Ruminating on Jack

Posted Wed Dec 3, 2008 in Family

Wife drove down to Minden at noon and we walked next door to Barone & Reed. It’s one of our favorite places. The food is better than decent. The waitstaff are great folks and fun. The price is a little on the high side, but not bad. We like it.

As we walked in, I noticed Saint Nick holding a pear. I couldn’t resist. So, I retrieved my iPhone and made the image, then uploaded it to my Flickr account.

Lunch with Wife was pleasant, as always. We chatted about the day and I talked about our morning managers’ meeting. There is almost always a little scuttlebutt to share. Too soon lunch was over and I walked Wife back to the car, then returned to my desk.

I’m pushing a few things forward simultaneously right now. I have several letters to write and they are non-trivial. I’m working on two reports, one hot and one not. I have an approximate method flood study to wrap and get the report to the county. I started really early this morning, so I was about out of words by 1400. Still, I soldiered on for another hour or so, then called it quits.

When I got home, I retrieved my iPod and went to the couch. I listened to some music and dozed. I woke when Jack hopped up onto my lap. He’s a funny cat. When he wants affection, he’s right there and there is no denying him. He turned a couple times, then curled up on my lap. I scratched his ears a bit and he turned to creep up on my chest. He lay on my chest, paws slightly curled (and claws slightly marking my skin), purring, and allowed me to rub his cheeks and chin. His eyes went squinty the way he does when he’s content.

Most cats won’t let you rub their cheeks like he will. He’s something else sometimes. Ornery as they come… a pain in the ass a good part of the time… but he’s affectionate and he gives attention as well as gets it. He’s a good cat. He’s also a big cat. I think the last time we weighed him, he was about 18 pounds.

The rest of the evening will be spent winding down. I need to ready myself for another writing day tomorrow. I hope to get through the procedure section tomorrow and then on to results Friday. My co-writer is working on his part now and I hope to assemble a good draft this weekend. Then the team can review the document next week and we can deliver it.

Then I’ll be off on the next report. That’s me — a writing machine.