Noodleman simply ignored the tirade and trotted back to the counter, leaping up to where he had initially been.

“You do know, Honey…” I smirked, “that you COULD just put both cats on the floor while you do this.”

He looked over at me and shook his head. “No way! We’ve gone that route several times already…I’ll put the first cat down on the floor and then while I’m putting the second one down, the first one’s already back up! It’s like playing ‘musical cats’ with them!”

“Would you like some assistance?” I innocently asked while sipping my tea.

“No…it’s okay…I’ve got it under control.” Pop went the can’s top with the aroma of tuna wafting into the air.

At that time, both cats decided to push forward to try and get a small taste while the contents were being emptied into one of the kitty dishes.

“Noodleman, get your head out of there! SpiceGirl, move back! Come on, guys…GET OUT OF THAT DISH AND WAIT YOUR TURN!!”

“NOW would you like some help, Hon?” I again asked, my tea gone by now.

“Baby…we go through this…NOODLEMAN, STOP THAT!…every morning…SPICEGIRL, LEAVE IT ALONE!…and this is just a regular morning routine around here!”

Well, routine or not, the morning wasn’t getting any younger! I calmly padded over to the refrigerator and reached along side of it, pulling out the broom.

Then, standing in the middle of the kitchen, I banged the broom’s head hard on the floor which caused both errant kitties to look up and take notice!

“Enough’s enough, guys!” I called out. “GET DOWN NOW!”

Punctuating that last remark, I banged the broomhead on the floor once more, and watched while both mischiefmongers quickly jumped down off the countertop and into the living room where they then turned around to see what was going to happen next.

Mike turned to see what had happened and, spying me standing there like Hilda the Viking, he smiled. “I was wondering how long it was going to take before you finally jumped in…”

“Well, Baby, if words don’t work, sometimes you have to speak “cat” in sign language in order to get the message across.”

After my husband placed the filled kitty dishes in their proper area, I walked over to the refrigerator again and placed the broom back where it belonged.

As soon as that broom was out of sight, whoosh! Both kitties made a mad dash for the bowls!

Pushing each other out of the way while trying to determine which kitty dish held the most food, Noodleman and SpiceGirl finally made their determinations and settled down, eating as though this was the first meal in days given to them!

My husband breathed a sigh of relief that this whole ordeal was finally over, and went to pour himself a cold cup of yesterday’s coffee which he then ‘nuked’ in the microwave.

“Are you sure you really want to drink that stuff?” I asked in a disbelieving voice. “Only God knows what has been growing in it since yesterday!!”

“Well, God’s not drinking it, Honey…I am…and you always say, “waste not, want not”… As his words trailed off, he proceeded to add creamer and sugar to his mug while stirring briskly. Once done, he inhaled the steaming aroma while exclaiming “aaaaaahhhhh…Coffee! Life’s blood!”

“More like Life’s MUD,” I murmured while starting to prepare a second cup of tea. “I think that spoon’s standing up all by itself!”

“That’s how you can tell that it’s perfectly done, my Love!”

Sipping his hot mug of goo, Mike sauntered into the living room in order to sit down in his favorite chair and watch tv for a while.

However, the peace and quiet was shattered by, “Oh no you DON’T…get off my chair….get down now, Noodleman…man, we have GOT to put you on a diet!…No, SpiceGirl…you’re not staying there, either…come on, get down…Noodleman, I just put you down once. I’m not going to keep on doing this!…SpiceGirl, stop doing what Noodleman does!…”

Sighing, I muttered a short prayer of thanks that the kitties understand more than they let on…

and calmly reached for my broom….