I’m trying to be smart

purse/carryall WITH mega wichtig knitting and backpack

Really and true – I'm making a solid effort.

I leave late this afternoon (TODAY!) for a week in Berlin with my cousin Della and her fab husband Martin. Yes, I’m very much looking forward to this but I’m also panicking a tiny bit. Warum? I’ve not been away for an entire week since before The Amazing Bob’s health hit an iceberg.

I need to get a bunch of shit done before I leave. Like what?

1. Purchase enough cat food to keep the herd happy. We’re back up to four now – Coco, Rocco, Ghost Cat and our new, as yet unnamed, beautiful black visitor beastie.
2. Clean! I do not want to come home to dirty dishes, smelly laundry, stacks of crap everywhere and nasty floors. Yeah, I want to come back to home significantly cleaner than the one I currently inhabit.
3. Taxes – I’ve GOT to at least begin the prep shit!
4. People's Sculpture Race application. For a coupla years now, I’ve been saying that I really want to do this. Entries are due via email by next Saturday. I must get the idea solidified and drawings completed and scanned before I leave. I can always email the proposal from Berlin but I want to nail down all the details NOW.
5. Packing. After I load my books, knitting, cameras, laptop and cords in my rucksack, will there be any room for clothes? GOOD question!
6. Get to the Y for one last swim/workout before I go. Yes, I’ll be walking a LOT while in Berlin but I won’t be swimming or ellipticalizing for a WHOLE week. Yes, I have early onset guilt.
7. Go to the credit union to let them know where I’ll be for the week. It’s a safety procedure – my debit card won’t work unless I specifically tell them “Hey, I’m in Berlin. That really is me using the card at the Keramik-Museum.”
8. I need to spend focused time with Coco and Rocco before I go. Loads of pats, skritches, holding and, of course, they’ll get a special treat for lunch – haddock. Yes, it’s true, I occasionally bake them a piece of haddock. They LOVE it. Also too, I may be a vegetarian and half-assed vegan but my cats don’t need to be. I do make sure their fish is wild caught though. I’ll support their carnivorous lifestyle but the haddock MUST have lived a full, free, happy life first!

Speaking of laundry, (and we totally were!) with the ongoing Flea War, I’ve been washing the bedding daily – this on top of the usual. I think I’ve got the wee varmints on the run now but JAY-ZUZ this is exhausting shit. Before leaving, I’ll do one last round of flea-be-gone spraying around the house and hope the wee varmints have vamoosed by the time I return.

And then there’s the wretched and vile state of the U.S. Will I read the news while in Berlin? Yeah, I won’t escape it but will certainly make every effort to keep it in the background. I’m so horribly embarrassed for my country. Also wondering if I’m gonna run into trouble getting back in here. Why would I? Why not. Border patrol agents have Trump inspired and sanctioned Jack Boot Fever. I’m not wealthy, young or blond AND I’m an outspoken deaf feminist. In Trump’s America I'm an enemy, a mooch and a drag, right? How long before citizens, like me (!!!) are tossed (OR sent to camps) for the crime of being an undesirable. Remember, it’s not just Trump – he has the full backing of the Republican party.

Obvs I need a break from the daily insanity. Also, just FYI and shit, blogging will, most likely, be a little erratic over the next week.  I’ll DEF be writing but may *GASP* be absent here and there.