a change of plans

What's that, Peepers?  What?  WHAT?

What do you mean, we have to change our plans?

But I don't want to.

Awww...   FINE.  MOUSES!

As many of you know, I was waitin' and waitin' and waitin' with great anticipation for the moment I hit one hundred thousand visits to my blog.  I was so excited and the peep said we could do somethin' special for the event. I had such plans...

First of all, I was gonna introduce a new award 'cause nothin' says celebrating like bling.  Well, bling and nip.  And speakin' of nip, I was gonna do a giveaway and yes, nip toys were to be involved.

Then came the flood.

For those of you who haven't heard, between all the snow meltin' and the torrential rain last Tuesday, the basement of my house is now a swimmin' pool.  That's right.  I have an indoor swimmin' pool in my house but, I assure you, there is to be no swimmin' in that pool.  This is not a pool party kind of situation, if you know what I mean.

But that's not the worst part.  The worst part is that on Wednesday mornin', the water came up high enough to knock out the furnace.  No furnace means no heat and no heat means no hot water. MOUSES!

Nothin' can be done about the furnace until the water table drops another eight inches or so.  At that point, the peeps will find out if the furnace can be repaired or if it needs to be replaced but none of that can be done until all that nasty ol' water recedes.  It's a waitin' game for now and as you all know, games that do not involve nip or wand toys are no fun at all.

We're all okay and that's the important thing, I think.  We still have power, too.  Thank goodness for that.  But I've got my paws full with a couple of super cranky peeps and I don't know WHAT I'm gonna do with them.  The first peep keeps sayin' somethin' about her feeling like she's living in the nineteenth century which really, isn't so bad.   I mean, I've travelled there myself, usin' egg beater-whisk time travelling-teleportation technology and seriously, there are worse places to travel to.

Anywho...  Back to the change of plans.

Peep #1 says that I can still introduce my new award but the giveaway has to be put on hold.  Put on hold until we have a working furnace, heat, hot water and the mess in the basement has been all cleaned up.  I don't exactly know how long it's gonna take but I've got my paws crossed that it won't be too long although knowin' my peeps...   MOUSES!  And I sure could do with all my pals out there crossing their paws for us, too.  I think that at times like this, the more crossed paws, the better.

In the meantime, let's talk bling.

My new award is called the Yoo-hoo! YOO-HOO! Award which, as you know, is one of my favourite sayings.  It's a saying just made for celebratin' and that's exactly what we're gonna do today.

The rules for acceptin' the Yoo-hoo! YOO-HOO! Award are pretty simple.
- Firstly, post the award on your blog and thank the blogger who gave it to you.
- Secondly, visit at least three of the blogs that are receiving the award along with you and leave a
  comment.
- Thirdly, tell us all three things you have to celebrate.  You know, three things for which you are
  thankful.
- Lastly, pass along the award to seven other bloggers and let them know you have done so.

Pretty easy, huh?

Oh, I need to list three things I have to celebrate.  Let's see...  Hmmm...

Well first of all, I'm celebrating having reached one hundred thousand visits to my blog.  Secondly, I'd like to celebrate the fact that unlike the peeps, this lack of hot water business has not affected MY bathin' schedule.  And thirdly, I'd like to celebrate that on Tuesday I'll be turnin' eleven.  That's right, Tuesday is my birthday although, truth be told, I'm thinkin' it's not gonna be much of one what with the indoor not-a-pool-party swimmin' pool in my basement thing goin' on.  MOUSES!

So without further ado, the first ever winners of the Yoo-hoo! YOO-HOO! Award are....

WAIT!!!  I have to mention that as this is the introduction, I shall be nominatin' twenty-one blogs, rather than seven 'cause I really wanna make sure the award gets off to a really good start.

And the nominees are....
- Savvy at Savannahs Paw Tracks
- the staff at Dash Kitten
- Herman at It's a Wonderpurr Life
- Sparkle at Sparkle the Designer Cat
- Crepes at Cat in the Fridge
- the Kitties Blue at The CAT on my HEAD
- Sammy at onespoiledcat
- the gang at Owned by a Husky
- Spitty at Spitty Speaks
- Speedy at Speedy the Cheeky House Bunny
- Hisiableue at Bleue comme Aby
- Nylablue at Nylablue & Sherriellen's Purrfect Pad
- Austin at CATachresis
- Brian at Brian's Home
- Derby & Ducky at Derby and Ducky
- Hailey & Zaphod at The Hailey and Zaphod Chronicles
- Marty at MusingsbyMartyManx
- Whipple & Pepper at Whipple & Pepper
- Archie, Oscar & Henry at My Three Moggies
- Maxwell, Faraday & Allie at a tonk's tail
- Mario at Mario's Meowsings

CONGRATULATIONS EVERYBODY!  You're all winners, for sure.

What's that, Peepers?  You have to go out this afternoon? Where are you goin', lookin' like that?

Oh, you're headin' over to a motel to take a shower.  Well thank goodness for that.  I was gonna say somethin' before but didn't wanna hurt your feelings or anything but since you've managed to figure it out all own your own...  Well, I'll see you when you return, all nice and clean.  In the meantime, I'm gonna take a nap.

tables of water

Truth be told, I've had a couple of nervous peeps on my paws the last week or so.  I did my best to console them.  I purred a lot.  I let them rub my tummy.  I purred some more.  I let them give me chin tickles and behind-the-ear scritches.  I purred even more.  I practically purred myself out!  Yup, that's how much I purred but still, the peeps remained nervous.

Luckily, the nervousness has subsided...  as has the water.  I believe the two are connected.

It all started when Peep #2 came up from the basement and mentioned that there was water in the sump pump.  Just what is a sump pump, you ask?  Who knows.  It's that thing in the corner of the laundry room in my basement.  I usually avoid it, myself but from what I've seen, it's a big hole in the floor.  Don't know WHY the peeps wanted a hole in the floor but they did.  MOUSES!

Anywho...   the big hole in the floor was fillin' up with water.  From what I understood, this was not good.  Apparently, all that snow Santa brought at Christmas started to melt when Mother Nature whipped up the January thaw.  Then, on top of the meltin' snow, it rained.  All that melted snow and rain went into the ground.  Down and down it went until it met up with something called a water table.

Now this is where it gets interesting.  Apparently, under my house, is a table made of water.  Weird, huh?  That's what I thought, too!  Why would anyone make a table out of water?  It's a very strange concept, indeed.

Water doesn't provide a very firm surface so it's a very odd material with which to make a table. Wood is usually used.  That makes sense.  Wood is good and hard.  You put a plate on a wooden table and it sits right there on that table.  You put a plate on a pool of water and...  well...  well it's gonna sink.  That's 'cause water isn't firm like wood or stone or glass or even plastic.  All of those are far better materials with which to make a table.

Now some things can float in water.  I know this from experience.  Now that I think about it, I remember that three or four years ago, that ol' water table got even higher than it did last week and came right up over the basement floor.  It's true.

And do you know what else is true?  Litter boxes are capable of floating in water.  Yup, they float just like little boats and sail around the basement when the basement floods.  I didn't sail in any of 'em, though. In order to do that, I would have had to have gotten into one and that would have necessitated my wadin' through the cold, icy water and my paws would have gotten wet.  I really don't like havin' wet paws.  I could have waited at the bottom step for a litter box to dock and climbed in from there but...  well...  the litter boxes never docked at the staircase.  Also, I didn't have a ticket.  I think one needs a ticket to sail in a boat.  At least, that's what I've heard.  MOUSES!

Furniture, however, does not float.  Neither do appliances.  They just sit in the water.  They just sit there gettin' wet and sometimes, they break.  Peeps lost a freezer the last time this water table reared its ugly head.  They were pretty annoyed, if I remember correctly.  The old little freezer was okay but the big one they had had for only a year went caput.  Apparently, freezers are like cats.  They don't like wet paws, either.

Peepers tells me that the water table has actually come up above the basement floor three times in the fourteen or fifteen years they have lived here.  That table is down there, lurking and just waiting to cause trouble.  Kind of sounds a little like Nosey Neighbour Cat, if you ask me.

Yesterday, that Old Man Winter came back and shoved Mother Nature and her little thaw out of the way.  The colder temperatures mean no more rain.  Oh yeah, sure, we happen to have a blizzard warnin' for today but at least it will be snow comin' down and not rain.  Plus, none of that snow will be melting 'cause it's just way too cold for snow to melt unless it happens to be a flake you've caught on your tongue and it melts in your mouth but quite frankly, it's too cold out there for me to be catchin' the flakes.  I'm stayin' inside today where I'm nice and warm and snug as a bug in a rug. NOT THAT WE HAVE ANY BUGS!  Well...  Nosey Neighbour Cat sometimes bugs me but that's a different kind of bug, I think.

The peeps are quite pleased that it's cold again.  That ol' table of water is droppin' now.  Yup, they can see it gettin' lower and lower and lower in the big hole in the floor of the basement.  The water table is headin'...  south?  No, down.  Yes, most definitely down.

But I have to wonder why anyone would build a house on top of a table made of water.  Well, the peeps weren't responsible for that.  They're responsible for a lot of the foolishness that goes on in my house but not for that.  The people who built the house are the ones who would be responsible for this particular foolishness.  Yes, they really should have known that water simply does not provide a solid surface upon which a house can sit.

From what I've heard, when the basement was originally dug, water started pouring in.  A neighbour on another street said he saw it happenin'. I don't think he was lyin'.  I think he was snoopin' around and whatnot after dark but good thing he was 'cause now we know more about this water table business.

Had I been in charge, I would have stopped digging right there and then and filled in the hole before startin' over but not diggin' down so deeply the second time.  That's what other people livin' around here did when encounterin' the same issue.  But that's not what happened.  Instead, the water drained away and the people buildin' the house just kept on buildin'.  Maybe they were thinkin' of puttin' in an indoor swimmin' pool or somethin'.  Could be.  Stranger things have happened.

But there is a moral to this story and the moral is this.  Don't make tables out of water.  'Nough said.  MOUSES!