for a pool of water somewhere. The little house seemed to be on the edge of a field, everything was covered with that awful dust. I was just about to go exploring through the long grass when I felt the earth tremble and then I heard this loud rumbling. The closer the rumbling got the more the earth trembled and the more scared I got, so I darted back under the porch, not knowing what was making that terrible noise. Suddenly, the biggest monster car I've seen so far, screeched to a halt right in front of the steps to the house. Dust and grit flew all around, my eyes stung with it; my nose was once again filled with it. I coughed and sneezed uncontrollably.

When my fits of coughing and snorting were over and I could open my eyes again, I saw a big round human face peeking under the porch at me. "Hi, little fellar," the upside down face said to me, "Whatcha doing under there? This is a pretty odd place for a little guy your size to be hanging out. Where'd you come from? There ain't nothin' around here but dirt and gravel for miles."

I had to admit, I was happy to see the man, even if his eyes were where his mouth should have been and his mouth was where his eyes should have been. A dry, scratchy meow left my lips. It was the most pathetic meow I'd ever uttered. Next, the man stuck a large hand under the porch and petted my rock-dust covered fur. I leaned into his hand and uttered another, dry, raspy cry. I got a bit scared, though, when the man's hand grabbed hold of the back of my neck and pulled me towards him. But he was cooing real nice to me, and somehow I knew he was a good human, that I'd be safe with him. Until I got rested up, that is. I'm determined to find my way back to my home, my safe chair behind my safe window.

Suddenly, everything on the round face was where it was supposed to be. His eyes were on top and his mouth underneath his nose. He had a real nice way of talking that made me relax and I started to purr. Mind you, I sure needed some water, so I gave him the most pitiful look I could muster, and then went limp in his big hands. I stuck out my tongue and lay my head to one side like I was going to expire right there on the spot if I didn't get some water real soon. For a greater effect, I coughed a little dry cough and squeezed my eyes shut. I think the man got the hint, because he right away took me inside the house, poured me a bowl full of water and sat me, and the water bowl, on the table. Let me tell you, I drank and drank and drank. It took that whole bowl full of water to get all that dirt out of my mouth and throat. While I was lapping up water as fast as I could go, the man was rummaging around in a cold box, much like the one my silly talking lady had, and come out with some good food. Chicken I think. I'd never had human food before, but I could see he hadn't been expecting to take care of a cat anytime soon, so he just didn't keep kibble around.

Well, the day started bad, but ended okay. The big round man and I have been together for nearly a week now. He's gone all during the day, working out there in that gravel pit on that big monster car thing he has, and he comes home when the shadows get long, then we eat supper together. Last night we had tuna. I think I kind of like that. Oh, and one more thing, he comes home just as coated with that old, white dust, like I had on my fur that first day. Only I don't help him lick it off him. Once I finally got all that stuff out of my fur, I never went out to those rock piles again. While he's working, I go off across the field beyond the little house and do some exploring. I’m getting real good at catching gophers and mice and things like that.

A Kitty Who Knows How To Get Warm

When my mother's cat, Moochie, can't get outside to his sunning rock to get warm...

He tuckes up by the little space heater and places his paws under it for wamth.


Now, this old cat knows how to stay warm.

=^.^=

Y

November is Novel writing time...so that's where I've been...novel writing.

I'll be back on Tuesday, posting the continuing Adventures of Ragpuff,
see you then...

Thursday Thirteen #20

Thirteen reasons for my Happy Dance!

1. I'm doing my happy dance because I finally started this NaNo novel. I've only been waiting for a whole year to join.

2. I finally figured out how to upload my 1,845 words on my NaNo novel. We were allowed to start writing at 12:01 our local time. I started writing at 1:10 a.m. this Thursday morning and it's now 5 a.m. I was done writing by 3:00 a.m. but it took me a while to figure out where to put my word count on my Nano page.

3. You see, when I was first signing up for NaNoWriMo a month ago, it was running really slow and since then it's sped up to a useable speed, but I'd neglected to get back to the site and figure out where everything goes… It's called use malfunction. It's also called pretty dumb.

4. Near tears, after waiting so long to get started, and being up so late, I finally decided that I'd better read the instructions. So I suddenly wasn't so happy anymore.

5. Still user malfunction. At four I decided I had to eat something, my stomach was in knots. So after a peanut butter sandwich and some orange juice, at least my stomach was happy again.

6. Now I'm happy again all over. I got it all figured out and entered my word count, of course, there was an hour looking at word meters and finally getting one loaded.

7. I'm also happy because I'm getting to try out writing a murder mystery, with twists and turns and plots. Wish me luck. It's not as easy as it first seems.

8. Thank goodness I have a writing buddy. Thomma Lyn is writing a murder mystery, too. I think hers will be a lot better than mine, but I'm really happy she's my buddy in all this. I suspect we'll be having a bloody good time at this.

9. There's lots of characters to be interviewed and a suspect list to draw up. I've been auditioning characters for days. Suddenly I have a need to bone up on forensics, rap sheets, sentences and so forth…hmmm….note to self…watch more TV court shows and CSI. I used to be glued to the TV watching those kinds of shows for the longest time. Now where is all that information stored in my brain?

10. The happy dance also includes getting to set up fictitious towns, places, weather conditions and the like. Ahhh…so this is what creating a world is like. A lot of hard work, but fun. I will need to take time off after six days, of course…even fictitious worlds need a day of rest.

11. The happy dance is contagious. My cat is happy because she gets a lot of petting time sitting across my lap while I type away. She also gets more treats. I haven't figured out why writing means she gets more treats, yet.

12. I'm very happy because I've now got a stash of chocolates left from expecting Halloween visitors. We never get more than one or two, if any. But I always get chocolates just in case, knowing full well, I'll get to eat them when Halloween is over. We actually had two come to the door, and I put handfuls of chocolates in their bags. I still have plenty of happy chocolates left for me.

13. Yes, I'm putting on my happy face, and I'm hoping it lasts, and that the creative sparks keep flying for the next 29 days. I'm happily going to make breakfast, now, and then go to bed. The garbage truck's come and gone, the paper boy thumped the paper on the porch, and the sun will be up soon, but I won't see it, because I'll be happily sleeping. And I have my TT done. Whoopee! I've missed the last two.



The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!