Starting work

Mewthos woke me around half five! He went sirening through the whole place – like Romeo, testing the acoustics! His mewl is most annoying and loudest in the passage, so that’s where he sat, mewling, until I got up.

I thought it was not a bad time to get up, and I was hungry so I had a muffin – Ziva loves Rose’s muffins! She climbed onto my chest and licked to her hearts content!

Then I went outside for a smoke – and the mippies cried and mewled at the passage door until I couldn’t take it anymore and went inside! They are now determined to extend their space to the lounge! Good luck, since I am just as determined not to! Not yet, anyway.

I was too tired, still, to get up, after all, so I went to lie down. Mewthos and Lady Jane were determined to claw an opening into my thick brown curtains – with one on the window sill and the other on the bed, each trying to reach the other.

Eventually I fell asleep again – and had some bizarre dreams! In one, I walked for a long time to get to a public swimming pool – an indoor one, for some reason – only, when I got there, my bathing suit wasn’t in my bag! So I walked all the way back home, only to find that I had put it on under my clothes, already! I walked all the way back and enjoyed a refreshing swim.

Then there was a gathering of project-friends and co-workers, for some reason at a pub in Pietermaritzburg – which is in Natal, and nowhere near any of our project sites! Some local acquaintances were waiting for me already and insisted I must dye my hair … I can’t remember which colour. Nobody else showed up and I ended up sleeping at one of the acquaintances place. None of the faces in that dream are familiar to me, nor did any of them ‘feel’ like anyone I know – just a vague knowledge that we are loosely acquainted.

There was a bizzare (as if the above wasn’t bizarre enough!) interlude where a van with my company’s logo came screeching to my house, onto the lawn, and workers dashed out getting busy – with my boss smiling at me saying ‘Don’t worry, we’ll soon have you connected’. I have no idea to what!

Then there was a shop, a large one, with one counter for Aufschnitt. It had a queue, so I looked around the shop for a while and found a new counter for Aufschnitt about to open – so I stood there, and a small child was there, clearly lost. So I took him to … some collection point? All the while he was telling me some technical manual.

This was followed by an episode in a house, where people were being murdered while my sister enjoyed a long, luxuriously large Jacuzzi! Don’t ask – I haven’t watched any crime shows in weeks.

And then I finally woke up! It was half past seven. I’m not feeling well-slept or refreshed, but so tired, I could go right back to sleep. I’ve made myself coffee, been out for a smoke and wrote down my dreams before I forget.

Tomorrow at this time, I must be on the road already – I don’t know how to make sure I’m awake and up in time! I considered confiding in one of the ladies at work, but rejected the idea – I don’t know either well enough and it’s just too much of a risk. The work situation – regarding personalities – is already explosive, no need to get too closely involved at this point. I can always ask my landlady or Rose.

The mippies are driving me crazy! They are used to going out in the morning, spending all their energy catching hoppers, climbing trees and whatever madness they pursue – now they are shut inside. And there is no carpet on which they can dash madly, nor much for them the climb on. Mewthos went and jumped onto the shower door rail from the toilet cistern! Then stood there looking both smug and worried – since there was no way for him to get down without my help! I considered getting the camera for a photo, but didn’t want to risk him risking the jump to the floor and possibly damaging his leg even more. I’ve now closed the toilet lid, so, if he gets up there again while I’m out, he can at least jump onto that. Though, knowing him, he’ll miss! Sigh!

I don’t know how we’ll get through these three weeks – the mippies are adamant they want to go outside in the morning. When I go for a smoke, they sit by the door in the passage making an awful racket! When I come inside they try to dash out past me – since I keep the front door shut, it would only get them to the lounge, although there, they could crawl into spaces which I can’t reach.

I’m also itching to get busy in the garden, the Nasturtiums have sprouted in every flower pot and are taking over, they need to go into the ground as soon as possible. Some Cosmos have also decided to escape via flower pots and the Vieruurtjies are getting too big for the pots.

I’ve packed away the laundry, I’ve saved key colleague’s numbers on my phone, I’m dressed – so I had better get to work. I hope the mippies don’t go insane while I’m gone …

Oh. My. Gosh! Herculean Task is truly appropriate! I’m truly Production Manager! Seriously! Staff working hours are 07:00 – 17:00 – as Production Manager, I’ll have to come in early and leave late, to set an example. And introduce discipline by example. With all my sleeping difficulties over the past months – I really don’t know how I will make that happen; but I must. Not because anyone asked or that it’s expected of me. So, I’ve changed my alarm ringtone and hope the change will wake me.

Tomorrow will just be that meeting with our biggest client, I’ll see what time we get back. Traffic at five is predictably bad, so staying later might be a way of avoiding that.

Mippies didn’t seem to expect me back – I heard no cries nor was I welcomed when I came through the door; but they were happy to see me once they realized that I’m home! This is going to be hard on them, too! I’ll be gone 12 hours a day, if not longer! But that can’t be helped.

I came home with a headache from all the information, ideas, needs, desperate requirements and just Oh. My. Word! I’ve made lunch for tomorrow, fried dinner, ate, put out something for tomorrow night … now I’d like to take a bath, but it is so hot, I think I’ll shower again. I’ve laid out clothes for tomorrow – I’ll have to wear safety boots from now on … sigh.

After the shower, I just want to have an ice cream, then go to bed – it’s already eight, so …