FIVE THINGS I'M DOING TOMORROW

1. Workout. Not in the morning because it's almost after 1am and I'm not sleeping. But I will workout. Tomorrow is the beginning of the rest of my fit life. Is that "Oprah, live your best life" enough to make it happen?
2. Make a decision about my hair. Do I get bangs? Do I cut it shorter? WHAT AM I DOING WITH THIS MOP?
3. Walk around with good posture and see how many people ask me if I've lost ten pounds. I hear it's the easiest way to "look like you lost weight". I'm fooled by Shape magazine every time it has a cover article about losing ten pounds fast. I buy the issue, take it home, kick off my shoes, and plan to learn the top Hollywood secret to staying thin and all the article says is, "practice better posture". Tomorrow I'm putting it to the test.
4. Make homemade dinner. The words, "Nate, let's go get Quiznos for dinner" shall not pass my lips. Tomorrow.
5. Start reading my favorite book ever, Crime and Punishment. Thank you Fyodor Dostoevsky. You have been brilliant every time. Especially with those gritty Notes From The Underground. Side note: Crime and Punishment has always been one of my top five favorite books. Nate's is Brother Karamazov. What are the chances we both fancy Dostoevsky? Remarkably proven in literature written long before we were born that we were meant to be. Right?

IS TWO BETTER THAN ONE?

Nate and I took Agnes to Petco on Saturday because she had a squinty eye that looked suspicious. I think it was pink eye. But don't worry, she's all better because I'm pretty much the best pet owner and I healed her with regular eye drop treatments.

But, that's not really the point of this post. While we were at Petco it was "adoption day" and lots of pets where in cages inside the store. I talked to the Humane Society representative there about Agnes' eye and he pointed to two adorable kittens in a cage that were about the same age as Agnes. Still not the point. He then told me he had lost four kittens that morning to distemper and we both made a pouty sad face. Still not the point.

The point is this. Last night as I was trying to fall asleep, I kept thinking about those two kittens in the cage at Petco. They were Agnes' size and looked so sad to be sitting in a rabbit cage with no one to hug them or love them. And then I wondered if two cats were better than one. Not really any more work required but Agnes could have a buddy and they could play together and cuddle up on cold mornings. But the biggest reason why I thought two were better than one is because I think Agnes is a pretty happy cat and I just felt so bad that those two kittens were going back to the Humane Society to sit in a cage. A CAGE. Not to a home with carpet and a fireplace and two people who love them and feed them regularly and comb them and take them in the car to explore.

Maybe two is better than one. I'm still trying to convince Nate.

And P.S. Is this how cat ladies start out? With good intentions? 

I NEED A VACATION SO BADLY I CAN TASTE IT

Yes, Nate and I took a vacation in February. It was marvelous. With that in mind, I"m not sure eight months has ever felt so distant. And by "distant" I mean, did it ever really happen in the first place? I need a vacation. Time off. A few days to relax, write, think of something other than work, and get my life back.

And now, in an effort to take a mind-vacation without requiring my body to go with it, I'll dream up a few perfect get-a-ways. This is where I'd spend free time if it truly existed.

GET-A-WAY #1: African Safari
I love the romance of a safari. And when I say romance I'm not talking about long walks at sunset. I'm talking about watching a giraffe run across your path, it's neck swaying so strange it will stay with you forever. I'm talking about dozing off in a wall tent and hearing a lion's roar echo over the valley. 

I dream of doing this again. Of smelling smoke from the fire, seeing a warm glow of light inside a tent, hearing and seeing animals so beautiful and dangerous the only thing to do is panic and smile all at once. 
Of course, when I imagine this trip, I always smell like Aveda products and carry leather luggage and look like Keira Knightley.

GET-A-WAY #2: The Beach...any beach
I'd go anywhere for good beach. I have always wanted to go to the Outer Banks. Something about that region, that beach, is so fundamentally simple and beautiful. It's not complicated by all the coconut shell bikini tops and steel drum bands. I love a beach that is warm enough to wear a bathing suit but cool enough that you can wear a gauzy scarf to keep the chill out. And there is all that old-timey sailing going on with wooden boats and topsiders. 

Be it a safari or a beach, one things is constant. Nate.