So our grand adventure (which will probably just end up being our ridiculously long and unnecessarily busy extended weekend) starts today. Woke up at 6:15 ready to drink coffee, clean the litter box and go... oh, to be an adult.

Text Convo between Mom + Me this am

Mom: What r u doing in boston on friday
Me: Probably visiting with the little girl and mom i used to babysit for- why
Mom: Bored on bus and sending random messages
Me: i love how candid you are momma. crack me up
Mom: Glad I can entertain u
Mom: Headset on listening 2 emo music
Mom: And 2morrow nite?
Me: I know you love emo music! Tmrw out to din with mik and ezra
Mom: Fun. Is chas nervous?
Me: He's preemptively annoyed.
Me: Doesn't like schedules.
Mom: Hope cosmic recovers
Me: Hahaha! He's excited to see you guys and looking forward to meeting fam
Mom: Good he should see some good sights
Mom: Bring camera

Me: well, one of my best friends from foreeeeeeeever called me at 8 this morning (and i was up writing html in bed, OF COURSE)

I found...

Some old writing.

I mean, it's like 3 years old. And it's kinda angry. I'm sharing this one piece (mainly because I don't think many people read this... or particularly care)... and because i'm thoroughly amused by it.

3-12-06 -- beginning of a letter, but I don't know the recipient (oh, elissa bristow, you and your mysteries) Oh. And it's facetious. I think.

Just to let you know, I'm about to set myself up for my suicide. Just as long as we're clear on that... and you should probably feel guilty. You did, after all, persuade me to stay. Life. Ahhh... sweet, sweet life. It seems only natural that when something enters the world, bloody, naked, and screaming, something else should exit the world.

It's the kind of morning where sun is just starting to peak around the corners of the houses and birds are blithely chirping over their breakfasts and the warmth on their bellies.

Last night I allowed myself to entertain a vision of life in a few years. I was sitting on the porch with charlie smoking a tiny cigar in my sweatpants telling him about when we live on a farm on the west coast, and sit on our front porch in rocking chairs overlooking fields and fields of crops. Then he described, in avid detail, how to till a field and I pretended to listen, but really surveyed the landscape that falls out of my window.

I live in an apartment complex. Though they try to make some semblance of "community" in this grand complex, it will always be that for me. I'm proud to be who I am, have the parents that I do, come from Vermont.. but it has seriously hampered my ability to enjoy city spaces to their fullest. Because deep down, I know that before my housing complex sat on this land, there was a huge, beautiful, rolling field with wildflowers and wheat grass and a myriad of trees.

The breeze that's coming in right now is cool and refreshing... it smells like spring (though we're definitely half-way through July.. wait, when did that happen?!). The bird feeder is swaying and Leopold is on guard, ready to pounce on anything that comes this way (though he can't even catch flies when they buzz around the house, nervously looking for an exit, slowly dying) I have a dress that needs to be hemmed. That's what I'll pour my pre-work energy into now.

I have a young friend who has clearly just learned how to use email in the past half year... evident by that vivacious, overzealous piling up of emails in my inbox.

Now, I'm generally a good emailer. Like any other emailer, I drop the ball from time to time.. forget to write back for a week or two; but when i do write back, it'll be a witty, fun-to-read, kick-ass email (oh, go on...)... but when I get continuous "how are you" emails from a 9 year old, my creativity tends to run dry.

She's learned the fwd button as well. And the capslock. "OMG LOOK AT THIS SO FUNNY MUST READ" is quite frequently the subject line in my inbox, in various forms. And no, they're usually not that funny, or cute, and I can spare myself the image of another small digital puppy face cocked to the side looking at me with sad eyes and a caption coming out of his head.

Oh, what to do, what to do. I suppose at one point, I was that age... and though I wasn't using email, I was doing equally obnoxious things to people in my life (should I ask my parents? because I'm sure they'd be quick to remind me). Now I'm off to work, and then we're taking a quick weekend jaunt to Chicago where my aunt and uncle live... it should be fun. weekend boating and such. Nothing to complain about.

Mystery: SOLVED

The two of us are lying side by side last night, talking about inconsequential things... space and time, aliens vs homosapiens- the usual- when charlie interrupts me and goes, "OH! Did you like the CatGenie?!?"

me- "Ohhh! Did you put that on my computer?"
charlie- "Uh, what, you think it just popped up on it's own?"
me- (launch into thought process re: entire blog post from earlier that day)... "I just didn't know you knew how to do that"
charlie-(hurt)- "What, pull a window up on a page and then shut the screen?"
me-"Yeah... well.. I thought it may be out of the realm of your technological abilities"
(charlie, not impressed)
charlie- "I was watching this infomercial, and all of a sudden I heard, 'Never clean a catbox again!' and i was like, 'DING!' I think we should buy it, Cutie."

And then, he launched into a full 20 minute discussion about the pros of the CatGenie, and made me watch the video of it online (it actually is really cool... after the cat uses the box, there's a sensor that starts the "cleansing" process- it drains the pee and scoops the poop, and then cleans the entire box. the poop then gets liquified and the purified... or, something- they make it not smell bad.. and the entire thing is hooked up to your toilet, so it all gets poured into there and then you flush it later)

And now i'm sitting here researching the CatGenie. Do I really need a $300 cat litter box? But... if i never buy litter or clean the box again... is it worth it? Oh jeez.

CatGenie.

This morning when I awoke my computer from happy hibernation and impatiently waited for the screen to show up while my coffee brewed (thus- pre-caffeine.. this happens every morning... the first 2-5 minutes I do anything on my computer is completely pre-caffeine... i sit there, jerk the mouse around, squint at the screen with a headache, feel irritated... if you ever get a super mean, super early email from me... it was probably in the 3-5 minute span every morning where I'm awake, but not yet caffeinated. I tend to stay away from all forms of communication until I know I can handle it)... but I digress....

this morning my computer screen wakes up and on it is a huge page for the CatGenie- The World's Only Self-Flushing, Self-Washing Litter Box.

Now, this thing is cool (and probably costs as much as 3 of my paychecks combined) but I promise it wasn't the last page I had up before sending my computer into hibernation... or even a page I've ever seen before. Which left me wondering... is my computer trying to send me a message? Or did charlie go onto my computer, pull up the page, and leave it there.. as a subtle hint?

Now, this is something I would certainly do to him, but I happen to know the span of his technological abilities and I'm pretty sure this is out of that range.

So............I'm left wondering.. late night, while I was sleeping, did the cats sneak in here with their furry little paws, open up my computer, and type me a message about the world's only self-flushing, self-washing litter box that they just have to have?

Now I may not be the best at keeping their litter box fresh (sorry guys) but my dear boyfriend is. I mean that litter box is washed more often than a litter box ever should be.... (not that we can complain...)

But still I sit and ponder... who left me the message about the CatGenie? My trusty laptop, tired of smelling cat litter wafting out of the cat bathroom day-after-day, my cute boyfriend, done cleaning the box, or my conniving cats, who, despite all other forms of luxuries, just need more? I have to solve this mystery.

http://www.catgenie.com/

Alligator Gar

Charlie's making me lunch (sweetie) and i'm watching a tantalizing show on the history channel about alligator gars. ew. these creatures look like a cross between an alligator and a fish.... and boy are they ugly. i'm going to link some images, just for viewing pleasure- i can't seem to stop looking at these huge beasts. and in the show they keep talking about the thrill of not knowing if you'll keep all of your fingers and toes at the end of a good fishing session...


But on that note, we're off to go clothes shopping, so i'll leave you with that sweet taste in your mouth.

Happy Fourth of July, Elissa

Working at the store today.

11:34 am update: slow, but moving steadily.

Just talked an older couple into aden + anais swaddling blankets. Not much "talking into" involved in that sale- those things sell themselves. Amazing blankets, really, but no need to delve into it on my personal blog... (sheesh, what am I, a 24-year-old baby product fanatic? This is getting to be a problem. You should have heard the aden + anais gush-fest I had with charlie the other night. he was less-than-impressed with my "muslin is the greatest because it's so breathable; it has a loose weave and helps a baby to keep cool in hot weather and heat up in cool weather... and you should see the size of these swaddlers!" lecture. he's my partner and he doesn't even know what swaddling is- i think my mouth dropped further than the floor and i lost a bit of faith in humanity.)

I opened the doors to encourage traffic... for the first 10 minutes it was nice to have the summer pre-rain scent drifting in, but now the scent of trash and rotting animal is wafting in from the back door- not quite sure from where it comes, but i smelled it last night as i was locking up. i'll blame milios, for lack of better scapegoat.

ok, back to work.

I hope you're happy, CKM

This one's dedicated to Colleen... sorry for my spurts of enthusiasm followed by long periods of silence. I know for many of you whose bated breath is held on my words, my stretches of absence leave you blue in the face.

In a conversation with Robert (graphic designer from Magic Beans) I realized I haven't dreamed in a while. I used to dream all the time. I wake up more frequently at night- not the way I used to, comforted by the dark, relishing in the night.. now I wake up, toss around, listen to the night sounds, pee, go back to sleep. It's not uncomfortable, it's just different.

We thought for a short period we'd cancel our trip to the East Coast (I never thought of home as the "east coast" until i lived away from it. Like when I lived in Costa Rica 15 years ago and I thought of home as "The States" and had previously never thought of it as anything but "woodstock")... not to delve into anything too personal but funds are tight- as with everyone right now in this economic state. We've shortened our trip incredibly, going from 10 days to 4, only flying in for the wedding and in time to see a few friends and family members. It's important to me that Charlie meet my family and friends, though. The more serious we get, the more I love him, the more I need everyone to know him, and him to know everyone. I was sad to cancel the trip, and reinvigorated to be able to go again, even if for such a short amount of time. It's hard to recover (not only financially but emotionally) from such a long trip, so we're probably doing ourselves a favor in the long run.

Colleen- since this is dedicated to you, i've been really into eric clapton lately. More appropriately.. desperately into eric clapton. His bluesy rock-n-roll just soothes my soul. I know you appreciate music so I deemed it time for a shout out. And you do follow my blog religiously, and hold me accountable to writing in it... thank you. I asked charlie if he would be offended if my love for clapton was on par with my love for him and his response?, "i'll kick his ass!"

I'm eating ridiculous chocolate toffee at work and pricing breast pumps- * welcome to my world. *