TGIF

Thank God, it's Friday! That means I can work on Rider (up to 165 pages!) and perhaps get a few more done!

I've got quite a routine. I get up at 5:30 and do all that hygiene stuff, then I trundle downstairs where I fix my breakfast. Usually, this is a glass of juice but, for the past few days, I've been actually having a bowl of cereal. Now, Wookie, my cat, has a thing about cereal. Actually, she has a thing about the milk the cereal floats in and she eagerly follows me down, waits patiently as I make my breakfast, then follows me (actually she races me--she's pretty fast so she always wins) back upstairs to my office. I start up the computer, get my manuscript displayed and, while I'm reading the last few paragraphs I wrote, Wookie hops onto the back of my chair. Then she peers over my shoulder, worrying about how much milk I'll leave in the bowl.

Will it be enough? Will I leave any of that yucky grain stuff? Or worse, will I leave fruit in the bowl?

As her concern grows, she gradually ends up, all four feet, balanced on my shoulder. When she can't stand it anymore, she reaches out and attempts to snag the bowl out of my hands. This rarely succeeds because I'm wise to her thieving little ways.

Finally, I finish, and as always, I've left milk, only milk, in the bottom of the bowl. Most cats would be delighted if I put the bowl on the floor and let them lap to their hearts content. Not Wookie.

Nope, I have to hold the bowl (she's still on my shoulder, mind you, all fifteen+ pounds of her) at a forty-five degree angle so she can sip the milk like the Goddess she is. You'd think a cat as large as Wookie would make the milk disappear in a New York minute. Not so. She takes her time, not for her the iniquitous milk mustache. Besides, she has manners. She always leaves a little something in the dish...which delights my Rottweiler, Zuzu, who gets our leftovers.

Waste not, want not is the motto in my house.

Oh, and I do manage to get half an hour actual writing time before I have to prepare for the day job. I could write more if I didn't have a plump fur ball sitting on my shoulder but then Wookie is the inspiration for the Rider in my story of the same name. That counts for something, doesn't it?