The Week in Review

Last Friday my workday ended with me taking photos at the SHS girls softball game, then I headed home to be with my sweet husband and obnoxious cat for the evening. We ended up watching Gotham, The Flash and Arrow all in a row to catch up on the week's viewing, since the hubby was headed to the Seattle area for a couple of events over the weekend. He left early Saturday morning, leaving me with Inkwell the cat, who didn't actually notice "daddy" was gone until "mommy" was late feeding him, then the cat searched the house for hubby-Eric and came back and meowled at me.

For my part, I took it totally easy on Saturday, finally catching up on long lost sleep and doing absolutely nothing that I didn't need to. Heck, I probably even ignored some stuff that I technically needed to get done. The neighbors behind our house had a big fiesta, complete with the Mexican polka music that kept Inkwell yowling along... but I napped and played Doctor Who: Legacy and read and generally just relaxed. When it came time for Inkwell's evening meal, he sat staring at the front door, waiting for Eric to come and feed him. I decided to get up and feed him, but he seemed really confused by the lack of Eric.

Inkwell decided Sunday morning that 5 a.m. is a good time to be fed, and since Eric was nowhere to be seen, he had to wake me up. I was partially awake for his first attempt at 5. At 5:10 he tried again, this time getting me to roll over and cover my head with the blankets. A few minutes later he walked the length of my body with his claws out, trying to get a reaction. I turned over again, and he stood on my left boob and yowled at my face (prompting me to write a haiku). This woke me up, but I growled at him and turned over. It became a battle of willpowers, with me determined to sleep until his normal feeding time and Inkwell just as determined to get me up early. About normal feeding time I finally relented and fed him, then went back to bed and shut the door. He then scratched at the door and yowled because I'd locked him out, but I slept through some of it.

Once I was up and moving I discovered I was suffering from mild vertigo. I decided to rest, but still worked through some chores. I didn't want to be a complete slob two days in a row. Ok, yeah, I did want to be a slob, but I felt a little guilty about it. The vertigo seriously cramped my style, but I still got laundry and dishes done. Eric got home a bit after 6 p.m., totally exhausted from his weekend. Inkwell was pleased at the return of his other servant.

Monday... ah Monday. I thought I had everything under control. But did I? No, I completely forgot an assignment. It was a stupid move, one of those that you say, "How could I have done that?" and kick yourself for. I'm still kicking myself. The short answer to my question is that I never put the assignment in my on-line to-do list, which is how I remind myself of unusual assignments. The result was a total failure on my part. Note to self: List ALL assignments in to-do list, darn it. The editor recognized how angry I was at myself and lightened up a little, I think. As it was, he didn't need the story to fill space, so I got the story done for Tuesday. That worked. Still kicking myself.

Monday afternoon, after I'd finished lunch at home and was headed back to the office, I said "bye" to Inkwell and he tackled me. Full-on body slam against my leg. Every once in awhile he makes it clear that he's not ready for me to go back to work. Monday was one such day. I detangled him, explained that I was going to work to earn money to get him kibble, and managed to get out the door without him scratching me. When I got home later in the afternoon he glared at me, stung by my rejection. Monday night he gave me his full meowsage and purr therapy treatment. I think he's been a little unwell and needing attention.

One strange sight in my neighborhood when I arrived home one afternoon was two "yippy" dogs in my yard, probably Chihuahuas or Chihuahua-mixes. That's not so strange. What was strange is that one of the dogs was wearing a dress. You don't see that every day... certainly not on a dog wandering outside.

I woke up Tuesday morning from a fantastic dream that, once I was back in reality and started to think about it, fell apart rapidly. I was with some kids at a lab where they were launching some kind of devices to the moon. The devices were measuring something, like the distance and speed of some object in relation to the moon. What was cool about the dream is that I understood, just enough, the technology being used and was able to explain it to the kids after the scientists explained it and the kids didn't understand. One of the scientists said I should be a teacher, and I felt a swell of pride. Then everyone, including the scientists, had chocolate cake. Then I woke up and realized that the tech they were using was impossible *and* outdated, the rockets would not have been launched from indoors... nor would they have launched five different rockets, the trip would have been longer than the hour or so we waited for the rockets to reach the moon, and the cake was just too darn good to be real. But I did wake up in a fairly good mood. Craving chocolate cake.

My mood improved when I got to work and I learned I had missed the city council meeting in which the council finally, once and for all, decided to ban recreational marijuana in the city. Well, not really once and for all, since I suspect the subject will be revisited all too many times in the next few years... but I didn't have to be at that meeting, which made me happy. As a citizen, I'm happy the council made a decision instead of kicking it down the road. I'm also happy as a citizen that they decided not to waste city money running an advisory vote on the issue (which would have cost the city, thus the citizens, up to $10,000). Yay. As for the actual issue itself, I don't care one way or another. They are fighting against the tide of history and will eventually lose. But at least they made a freaking decision.

Even the editorial meeting in which the reporters were informed that we are going to an earlier deadline didn't serve to ruin my mood. The new schedule will be slightly difficult to adjust to, but hopefully will otherwise work out for us. More on that as it happens.

Tuesday afternoon was uneventful. Inkwell was still needy when I went home to lunch, which I suspect means he's sick. It's very hard to tell with cats. He tackled me again Wednesday morning when I left for work. Tuesday evening I had a meeting at one of the absolute calmest groups we cover. I enjoyed it, and it was fairly short as such meetings go. I reset my alarm clock Tuesday night for 15 minutes earlier to start the process of getting ready for the earlier deadline... unfortunately, Inkwell keys off the sound of the alarm to figure out when he should get fed his breakfast. He was not at all pleased to hear the alarm but not get fed for another 15 minutes. He'll just have to adjust, too.

I dragged all day Wednesday possibly due to the morning adjustment, but felt better on Thursday. On Wednesday I noticed a ton of mushrooms in the back yard and decided to get some photos of them so I could identify them. Then I ended up taking some more stylized shots of them with my real camera for the paper. I also spotted another weird plant in the yard which turned out to be Virginia Creeper, not poison ivy or weed. Hey, you never know in this area!

Thursday was tame, but involved a late meeting. The school board, for some insane reason, meets at 7:30 pm, which is at least an hour later than any other group. The meeting was longer than two hours, but much of it was taken up with awards and recognition for students and staff. Including the presentation of a giant talking cigarette to the board.

Friday morning was one of those mornings I hope to never have again. The vertigo was back, but I didn't have any choice but to grit my teeth and work through it. As soon as I had my stories done and everything settled, I went home and just slept through the afternoon. It was difficult to get back up.

And now it's Saturday. I've just gotten back from Cinco de Mayo festivities, and I'm exhausted. I think I'll go rest.