A Traumatizing Evening

Yesterday was Nichele's 21st birthday. I have no idea where the time went and how she is 21 already... but apparently she is. Caa-raaaaazy. I met her for dinner and drinks -- so weird!! -- and we had a 3 hour heart to heart, girl talk chat at TGIFridays. It was fabulous. Somehow in the last 8 years that I have known her, she has blossomed from a shy and quiet pre-teen into an intelligent, funny, and sweet young woman. It's so strange. 

I imagine this is how I will feel one day when I have kids of my own... how you blink and it seems like all the sudden, everything is different. Mind boggling. Anyways, it was great and I am so proud of who she has become. Happy birthday Nichele! :) 

Moving on. 

Last night I was traumatized by my cat. (Mom stop laughing)

Now, before you go thinking I was attacked by my cat or something, just back the truck up. My cats ain't no attackers. They are sweet and beautiful and kind and loving and would never do such a thing, so you should apologize for even thinking that for a split second.

I was sleeping peacefully (read: not sleeping at all, watching Parks and Rec and trying to convince myself that at 2am, sleeping is what normal people would do and I should join that party, but feeling like I was energized enough to run a marathon.) I got up to tinkle and noticed that Oscar was sleeping out on the chair that we have in the loft area at the top of the stairs. I figured he wouldn't want to miss out on the snuggle fest that was going on with his sister in bed, so I went to go get him.

Well the floor creaked when I was about 3 steps away and he freaked the freak out. Like way more than usual. He must have been sleeping pretty darn good for that to scare him so much. Usually he is jittery, yes... but not to that degree (unless it is a stranger and death is clearly coming for him).

He jumped up in the air, landed on the tv tray that is next to the chair, and then launched himself through the railing and into a free-fall to the floor below, and landed with a big THUD. (Not because he is overweight but because of the laws of gravity! Geeze you guys!) That's like 8-10 feet! On a hard tiled surface!

I'm pretty sure if I hadn't just tinkled, I would have done so in my pants. I tried to scream but there was no air. (Mom stop laughing. He is my baby and I was scared he was hurt!) I ran down the stairs to find him. He was obviously alarmed by what just happened. He was cuddled up into a ball in the middle of the kitchen with the biggest eyes I've ever seen on him (and he gets some big eyes when he's scared...). When I came towards him he took off and went to lay in his bed by the fireplace. I slowly came towards him again and he let me touch him... I did a quick once over and groped all of his limbs to make sure he wasn't hurt anywhere and he appeared to be fine, just really surprised by what just happened. I mean, I guess I would be too if one moment I was sound asleep, and the next moment I was flying... So I picked him up and brought him back to bed with me.

Josh had woken up (kind of...or maybe it was because I pretty much yelled "ARE YOU AWAKE!? WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!!") and I tried to explain to him what happened but I was slightly hyperventilating. (Mom stop laughing.) Oscar laid next to Sadie and went to sleep within 10 minutes... but you can bet I poked and prodded him to check his vitals every 10 minutes for another hour or so until I finally fell asleep. (4am, hollah!)

Now look, I know that cats can jump. Their bodies are designed for it and that's just what they do. And to his credit, Oscar is a good jumper. He can clear 6 foot jumps no problem. But still... that wasn't a normal jump. This was a fall to your death suicide jump. When I worked at the vet we had cats come in with broken limbs quite frequently from jumping from too high places. So I know that sometimes, even though they think they are invincible... sometimes they are a little over confident. 

Today he still appears to be fine. He is eating, he is playing, he is sleeping for hours on end, he is attacking imaginary things...  Just another normal day in the life of a cat. So I think he will be just fine. But he sure did give me a scare. And I'm pretty sure I made Josh think someone was breaking in and trying to kill me by the way I frantically woke him up. Ha. 

Here's hoping tonight is much less eventful. And really, every night from now on because that was downright terrifying. I'm sure his life flashed before his eyes. It flashed before mine...

(Mom stop laughing).