I flew back to Seattle today so I could drive home this afternoon. Between lane closures and torrential rains over the passes, the drive was not fun. What was fun? Walking through the door and having Jake and Jenny act like I had been gone for a month instead of one day. I think when I'm gone longer, my cats eventually get accustomed to my absence. But with quick trips they haven't adjusted to my being gone, so they more excited to see me. Or something like that.

But Jake and Jenny's weird behavior when I come home is nothing compared to when I am getting ready to leave.

When I drag out the automated pet feeders, they know.

I didn't take a suitcase this trip, but when the suitcase comes out, they definitely know.

Both of them stick to me like glue when they know I'm going to be gone. On Wednesday night, I brought out the feeders. When I went to bed, Jenny ran to the cat's bedroom and dragged a kitty bed in my room so she could sleep near me. The next morning I picked it up and put it on my bench. After she ate breakfast she came back upstairs, flipped it on the floor, then slept in it up-side down...

Thursday night she flipped the bed that's on the coffee table onto the floor and took a nap in that...

No idea what the up-side-down bed is about.

Even when I manage to get the bed right-side-up, Jenny still has problems to deal with. Like Jake coming in and falling asleep on top of her...

Jake is one big kitty so that can't be comfortable. I went to the cat's bedroom and brought another bed in so they could each have one...

But eventually Jake decided he wanted to sleep on my bed...

And then? I was flying off to Salt Lake City and back again...

In other cat news... I opened the door to go to work and Fake Jake was there to say hello. My cats immediately ran to the door. And by "my cats" I mean "Jake" because Jenny preferred to say her hello from a distance...

Come mid-October I'll have to tear apart Fake Jake's shelter to put the heating pad back in. I'm thinking I might also see if I can mount a motion sensor or a camera inside so I can track when he's in and out to make sure he's warm and safe when the freezing temperatures come.

Which will be entirely too soon.