- Traveling is so freaking stressful. My God.
- I've been sitting here for the past 30 mins. making lists. The benefits of traveling from Hometown are that it's good to make long journeys from a place where you will return to a house filled with food and that's up and running, as opposed to traveling from your pathetic single-person place where you'd die upon returning home because you'd have no food in the house and no people to keep things going while you get over your jet lag. The thing negatives pretty much having to do freaking out on the front end that you'll forget some essential thing at your home 4 hours from your parents'.
- I've yet to come to terms with the fact that I've not done shit to prepare for teaching in the fall. I will be so screwed in the month of August.
- I also have yet to work in earnest on the book proofs, which I must complete before I go to Lebanon. I've looked through them, and there's not a whole lot that's wrong with the manuscript, actually, but the idea that this is fucking it and that something could slip through the cracks makes me very tense indeed. Which of course means that I'm procrastinating about dealing with what I need to deal with.
- I love seeing new places and experiencing other cultures, but I don't like the idea of being gone for so long. Related to this, I have an irrational fear that Mr. Stripey will not love me upon my return. He is young, and he is fickle. Will he understand that I'm just on holiday? I've tried to discuss it with him, but he just looks at me quizzically and bites my face. (See, he thinks I'm a cat, I think. He doesn't bite hard, but it certainly was shocking the first time it happened. So then once he does that I have to give him a stern talking to about how it's wrong to be a face-biter. Just as it is wrong to try to touch my eyeballs with his wee little paws when I'm reading. To this, he says, "Meep!" - for apparently he does not really meow unless it's dinner time, and then it's more like "Mew! Meee!" I wonder whether he'll ever meow properly (as does Mr. Man-Kitty) or whether he will just squeak for the rest of his life, which does certainly take away from any authority he might have.
- Upon my return, apparently FB will be coming to see me. Because apparently this is the summer of no down-time, in spite of my best efforts.
- Although, happily, it will be the academic year of no conference travel - no conferences at all until (I hope) June.
- I really need to begin with accomplishing things. I lack motivation.
- But what I'm doing now is really just stressing me out further.
- In theory I'm driving to Hometown tomorrow, but I'd not be surprised if I'm really going to go on Thursday. We'll see.
- And tonight I'm going to a Bon Voyage dinner with BFF, for she will move during my travels. This makes me a wee bit sad, that I'll not be here when she moves.
- Ok, I need to do things. More later, I'm sure.
12 years ago
5 comments:
The nice thing about fickle kitties is that they'll love whomever feeds them... so, while he'll love your mom while you are gone, the next time he gets hungry and you pull out the food bag, he'll be back to loving you.
Also, Mr. Stripey will have his nanny cat around -- so you are probably #2 to him anyway -- and as long as you aren't planning to take Man-kitty away with you, he'll be fine.
My father tried extensive bribery to make my cat love him while I was in Europe, which largely resulted in my cat learning to take advantage of him when he was hungry at 5am though there is some love there too. As for forgetting something, you can probably buy something almost equivalent though perhaps more interesting at your destination, so don't worry about it. Given how many times the airline has lost my luggage (including once on the way to an academic interview, with my suit but not my presentation in the luggage), I just pack essentials (a book and a change of clothes--yes, I am an academic) in my carry-on and don't worry too much about it.
I hope you have a great trip! I can't wait to hear about it.
And I'm sure the kitties will love you just fine when you get back.
I just love the idea of Mr. Stripey poking your eyeballs while you read ... is it to see how they work? heh.
Well, it's really less of a poke than a sort of tap - just with the pad of his paw. I think it's that the eyeballs move back and forth (I imagine), sort of like the scroll on the bottom of CNN (which he touches in similar fashion). And sometimes I think he's actively trying to get me to close my eyes, but that may not be the case at all. Of one thing I am certain, however. Should I meet my unfortunate doom in my apartment, and should I be left for a few days, Mr. Stripey will be the one to eat my eyeballs out of my head. Man-Kitty would probably just watch him and starve, for he loves me with a purer and truer love than Mr. Stripey could ever manage.
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