Through The Mud Clearly

Busy day today. Coffee with Lady and Marmalade...not the instant stuff either!! Shocked and vacuumed the pool. At this moment its looking pretty good! Mowed the back yard. I had to because when Marmalade walked through the grass I couldn't see her and when Lady laid down I could barely see her! Worked on the back yard project while Lady and Marmalade supervised from a shady spot in the freshly mowed yard. Had to make an emergency run to the grocery store..was running low on important supplies like; creamer for me and Cheerios for Dusty! I will be cleaning her cage tonight because I didn't do it last night...fell asleep during my movie...woke up as the credits were rolling. Everything and everyone is well here but we miss you all!!

Note to self: when removing baking sheet from oven, remember it will still be hot when you set it down. Don't pick it up without a potholder! Well its another exciting evening here at the Wright home. Tonight I am going to clean Dusty's cage while she wanders around in he exercise ball. I have to keep Marmalade away from her or she might try batting the ball down the hall. That wouldn't be good! Speaking of cats...they continue their races through the house although there is no clear winner. Oh, Hey, I got to use a Sham Wow! cloth today. Lady got all excited about the piece of bread and peanut butter heading her way and totally spilled her water bowl everywhere!!! It worked quite well!

When I first accepted this house/pet sitting gig 20 days ago I had forgotten that this household doesn't watch television. This means no cable, antenna or other device to make TV programing accessible. EEEEKKKK!!!! How will I survive! However, there is a TV, a DVD player and a VCR. I haven't been able to watch any DVDs because Daniel isn't here to operate it for me! No oatmeal either! Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I decided to gather up a bunch of tapes that I had never viewed or hadn't watched in a long time. No Veggie Tales, Star Wars, Thomas the train, Lost in Space or Mr. Ed videos! First I picked out a few here, then went and got some from my house and found a few at Savers. Then I proceeded to set up what I like to call my "Home Theatre on a Budget." I turned the recliner to face the TV. Lined up the movies I had acquired on the little hutch thingy and arranged the remotes(although I don't use them)in their own row on the thingy. So far I have watched:
Shadowlands-slow moving but good
The Longest Day-2 tapes which turned into a 3 evening extravaganza
Sense and Sensibility-BORING, I turned it off after about 15 minutes
Sounder-a sad, sad movie
Tea for Two-kinda silly but fun
I'll Cry Tomorrow-true story about someone I've never heard of
Rio Lobo-typical John Wayne movie
The River-pretty good movie

Tonight I think I am going to start watching Gettysburg, Its a 2 tape-er so it will take at least 2 evenings to watch. But first I have to get Marmalade to relinquish the chair! Oh; I really haven't missed TV programming!

For the past few days I haven't secured Sparky in her room when I go to work or anywhere else. I figure if they haven't gotten into a huge fight by now then they aren't going to. It seems to be working out quite well. Today when I got home it appears they were in the middle of a game of tag...or possibly hide and seek. They were running from room to room, but not to the same room at the same time! If I didn't know better I would have thought there were more than two cats in the house. Marmalade ran down the hallway and actually hid between the living room and the hallway. Seriously. I figured she was laying in wait for Sparky. When I got to where she was, she jumped out and took a swing at me and ran off! She was waiting for me!! Me...unbelievable! Then....I observed Sparky chowing down on Marm's food! If you remember an earlier post I blamed Lady for that; now I don't know what to think except they are ALL in cahoots...secretly conspiring against me! Dusty continues to rearrange her house (see day 18) and Lady...well...Lady continues to be Lady.

Wow!! I don't know whats up with Dusty. She has become quite the slob! I keep her cage clean, give her fresh food and water daily. I even have chats with her every time I pass thru her room. Well, that little rat has taken to pushing her bedding all over the place--even OUTSIDE her cage. She even moved her food bowl about 5 inches from its normal location. I have no idea how she did that! Today, or should I say late last night, she pushed about 1/2 of her bedding up one side of the cage- might be an escape attempt in the making. Bethany may have to re-train Dusty when you return. And then there is Sparky. Apparently she has a new exercise program. She runs up and down the hallway.....fast! Maybe she wants to join Marmalade at the Olympics. Her event would be "short hallway sprints". Marmalade just sits on the piano (yes the piano) and watches.

So... this morning I stumbled blindly into the kitchen only to face an angry coffee maker! Somehow it had gotten two mugs from the cabinet. It pointed at the cups and demanded to know: "WHERE HAVE THEY BEAN?!" It said "bean"-really- just look at the picture and you will see that its true!

Anyway, I explained that y'all were on vacation and would return at an undisclosed time. I can't tell you what it said next because it would need to be filtered! THEN, it started grinding its teeth and groaning. It got louder and louder then finally it was quiet. It then started this dripping sound....I think it was crying! Hopefully its not brewing up some sort of a scheme!