Up Up And Away, And Back

It's been very different around here without Nana Noma (she's in Palmer, Alaska this week visiting aunt Jill). I think it was a bit of a mistake to take Avery with me to the airport on Sunday morning. She was DEVASTATED when Nana Noma left, and hysterical all the way home. She's been to the airport dozens of times, and points to every plane in the sky and says "there's daddy's airplane" (as though he has a private jet), but this time was different. She seemed to get it; Nana Noma was going away for awhile (1 week). She was a super crab on Sunday and on Monday, and when I took her to swim lessons on Monday night (which is one of her many Nana Noma activities), she was horrible. She grasped onto me with a full-body death grip, wouldn't participate (or even talk for that matter), and screamed bloody murder if I tried to peel her off me. She's a creature of habit, and not particularly comfortable with change, so we have to try to transition her into and out of things as much as possible. She was not ready to go cold turkey with no Nana Noma for a week.

I think it's a little comforting for Avery to see Nana Noma's car out in front of our house. We'll use it on Sunday to go pick her up, and Avery will definitely be coming with me to pick Nana Noma up. We need to close the circle on going away and coming back.

As for Nana Noma's "friends" -- in the daytime Daisy has taken over our bed (much to Sierra & Mojave's chagrin), and they've been hanging out downstairs mostly. Sierra is really got her nose out of joint because her favorite hiding spots are all disappearing -- the bar, the cupboards, on top of or underneath the hot water tank, and the living room is completely bare with no curtains to hide the window sill. Mojave is a little more flexible and willing to sleep on our bed, just as far away as possible from Daisy. Then they play "cat chess" all night, while we're trying to sleep. Hair-raising and hissing. Daisy seems to have taught Sierra & Mojave to only drink water from Dorothy's fish bowl. It's looking a little murky these days, but now all three cats are climbing up on the counter to drink there, and not from their bowls at all. Dorothy is still alive, amazingly. None of the cats seem particularly interested in eating her, just drinking her murky water. Bleck. It kinda reminds me of Avery drinking her bathwater, either in her water flutes, or as "bath soup" "bath tea" or whatever. Perhaps it's only surprising that she doesn't barf more frequently.

Only 3 more days until Nana Noma gets home!