So with 24 hours to go until my flight to London I am still unpacked and the flat is still a mess. Somehow, a day to go before any vacation, I wind up cleaning like mad, and packing way too much. And I am up all night doing it.
This time was a little different, though. I decided to be civilized and not leave from work. So instead of being up all night, I got up at a normal time the next day and packed leisurely while watching soap operas on ABC. Queen for a day, that's me. (Heck, we all know I am a queen every day).
It all went very well. At 1 pm I went to the laundromat. Tony is the cute little son of Jane, the owner. I say little because he's no taller than 5-foot-2. He's the only one who treats me with any respect there. Now that they've installed a TV for their own entertainment, I get treated worse than ever. Nine years of no respect. But they are on my block and the machines work well. Plus, why go further for no respect when I can get it right nearby. Convenient.
At 3 pm I get a call from Duncan, who's in charge of LGNY whilst Paul is in Thailand and Burt. We go over my book review of Allan Stein and my punishing review of Cruel Intentions. We are on the phone for more than an hour. I am a good writer but everyone knows that she who rights needs outside editing. I am grateful to Paul and Duncan for their patience, considering this is the first time I am writing for print in many years, outside of the limited stuff I do for work.
Still on schedule, U comes by at 5 to get a debriefing for the cat sitting she will do whilst I am gone. A visit from U is like a visit from Grandma. The cats get away with murder and they get more delicious wet food in a week than I give them all month. U used to live in my apartment before she married B. She likes my vacations because she gets two cats, a vacation from B, and she gets cable. As part of our pact, I always pick up a bag of cat food for her at Petland Discounts (because "they care"). She pays for it, but it's heavy and she's 80 years old.
Tony also drops in when I am gone -- for the extra love and to clean up any messes Nero will create during that time. When I was gone for a fortnight, Tony cleaned out the litter box, or as U calls it, "the shithaus." But U called Tony and berated him for not doing it quickly enough (he was fine, actually). So I keep them separate and use my belle soeur as the go-between if there is an emergency.
At 7 Laura and Tony arrive simultaneously and we go to Ah Chihuahua for supper. They serve big Mexican dinners named after Mexican cities. I demolished Mexico City while Tony gingerly worked his way through Mazatlan. I forget what Laura had. They ask me if I am all packed. I say no. They berate me for doing laundry instead. I remind them that you have to actually have clean clothes to pack them.
At 10 pm I start my packing while watching The Practice.
At 11 pm Nero knocks over a shelf of CDs, sending them and dust everywhere. It takes me an hour to fully undo the damage. Nero seems chastened and rebuked, sitting on his blankie for the next nine hours without moving. The dust settles in my bronchii and I am hacking it out for the next fortnight.
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