"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens ..."

A couple of Christmases ago, Jimmy gave me/us a Sleep Number Bed, also known as a Select Comfort Bed. I think I loved it from Day One, although there may have been a few nights there at the beginning when we had to get used to the change. His Sleep Number is as high as he can crank the thing ... mine is a 40 (I think), and I'll occasionally let the air out and go to a 35 when I want to sleep in mashed potatoes.

Several months before we got the Sleep Number bed, we purchased a pricey little Ragdoll kitten. Two years later, she's not so little anymore. The Ragdoll is a large breed, and Adam and Brandy's Ragdoll is proof of that fact. Their Bubba The Cat is over 20 pounds of pure sweetness. Our Maggie is a female, so she's a bit smaller ... in fact, I can't remember what she weighed at her last checkup. I think it was around 14 or 15 pounds. But I can tell you what she weighs in the middle of the night.

How can I know this, you asks? I'll tells you.

Every single night lately, I wake up between 2 and 4 AM with FIFTY POUNDS of dead-weight sleeping Ragdollness on top of my legs. She used to sleep, all curled in a furry ball, NEXT to my legs at the foot of the bed. That was fine. Hell, it was wonderful in the winter ... my own purring foot warmer. But now?

Now I wake up, realizing I can't feel my feet anymore. Her dead-weight on my shins has cut off the blood supply to my toes. I also can't MOVE my feet. I can't express to you how heavy she feels as she's dead to the world, snoring and having kitty dreams. I move my legs, trying to make her MOVE ... she never even notices. Last night, I finally managed to wiggle enough that she toppled off my legs onto the bed ... and she kept snoring! I never woke her up.

I woke up an hour later ... and she was back on top of my shins. What the hell!

That cat is ruining my beautiful relationship with my bed.

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Mary, here's the Gooey Butter Cake recipe. I'm surprised you don't have this one, it's been around for years and years. It's always a hit, wherever I take it ... and I take it everywhere. My sister Kay shared this recipe with me at least 20 years ago, and it's slightly different than the one made famous by Ms. Paula Deen (Paula's has more butter in it!), but Jimmy says this version tastes better to him.

Gooey Butter Cake

The Butter Cake Layer:

1 box yellow cake mix, dry

2 eggs

1 stick of melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla

The Gooey Layer:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

16 ounces powdered sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan with a non-stick spray.

Combine the ingredients for the Butter Cake Layer and mix with a wooden spoon. This batter will be too thick for a mixer. Drop in spoonfuls all over the bottom of the baking pan, and pat into an even layer that covers the bottom of the pan.

Using an electric mixer, combine the ingredients for the Gooey Layer. Mix until smooth. Pour this mixture on top of the Butter Cake Layer.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Center of the cake should be a little "wiggly" when you remove it from the oven ... it'll firm up as it cools.

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Here's Miss Squishy this weekend as she showed support for the Clemson Tigers, despite the efforts of Mr. Bowden and the football team ...

I hope her little hand will hold mine for the next 50 years ...

Her Mom and Dad started the whole "Squishy" business ... and for now, it truly fits.

"I shall call her Squishy and she shall be mine ... and she shall be my Squishy" -- a paraphrased Dory quote from "Finding Nemo"