It's nice to be missed. . .

. . .but sometimes I wish the animals weren't quite so happy to have me home. Usually for the first couple of days after we come home from a trip the animals are very clingy. This time has been worse than usual, for some reason. Kelly (the Sheltie), Stitch (the Aussie) and Oliver (the orange cat) have been following me around every day looking pitiful if I don't pay attention to them. They are also trying to kill me. Or at least they are going to accidentally kill me, if they aren't trying to do it intentionally. I can't walk down the stairs without at least one of them running under my feet.

On the other hand, Darth (the black cat) has been virtually ignoring me during the day. I would think that he hadn't missed me while I was gone, but he's more than making up for that lack of attention as soon as I try to go to sleep. Each night, as soon as I get into bed, Darth starts wanting attention. I have to keep my hands hidden under the pillow or the covers or he will nibble on my fingers or keep bumping my hands with his head, trying to get me to pet him. He isn't quite as bad if he thinks I am asleep, but if he realizes that I am awake he starts meowing at me until I acknowledge him. If I somehow manage to fall asleep, I wake up later to find him perched on my shoulder, "vulturing" over me like Snoopy. I am glad that he seems to have missed me, but I really need to get some sleep at some point. And even when I do fall asleep, it isn't exactly restful having little feet walking all over me all night. He does eventually get tired and he curls up right next to my face or right between my shoulder blades to sleep. But if I wake up and he realizes it then he's right back to demanding attention.

Oddly, he doesn't bother Caradorn at all. Well, I say "oddly", but I think the fact that Caradorn has thrown him off the bed every time Darth has bothered him when he's trying to sleep might have something to do with it. Darth seems to have given up on getting any attention from Caradorn at night. And The Kidd sleeps far too deeply. Trying to get him to pay attention to you at night is a lost cause. Which leaves me. Add to that the fact that I typically stay awake much later than everyone else and that makes me the logical target, I guess.

I know what you are thinking - you're probably wondering why on earth I don't just shut the door to the bedroom in order to keep him out. And I have tried doing that, but when I do then he and Oliver both sit outside the room, scratching on the door and crying. Plus, each night I figure he must be getting tired of all this by now. Surely he's used to having me home and he will finally go back to "normal" again soon. Of course, by the time he finally gets tired of me it will probably be time for us to travel somewhere else, and then I will get to go through all this again when I come back home.