Nothing like a cold shower to wake me up!

I had fallen asleep on the couch last night while watching tv but was awakened by a shower of something wet all over my face. Sabrina had been sitting on my hip and she went leaping as I immediately sprang up and headed for the bathroom to wipe my face with a facecloth. I realised that she had a problem with her ears which are still healing from their operation but since it was the middle of the night and I was barely awake, I just switched off the lights and went to bed.

In the morning, I investigated and discovered her one ear is bleeding, probably from scratching so I hauled out the collar again and cleaned it off nicely, replacing the yucky bandage which secures it to Sabrina's neck with a fresh piece. I also padded the sharpish edges of the collar with some elasticised plaster which hopefully should prevent it from cutting into her neck. Last step was to slather her ear and her nose which she also keeps damaging, with ointment. She was non too happy I can tell you.

Early in the morning still but just before I got up, I again heard a sound which would have most people jumping up to investigate. Glass breaking! But I am so attuned to the movements of my cats that I just knew even in my half asleep state that it was 'only' a drinking glass left on the coffee table from the evening before that some cat had jumped against and broken. For some reason when they come through the 'cat/dog door' they can't just run past the table on their way to the kitchen. They have to jump onto the table and off the other side, wreaking havoc on their way across. I usually keep the table clear because of this. Cats - 1 - Crockery - 0!

The little kittens, at almost 5 weeks old, are running around on the bed in my room where they are based. Their mommy removed them from their box and made a nest on my bed on one of my pillows. The beige boy is the noisiest and whenever he hears one of us, starts meowing loudly and comes running for attention. The orange boy is quiet but can be playful and also gets around quite a lot. The little orange girl is much shorter legged than her brothers and although she does get around when she wants to, is generally very quiet and placid, just cuddling up in a corner behind the pillows and always seems to be lying on her back. Funny little kid.

Bradley has finished exams now and as his father is coming down to KZN next week to do a job, has decided to return to Jhb with him to be with his extended family. He will miss the last two weeks of school but there doesn't seem to be much happening there anyway. So I will be on my lonesome ownsome for a few weeks. It doesn't phase me too much as at least he will be entertained and I can just completely relax for a couple of weeks. I will only finish work on about the 22nd December and Bradley will probably return to KZN with his sister, who intends driving down on the 23rd, just in time to spend Christmas with the family.

I must say with all the hype building up for the Christmas Season, I am leaning toward low-key and relaxed after a rather hectic and changeable year. My mother has always made a big deal out of Christmas and they start buying Christmas meat as it comes on special from about August. She makes huge quantities of shortbread and mince pies and her Christmas fruit cake which my dad ends up eating until April of the next year. She changed the Christmas dinner to Christmas Eve a few years ago so that on Christmas Day she is not so overloaded that she ends up not enjoying the day but she still ends up laying out a generous spread on Christmas Day itself. She always has a real tree to the ceiling, perfectly laid table in the Christmas theme with candles and flowers. Its a big production as she has 'catering bones' which unfortunately I haven't really inherited. When it comes to catering I would always rather just be the helper. In fact although my younger sister considers herself a cordon bleu cook and spends a lot of time watching the cooking channel, a lot of her dishes turn out to be too rich or unusual. I don't think any of my mother's daughters have the catering desire or stamina so it may be the end of an era when my mom decides that she's had enough.

In the meantime, we gather as many family members as we can and spend the festivities together with an awareness now being realised that in the future, family members may not be around, or may have other commitments on that day and we probably won't always have the privilege of being together as a family.