It's not as though we have tons of 'stuff' in our basement. Everything has simply gone from Organized to Unorganized and, personally, I blame the chaos on ghosts...certainly not on the rummaging through storage tubs that my husband and I have periodically done when trying to locate items that should have been upstairs but weren't.
But now it was time to finally put things back together so, grabbing the box of large trashbags and a broom, I decidedly marched down the basement stairs.
And was passed on the way down by two cats who were practically leaping and bounding over each other at the hope of High Adventure existing just beyond the last step.
Well, this was certainly not going to be as easy as I had hoped, but I had only myself to blame for not shutting the kitchen door first before coming down here. I resigned myself to the fact that I would now have to add 'kittysitting' to my current list of chores.
Surveying the mess, I headed for one of the large storage tubs which had long since lost it's top...and which was now full of 'CAT'.
"Come on, guys," I said as I picked each one up. "I need to sort through this stuff, and I can't do it with you both inside."
Putting them on the floor, I knelt down beside the tub and busied myself with the chore at hand.
Noodleman stood there and looked at SpiceGirl who crouched down, wiggled her butt, and then shot forward into the ajoining storage room with Noodleman fast on her tail!
While sorting and throwing away things no longer needed, I tried hard to not listen to the sounds of their running and jumping about but finally had to stop and investigate a loud 'THUMP...THUMP'.
In the other room a half-empty box labeled 'Miscellaneous' was lying on it's side on the floor with SpiceGirl already nosing her way past pictures and old paperback books towards the small pink ball of yarn sitting just in front of her!
The Second Culprit was right in back of the First Culprit when he looked up, saw me, and then booked it out of the room, leaving SpiceGirl to deal with the consequences at hand.
With a mouth full of yarn, SpiceGirl suddenly became aware of her extended surroundings, spied me advancing on her, spun around...yarn in mouth...and then ran between my legs and out the same door Noodleman had just gone through.
Not the yarn! I had saved that particular ball since before my kids were born...bought with the intention of knitting pretty baby blankets which, of course, were never finished...and now, after surviving over twenty seven years of being moved from place to place, this ball of yarn was never going to survive the antics of mischevious cats looking to have 'a good time'!
"SPICEGIRL! Bring that back!!!!!"
Whirling about, I returned to the first room only to see SpiceGirl entering the laundryroom, still holding the yarn...and with a long string of yarn dragging behind her.
Sitting on top of the dryer, Noodleman saw the string, too.
Pounce! In one swoop, Noodleman was not just back on the floor but was now holding this string in HIS mouth.
Great...just great....a cat at both ends!
"Noodleman, drop it!"
Noodleman saw me coming and, with string in mouth, ran to the left.
SpiceGirl saw me coming and, with ball in mouth, ran to the right.
Now SpiceGirl might be younger and quicker than Noodleman, but obviously Noodleman knew the layout of the land better than she did because while he was going around the furnace and out the other side, SpiceGirl headed into the tool room...which only had one way in or out. She stopped, glanced back at me, and then, taking the only option available to her, jumped up on one of the tool shelves.
All the while, this poor ball of yarn was still becoming smaller.
But, miracle of miracles, one of those infamous knots that had always interfered with my knitting advancements now made itself known, and STOPPED THE UNRAVELING!
But it didn't stop Noodleman....
One moment SpiceGirl was standing on the shelf, looking at me.
The next moment SpiceGirl was pulled off her perch and back on the floor.
Her lack of gracefulness not withstanding, I grabbed SpiceGirl with one hand, and the string with the other. Suddenly limp, the string was easily pulled towards me while the padding of paws could be heard running up the stairs.
SpiceGirl struggled to get down but in no way, shape, or form was she going to get off THAT easily!
Shifting her around in my arms, I said, "You are such a bad girl!" She stopped struggling and just looked up at me.
"Are you paying attention to me, little girl? You've been a bad kitty today!"
She reached a paw up and touched my nose.
Yeah. I was getting through to her. Right!
As soon as I put her on the floor, she shot up the stairs to find Noodleman.
Sighing, I finished rerolling the ball of yarn and placed it inside another box. Kneeling down besides the storage tub I had so long ago been working on, I again started sorting and throwing away stuff...
...While the sound of feet running from room to room echoed down to me through the ceiling!
"I know how to fix THEIR wagon." I muttered to myself. "We'll get a DOG!"
Christine