It was about 7:00 p.m. last night when we finally had just about everything loaded, Rob had cleaned up all his nuts and  bolts, screws and tools that were strewn everywhere and the cleaning crew (aka Linda) had removed some of the dust and grime that had accumulated during the recent projects and all systems had been tested and everything seemed to be working.  So it was now time to share our excitement and bring the “kids” on board.  You can only imagine the joy they felt as we carried them individually (2 in our arms and Gizmo in the carrier) out to their home away from home.  Such good memories they must have from last winter’s trip because the first thing each of them did was to run into the bedroom looking to hide under the bed but they were foiled by Rob’s new S.K.A.T.S system (see S.K.A.T.S post for details) which covered up their access entrances.  Now totally alarmed because their efforts to hide had been thwarted, Gizmo and Sparky started running around like little maniacs looking for other places to potential hiding places.  Sparky quickly rediscovered the space under the couch and Gizmo just ran back and forth, turning in circles, not really knowing what to do.  The only cool, calm and collected one was old man Chooey who decided it was time for a nap on the nice comfy bed.  After about two hours, Sparky and Gizmo finally settled down and started behaving somewhat normally (whatever that is) at least until we went to bed.

Somehow our kids didn’t seem to care that we had downsized from the king size bed in the house to a queen size bed – their goal was to occupy as much square footage as they could and not give their human pets more than six inches of real estate.  Finally after much kicking, shuffling and purring (by the cats, not by us), we all fell into a blissful sleep.  Blissful that is until Gizmo (aka Mr. Hyperactivity) decided about 2:00 a.m. that he didn’t like his new abode and he wanted to complain to the world about it.   Of course, he didn’t realize his world was limited to just Rob and I so his complaints were falling on deaf ears! He’s going south, like it or not!  All night long, meow, meow, meow, up on the bed, running across the pillows, down on the floor, running all about, meow, meow, meow, up on the bed, down on the floor, well, you get the picture – it was not fun for any of us.  Daylight was dawning when the little brat finally decided to settle down and catch some sleep after keeping us awake all night.

So here we are today, New Year’s Eve day, with a long list of last minute things to do and pretty exhausted and one of us (hint – not me) is a little stressed.  Sparky has taken up residency under the couch and won’t come out, Gizmo is still pacing back and forth and Chooey is doing his usual eating and sleeping routine.  I guess tonight we’ll have to leave the TV on so the kids can watch Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve party because you can be sure, we’ll both be asleep a long time before the big ball falls in Times Square!     That is unless Gizmo has other plans for us tonight!  Will we (or they) survive four months of this?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!