Early morning issues

This is the late morning view from my kitchen window - or at least it was before we had chickens and goats!

The last two mornings have been a tad unconventional in our household.

Two days ago, we awoke at 5 am to Maggie barking like mad. It was definitely the "hey, something is here" bark and as she was just outside the bedroom, it was LOUD. Being the light sleeper that I am, I bolted upright and out of bed in a matter of seconds. She was barking in the office (a tiny little room containing only a desk, a chair and various pieces of computer equipment) of all places. I saw my husbands pannier on the floor in prep for his morning commute, so I thought that was what she was barking at (she doesn't like strange bags and things). I crawled back into bed while my H got up. Now Charlie was joining in on the barking....odd.

So I'm in bed, listening to this ruckus. Then I hear a nasty sounding hiss and Charlie crying (he's a whiner, he wasn't hurt or anything). I asked "what was that?!" and my H responded with "it's a cat...but not ours!!". Huh? Yep, a beautiful solid dark grey cat with green eyes was curled up on the desk chair. But our cat is grey striped with yellow eyes! It must have come in through the dog door. Balsy cat...to come into the one house in the area with 2 big dogs?!

Luckily, H recalled a conversation he had just had with the neighbor on Sunday about their missing cat. She had described to him the exact cat that was now sitting in our office (and purring). The cat had been missing for months! Had that conversation not taken place, we surely would have chased that cat out with a broom (or let the dogs do it). Turns out, he's a very friendly and sweet cat. I put him out before leaving for work and when we got home, he was sleeping under the farm truck. He came out when we called him and H immediately took him next door. The neighbor was so thrilled to have her sweet cat back that she hugged my H! I guess her other cat who was recently badly injured and forced to stay in their house had chased it away. The poor thing was probably afraid to go home and figured our house was the next best thing!

So this morning, I awoke with a nasty migraine at about 5 am, 30 minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I noticed the time, and decided that I'd better take some Excedrin now so that I'd be feeling better by the time I had to get up. I stumble into the kitchen, take the pills, and then stumble back to bed. 30 minutes later, my head still hurts and my stomach was doing flip flops. I stayed in bed an extra 10 minutes and still didn't feel better so I got up anyway. I almost threw up in the closet and then again in the bathroom. I was seriously wondering what was wrong with me!

So I get to the kitchen and set about getting the milking stuff ready. I glance down and see the Excedrin bottle sitting on the counter. Funny...it's white. Excedrin is in a green bottle...Oh God! What did I take?? Luckily, it was only multi-vitamins. Well, that explains the upset stomach. Two max strength multi vitamins with iron on an empty stomach when I haven't taken any vitamins in about 6 months...no wonder I wanted to barf! I immediately ate a piece of bread and went about my morning routine. I also took two Excedrin since I still had the headache! The car ride in, I was fighting really hard to keep from tossing my cookies. 5 hours later, I still wasn't back to normal!

I just finished eating my lunch and I'm finally starting to feel normal again. Of course, now the headache is back. Lovely.

I wonder what is in store for 5 am tomorrow morning?! ;-)