jaysaint Getting it all down on paper…

When things are lovely, it’s important to note that.

This morning I got a call from Zoe’s doctor that her tests all show that she is the picture of perfect, kittenish health. Nothing to worry about, she’s in beautiful shape. So her 13 years are not showing at all. This is a perspective bringer, in that I realize that I’d much rather get that news than the news that we’ll get our apartment. I’d rather have her somewhere else, than the fancy new apartment without her.

So I went to work and spent the day helping get our new staff member up to speed. I’m up to 366 emails in my inbox, but I don’t care because having her around will ultimately mean my inbox won’t get that high. And I found out that an onerous project will probably be cancelled.

Now I’m at my hotel. I have stayed in about a zillion hotels in the last year. If anyone is coming to Manhattan, please let me advise you. I only wish I had found the Giraffe sooner. As soon as I walked in the desk clerk recognized me from last week. He popped me into an ENORMOUS suite. There were snacks waiting for me, as well as ‘welcome back’ note. After the front desk called up to see if my room was in all ways to my liking, and I assured them that it was, I went down to the lobby. I sank into a fantastically comfortable chair while I read a book that I’m really enjoying (The Source by James Michener) and drank the complimentary champagne. I passed on the cheese, fruit and nuts because I was waiting for my dinner to be delivered. Which is just has been, and I’m about to go eat it.

Did I mention that there was a very talented piano player down in the lobby/bar just making everything even a little more perfect?

They’ll be sending up breakfast (just like I like it) in the morning so that I can get a good start to my day.

Seriously, can you fall in love with a hotel?

And did I mention how much I’m enjoying my book? It’s a jackpot — a really enjoyable book that’s about 1,000 pages long. So, I’m happy.

I’ve packed up my suitcase with five days worth of work and fun clothes for the next trip to New York. It’s possible that tomorrow will be the last time for a long time that I have to haul it out of bed at 5:30 to catch that 7am train. Next week is the Republican National Convention and I could reasonably weasel out of my trip that week. And then, of course, I’ll be living in New York and it will just be the same old commute. I wonder if I’ll have a place to live. You wouldn’t think so, seeing as the apartment contracts still haven’t arrived. No rush folks, I can just live in a cardboard box or something.

I’m watching Michael Phelps get his gold medal. I wonder what goes through their heads as they stand there through the length of the US National Anthem. I wonder which country has the longest anthem. I like the addition of the little leafy crowns.

Zoe and I went off to the vet this morning. She’s a little light and a little bit *off* so I thought we had better go in. He said he wants her to gain a pound (she’s at 7 right now) so I’m going to try to make sure she enjoys that. She’s about to get a little chunk of butter as her evening snack, which is a choice she enjoys. The doc took some blood and we’ll find out what it tells us tomorrow. There was a funny/awkward moment when he squeezed her and she barfed on his table. Just a little bit. And I mean, he did squeeze her.

And now she’s just done that funny thing where she walks up and just collapses in a purring heap across my forearms while I try to type.

Things are not quite so bad that I am depressed, but bad enough that I feel supressed.

The apartment still hasn’t come through.
Best-case scenario: The seller’s lawyer is really disorganized.
Worst-case scenario: They’re cultivating a better offer and once they have that contract signed they will yank mine out from under me.
Brokers, lawyers, etc keep reassuring me that everything is okay. To which I say, “Great. Show me the contract.”

I also think I picked up a little bug on the train. It’s not terrible, just a little punkiness with a low-grade fever. It’s a miracle it hasn’t happened already, so I can’t complain.

In my continuing effort to get ready for the movers, I’ve been going through a million old VHS tapes. I actually found some television shows I taped when I was living in Cincinnati, which makes them nearly ten years old. I’m giving them all a watch for old-times sake and then pitching them. Only a few tapes are surviving — some of the shows I produced or appeared on. A video of Brittany, Jillian, Darby and Zoe (two and two, not all together) that Mick took for me when I was homesick.

Perhaps I will curl up on the couch and take a nap.

I did a random search and found Evanda. (I don’t know how to make those live). I stole this poll off his page (with slight modifications to suit me.)

1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:
“…little French university town of Grenoble, specializing in…”
(The Source by James Michener)

2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?:
Hotel wall

3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?:
Law and Order is on as I type. The last thing I watched without doing anything else was Bill Clinton on The Daily Show.

4: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what the time is:
10:40pm

5: Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?:
10:42pm

6: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?:
Television, emails clicking in to my work account, traffic outside

7: When did you last step outside? what were you doing?:
Does outside my hotel room count? I was down in the bar having wine and cheese earlier. I was fully outside when I walked from work to the hotel.

8: Where?
Midtown Manhattan

9: What are you wearing?:
jeans, striped pullover

10: Did you dream last night?:
I’ve been dreaming very vividly, I think to discharge some general anxiety. I remember something about sinking boats…

11: When did you last laugh?:
At work, Jody had a video of these adorable South Korean girls (maybe 13) doing video karaoke. Some serious passion for performing there…

12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?:
huge mirror, arty sconces, pretty cool photograph of little ballerinas in a dressing room, instructions for how to escape if the hotel catches on fire.

13: Seen anything weird lately?:
Constantly

15: What is the last film you saw?:
Capturing the Friedmans

16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?:
a vacation far away

19: Do you like to dance?:
You bet

21: Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?:
Not telling

21: Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?:
I’m not sure about this one

22: Would you ever consider living abroad:
Yes please

“A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed.”

From story on CNN.com about a 1,071 pound man.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/08/11/half.ton.man.ap/index.html