The alarm

Cleo is the greatest timepiece our family possesses.  Her habits and appetite are precise...down to the nearest hour. ;)

She actually rumbled down to my sleeping area this morning, which hasn't happened in some time.  There was the time where she was the only one to deliver the morning arm slurp and news of the day:

"Me so hungry!"

Lately, Flop has been the one camping out on my bed when I go to sleep and will still be there when I awaken next day.  And every so often, for about the last four months or so, Flop will go so far as to lick my fingers or palm then rub her face there - either asking for attention or taking a cheap cat bath.  Either way, it's an eye opener.

Cleo will (on occasion now, but much less often) come down to the bedside and mew; Flop will grumble; I pick Cleo up and place her beside me; Flop growls, hisses, hops down; Cleo takes Flop's warm spot and purrs, while I pet, and we have a quick morning chat, then; we make the bed and head up for breakfast.

It's always between 6:30AM and 6:45AM.  Always as I have just awakened, or, am at the precipice of waking. If I happen to be awake much earlier, then the routine commences slightly earlier, but always to happy pleading mews for food.

Once the fooding (yes, I meant "fooding" and not 'feeding') has ended for the trio, I will read email, look for work, etc. Around half an hour later (sometimes less) Cleo finds me in the library when she realizes her seconds need doling out. 

We walk to the kitchen - her the excited pup circling my feet, and me trying to avoid tripping over her circuitous routine. 

Refilled, her little plate is carried to the library where now Hobbes sits drooling and requesting extra service, too (knowing full well she won't get it). 

Cleo waits for a little loving and then eats most of her second portion.

From there, it is a slight respite while I do other things and the girls use the cat box, lounge, wash up, catnap and/or play.  By 9:30AM to 10, Cleo then wanders the hall, mewing and asking for the next bit...CAT TREATS!

We settle into our positions (oh, yes - the girls like it served from a certain chair, and they like to chase the snacky bites into their own corners). 

After the pitching of the snacks is done, Cleo wants into Bud's room and her position on the bed (usually under a small quilt), where she resides for the better part of the rest of the day.

Uh huh, I know...it sounds way too complicated, but it is our routine.  Things are going to have to change when I get a job. Someone else is going to have to deal with the alarm clock and her appetite then.