Wednesday, Thursday, Myday

So this was the plan for today: Wake, eat, shower, daycare drop-off, cat to the vet, purchase dog food, home, do dishes, studystudystudy. And while some of those things did indeed happen, it didn't exactly go that way. Once I found myself out and about in the world with no real agenda, a day to myself just seemed too good to pass up. And even now, I'm sitting here feeling kind of guilty about it, because I didn't complete my list, because I parked my kiddo at daycare so I could spend the morning tra-la-la-ing around doing nothing. But hey, today was Music Class for the toddlers AND share-box day (think show and tell), and she was all jazzed up to go. While I was still full of good intentions about my planned Friday accomplishments, we stopped at the bakery down the street and sat at the window while we ate our sweet treats and talked about cars and dogs and I was instructed to USE BOTH HANDS, MAMA when taking a drink of my coffee. Um, every time. And there was pointing.

So here's how it really went, once I was nicely full of casserole sandwich:*

Took my cat to the vet. He's been losing weight pretty steadily over the past year or so, and it's gotten to the point where... well it's gotten to the point where he needs to go to the vet. Once a regal-looking 13-pounder with a lion's chin, he's now a bony little mewler with an appetite we can't keep up with.

Turns out it's hyperthyroidism, sending his metabolism into overdrive and his heartrate steadily upward. To be honest, I'd been dragging my feet about taking him to the vet in fear of being presented with some long, involved treatment options vs. end of life options. In other words, if he was going to die, I'd rather him just do it under the kitchen table while I'm sleeping than have to look him in the eye and explain to a vet how we just don't have the money or the commitment to keep him alive.

But it turns out he's just old, and this happens to old cats. And it can be fixed with medicine. I was also afraid of the cost of the visit, and my fears were confirmed there. But it could have been worse. And looking at that cat up on the table, that cat that has alternately been a good roommate and driven me to the brink of insanity for the last nine years, I remembered that he is a very good friend of mine. A friend who pukes up bellies full of food on the rug and shits in the basement, but still. A very good friend. Here's to Thomas, the college roommate that never moved out.

Next, I drove up to BigBoxville in search of a Best Buy to purchase a wireless headset for my new phone, since I do 99.9% of my phone-talking in the car. Oh, right-- I got a new phone! I'd been carrying the "cheese block" Nokia for the last four years, and A. recently launched a campaign in our home for new phones since his was literally crumbling to pieces in his hand, and it was just easier for us both to upgrade. A new phone! For me! (although I'm realizing that there was a little -- medium sized, maybe?-- part of me that was wearing that old obsolete cell phone like a badge, like a middle finger to the "stay connected, surf the internet at your own wedding" kind of culture. Who knew?)

I didn't make it to Best Buy because (insert long explanation here), and I didn't drive far enough. I stopped a block too soon, and ended up at Wal-Mart.

So anyway: my vote for Most Depressing Place in Middle Tennessee might just have to go to the Madison Wal-Mart. *shudder*

I don't frequent Wal-Mart, but not because I boycott. I boycott out of convenience, I suppose, since I'm already not going there because it's too damn far away in any direction and too much of a time commitment. But. They sure have a lot of stuff. So much stuff, in fact, that I generally find myself ten minutes into the belly of a Wal-Mart, fighting the urge to drop my armloads of crap and run at full speed towards the door before I completely short-circuit.

But my point is this: Wal-Mart during the day in Madison, TN is not a happy place to be. I got my bluetooth (would have been fine with my old wireless earbud dealie, but New Phone is particular about these things), and got the hell out, adding only a stocking cap and a 12-pack of disposable tupperware that we will do our very best to lose within the space of one week.

My vote for the most exciting place I visited today would be the Goodwill Store just down from the soul-sucking Wal-mart. Ah, the Goodwill, home of so many tiny wool sweaters that have had a turn in the clothes dryer. Having unlimited time in the Goodwill is a little bit meditative for me, but mostly nostalgic: reminds me of college, when I spent chunks of time picking through granny coats with nothing better to do except maybe study. So yeah, pretty much exactly like today. But to be unrushed! In a nice, clean Goodwill, where things are arranged by color but not so much by size! Oh!

I walked out with three skirts, two sweaters, an 8 X 8 pyrex baking dish (mine is lost forever), and a long-sleeved Free People shirt for around $30**. Was it in the budget? Nope. But SCORE.

And now I am home with a belly full of mac & cheese, ready to attack our current laundry crisis (CODE RED), make a cup of coffee, load the dishwasher, and then study. Or maybe just go pick up Bird, because I miss her. And I feel guilty about stashing her at daycare so I could pick away aimlessly at this day until it is almost gone. But no guilt! Joy is not a luxury! I'm taking my time out and I'm owning it! And then going to get Bird because I still feel a little bit guilty!

In conclusion, here is a Bird Quote from this week:

Me: (hugging her) You smell like daycare.

Bird: You smell like Bwoccowee and sewp.

(translation: Broccoli and soup. So, in other words, kind of stinky.)

*OMG, so good. If you live here, go there. Order the breakfast sandwich. I keep ordering it under the guise that I'm researching what might go into making it, so that I can recreate 24 of those suckers for the price of one at the bakery. But the truth is, I'll never do it, and if I did, they would not be nearly as good, so I'm going to keep getting them at the bakery. And plus, they are so nice there, and Bird loves to sit and watch the dogs and cars go by.

**Also, I tried on a very cute little pink 1950s capelet/ sweater type thing with amazing details... if you are a little smaller than I am, get your butt to the Goodwill, stat! Sweater awaits!

EDITED TO ADD: have I told you how much I have grown to love Sirius Radio? Just now, two of my Tom Waits favorites, just like that. And TWO NPRs.