[personal] Learning No!

Today’s been a big world of “NO” for the kitten and Newton. They have both learned to jump – onto the kitchen counter, the stove top (yikes!), and the narrow short wall that drops twenty-two feet down to the hard foyer floor.

A squirrel built a spring sleeping nest in a flower box hanging from our kitchen window. That began everything. The Christmas cactus I’d begun from shriveled leaves in January was sent crashing off the window sill, across the counter, and onto the floor.

Because Newton was up there pawing at the squirrel on the other side of the glass, the kitten had to do it too. The water bottle was brought downstairs where it had been used to keep the two from pacing the top of the narrow short wall, seemingly tempting each other to make the leap over the edge.

Newton knows the “no” word but takes her time getting down. The kitten knows nothing other than if it’s good enough for Newton…

Newton isn’t fond of the water bottle but hasn’t been with us long enough to accept that a shake of the bottle is as good as getting squirted from the bottle. She’ll learn.

The kitten, half-drenched for half the morning, hasn’t put two and two together, ditto with me shouting “NO!” She’ll learn.

I’m working with a mild headache today, not so much from shouting “NO!” every few minutes, but because I’m almost weaned off caffeine. That’s not to say I won’t drink the stuff in the future. I just don’t want to drink it every single day. The Man recently had a health issue come up that requires elimination of caffeine and alcohol. I don’t think he’ll stick with it, quite honestly – he never does (he asked about wine just last night), but I’ll do my part by keeping prepared coffee out of his line of sight and won’t suggest any more wine with dinner. I’ll learn.

As for that stuffed liquor cabinet, looks like I won’t need to restock that anytime soon. Given the number of times I drink a year (the two or three conventions I attend every year), that cabinet will contain liquor until 2020.

Only a few more days of not hearing anything from her original owner and we’ll officially put a name on this kitten. But you already knew we’d do that, didn’t you…