So I’m up late again. (Gee, wonder if that nap had anything to do with it…) I decide that rather than bugging Bill and Mocha, I’ll go downstairs. Lou, ever on the alert for potential feeding, heads down with me. What I really mean is she runs down in front of me, stops mid-stairs and waits to see if this is the time I’ll trip over her. “Fungah! Foiled again!” she thinks since I managed to avoid her by crashing into the baby gate. “Take that, Lou! Better luck next time, sucka,” I say, doggedly ignoring the pain in my knee. She just gives me one of her “Didn’t kill ya, but I bet that knee didn’t appreciate the big slam into the gate” looks. Man, I hate that cat sometimes.

Anyway, I grab a soda (’cause they’re good sedatives, ya know) and head over to my laptop. Lou follows me…I think she was hoping I’d finally caved and gotten some tuna-flavored soda. She and KitCat have been none too subtle about the hints there. As I settle in, I spot the blanket next to me. And it’s a fuzzy, flannel one. I panic and look for Lou hoping I have time to move the blanket. Lou is perched on the arm of the loveseat with a smug look on her face. “Fungah! Foiled again!” I think while Lou steps daintily over and plops in my lap completely ignoring the laptop that’s already there. I decide that one of them has to move. I chose the laptop since it can’t hop back into my lap, at least not ’til Lou and KitCat teach it some things.

Lou waits patiently for me to settle in. Then she starts nagging me to pet her. Anyone who’s ever owned a cat or been more than passingly familiar with one knows just what I mean. The subtle bats to the face, the demure little tail flips in the eye…cats are sneaky in that “give me love NOW” sort of way. I was weak, and I caved. Since apparently, my ministrations alone weren’t enough, Lou started sucking on the blanket and doing that weird thing they do with their front paws. Lou’s happy…well, as happy as a neurotic cat who needs to pretend blankies are its mama can get anyway. When she was done allowing me to touch her, she moved to my snuggle up in my balled-up jacket.

Yeah, so she tries to kill me a few times a day, but man, I love this cat sometimes.