She was awoken out of a restful sleep, as she was every morning, to the pleasant buzz of her alarm gently telling her it was time to jump of bed, rejuvenated and refreshed, with the prospect of a brand new day filled with endless possibilities ahead. Today, however, a low rumble of thunder greeted her as her feet hit the floor and as she ambled to the bathroom, the bedroom shook slightly from the wrath of the impending storm. That’s how a writer would describe last Wednesday morning, creating a mood and sense of foreboding to the reader that something ominous was on the horizon to otherwise happy and normal circumstances. Were this scene to be translated to the big screen, audience members would be screaming, “Watch out person!” “Get back in bed, something bad is going to happen!”

Well, since life does not have a rewind button, what really happened, because there was nobody to warn her to be careful, was that she was awoken out of a restless sleep to the shrieking buzz of her alarm rudely telling her to get out of bed, of which she cursed at and hit snooze numerous times so that she could prolong as long as absolutely possible, her Groundhog day routine of getting ready to go to work for a job that she was not looking forward to.

Sure, she heard the thunder, but it was drowned out by the sound of 8 hungry cats telling her to hurry up with her business and get into the kitchen to feed them breakfast. And yes, the bedroom shook, but it was only because she had stepped in a strategically placed pool of cat vomit and she nearly slipped and fell to the floor as a result. And since the “she” was actually “me,” I really wish I had paid more attention to the signs, because boy did I ever have one of those upside down, crazy, where you just question everything about your life with exasperation, even though technically nothing is really wrong, and wish you could start over and re-shoot the scene kind of days!

I should have sensed what kind of day it was going to be with the grey skies, but I was oblivious to the obvious signs that something was amiss…

It started out when I got to work. I don’t begrudge that I have a job during the day outside of my cat life, it help pays the bills and I am grateful for that. But I happen to work for an extremely dysfunctional company and the stress that is involved as a result of it is not always easy to handle. This Wednesday was a particularly difficult day and I was having a hard time shaking it emotionally, so when I got an email on my iPhone around 3:00 pm from one of my readers that they could not access my Wordless Wednesday blog post because they got an error message from Google “that the site is not available,” I figured, of course, why would you be able to get through to my site…. it was just one of those kinds of days.

And since we live in such a sound bite, instantaneous world, what’s the big deal if my Wordless Wednesday post isn’t seen on Wednesday? Not that it matters, because as it is, since I can’t be doing my cat stuff at work, I can’t join the 9:00 am BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday blog hop until I get home from work at 6:00 pm and by that point, Wednesday is already so passe that people have moved on in their minds to Thursday. And in this case, since it turns out the reason my site could not be accessed was because my server was down, it was not until 10:45 pm that I could actually join the blog hop, because that is when the server issue was resolved. Better late than never, I suppose…

In case you missed it, this was the photo from my Wordless Wednesday post. If you click on it, it will bring you to the text to the post, which was a very touching tribute to Zoey and the sun she worships.

Until the server was fixed, I tried to keep myself calm by settling on the couch to watch TV with Dan and the kitties, a time when I should be happy and relaxed, but I started to notice that every single TV show and commercial we were watching had a hash tag to it. As in the newest trend that started with Twitter where you put a # in front of a brief phrase so that it directs a theme of conversation. So now it appears we can’t even watch TV in peace without the pressure of multitasking while we are doing it by instantly trending with everyone. When is enough, enough? Can’t technology just be put on hold for a few years so we can all get caught up with what we already have? That is my hash tag topic – #please stop and slow everything down with all this technology I am getting dizzy and I can’t keep up and my life that is supposed to be easier and more convenient because of it is stressing me out because it is too much and I am on overload. Damn… that won’t work. Twitter only allows 140 characters. Okay, just use this hash tag then, #oldcrankylady.

Anyhow, in the midst of all my over heightened angst, that in the scheme of things really isn’t even a big deal at all, are my cats. My beautiful, rationale, calm, everything is the same with them, I want my dinner at 6:00 pm cats who don’t get agitated by any of it. They don’t care if my Wednesday post is not seen until Thursday and as long as I am sitting on the couch and they can snuggle with me, they don’t care if I follow Twitter, hash tags or not, and all they want is for me to pet them and be happy.

So, just how did the movie end? Well, a day that started with the ominous low rumble of thunder ended with the peaceful sound of the purr of 8 happy cats. In a nutshell, life is what you make of it and I realized I am very blessed with all that I have in my life, flaws and all, and that sometimes life deals you a grey day and you just have to get through it.

Nothing centers me more than having a cat, two, or three, waiting for me on the couch to settle my frayed nerves!! If you put your ear up to the computer, I am sure you can here them purring from where you are!

Okay! Now for some Saturday silliness – all this talk of movies and rewinding life got me to thinking of some of the fun outtake photos we have of our kitties – you know the one’s that I’m talking about where you capture your feline in the most ridiculous and awkward of poses that are not supposed to be used for blog posts, but actually make the best pictures because they are so fun to look at!! Enjoy! And in closing, what about you all? Had any of those “I wish I could rewind and start my day over again kind of days recently?

Oh dear… Mia is our prissy little princess. She is going to be none to happy when she finds out I have shared this picture of her! Please don’t tell her it was me…

Yikes!! This picture of Peanut is so alarming, I don’t even know what to say!

Our normally “cool as a cucumber,” Rolz, is showing his silly side in this candid pose!

Um, “Here’s looking at you, kid.” Or, “Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum, I’m a pirate,” says Zee. The caption possibilities are endless with this one!