What to pack for Blogher, slacker edition

I think a lot about packing. In my head I'm really good at putting things in bags and taking them places and arriving at the place with all the right things. I make a lot of lists and I visualize the packing and then the day comes and I find myself in Montreal with only the flip flops I rode in on. That being the case I started packing for Blogher today, almost two whole weeks early, in the hopes of arriving in Chicago with comfortable shoes and enough underwear and a toothbrush.

I'm limiting myself to a purse and one carry on so it's imperative that I don't pack two hundred t-shirts and leave out my phone charger. The bulk of my luggage is going to be things like sunscreen and notebooks and hair care products so the clothes are going to have to earn their place in my bag. I pulled out all of my favorite things today, all the clothes that put a spring in my step when I wear them. I want things that can do double duty and things I can layer because the air-conditioning is going to be freezing. I removed all the sports wear immediately because this is definitely not a trip for exercising, why even bother with the pretense. I took out everything that doesn't fit perfectly right now and everything that isn't completely comfortable, and everything that isn't looking as good as it should be because you don't meet your new bff's with stains on your shirt.

The things that were left out on the bed had a lot of things in common, so it looks like I'm definitely bringing a black and a white t-shirt, this scarf, trouser jeans, one or two colorful tank tops, a cardigan, and one new t-shirt from Martin & Osa that makes me want to drool. I'm going to use jewelry and shoes to bridge the day to evening gap, and of course make-up, but otherwise I'm bringing as little as possible.

I tried really hard not to buy anything for this trip because it's expensive enough without remaking one's wardrobe. There are some things I just didn't have, like a suitcase, which I had to purchase. I also bought some travel things like little bottles and some of those bags that squash all your clothes into pancakes. It would be really easy to buy all new things and be some new person for three days but what in the world would be the point. Too easy.

"This could be mathier"

I had such a good day at work yesterday I could practically sing. It was totally awesome. And I've decided to stop being afraid of driving the new car today. I'm going to take it out to the mall to return the hello kitty car seats, yes the ones Pinky linked to that were totally on clearance at Target but do not fit. Unless someone else wants them in which case leave a comment super fast. I opened the door yesterday to get my sunglasses out and was almost killed by the stewing new car smell so I thought I'd better take the chance to air that sucker out before it turns out like my dad's pickup which I have to drive wearing a gas mask. Hard to have a road trip in a gas mask.

The chickens are getting huge. I keep forgetting how things with short life spans grow so damn fast. There's one that's particularly girthy and I'm hoping it's just a brick house of a hen because I don't need a rooster. I'm willing henness upon that chick with my whole psyche. Not that it's the worst thing in the whole world if we have a rooster it's just that they're sort of useless to our purposes. We require eggs, not more chicks but roosters do have redeeming qualities like torturing the neighbors and adding a layer of protection to his harem. My dad was telling me a story about his childhood where the kids all got pastel colored chicks for easter. They raised them in a box by the furnace and built them a coop. They had 5 roosters and 1 hen, until the day my uncle hung his bow and arrow target on the side of the coop and took out the only laying hen with his first shot. My grandma butchered the roosters in retaliation but no one would eat them. That same uncle also used a slingshot to rescue grandma's parakeet from a tree in the yard...funny how he only ever hit something he intended to miss.

Trouble with Tribbles

I don't know why, I just can't get that out of my head so I made it a title. Seek no reason here and you won't be totally disappointed. Woof and I went to the island today and actually saw some sunshine. The weather was starting to get us down and we aren't the only ones because they've been playing that 10,000 maniacs song almost as much as thriller this week. I'm glad we took a chance and drove down there because we had a very nice walk, jumped on some missionaries and made one asian family grab their children and run by us like I had an alligator on the leash instead of a puppy. But whatever...

Here are some pictures of the walk. We went from otter point to thunder hole but I'm not quite sure where those rocks are. Pink granite sort of appears everywhere, it's hard to get an exact local. The picture with the rock climbers is otter cliffs. They must have been feeling lucky because in that fog a boat could never get to them if they fell, they'd be screwed...not that you wouldn't be screwed anyway falling off a cliff. I digress. It was a really beautiful day, fog suits the occasion but it did clear when we got closer to sand beach.




I added a few more miles of new trail to my map and if the weather finally breaks we'll get back to the carriage roads. Witch hole pond is next, it's supposed to be really lovely and it's short enough for us to easily do in a day. I heart being a hiker, I really do.

"just woke up dead one day"

We've kept the chickens alive for four whole days, yay us! The feather sisters are getting their wing feathers and are practicing flying over each other. It's really cute but the others don't like it, funny enough. We've been making an effort to handle them often so things are easier when they're bigger and flightier but it makes them cranky. I'm terrified one of them is going to try flying out of my hands and make a cartoon splat on the floor. They are growing so fast it's insane. Their little drumsticks are particularly adorable, they like to stretch after napping and the legs are so chubby and cute. We spend a lot of time standing over their box cooing at them, we're the biggest dorks ever.

I have to make a scary call to the insurance company in exactly 9 minutes and it might make me cranky. It might ruin my day completely but there's no point in putting it off. If I don't get everything settled as soon as possible some mysterious tree will fall on the Rogue and crush it to death. I meant to put it in the garage first thing but Matt has a job parked in front of the door. 'Course if it was in the garage and I didn't make the call at exactly 8 probably there would be a freak fire, better not risk it.

As an aside, I can't tell you how weird I feel about being an suv driver. It feels like driving a bus, there's so much more vehicle behind the rearview mirror than I'm used to. We talked about it incessantly and there was no way around it, that dog needs a car like a bus and it's not a sin to have all wheel drive in Maine. Matt keeps telling me it's actually a "crossover" and not an "suv" but the guilt is still there. Massive, massive amounts of guilt. Maybe I should get the virgin mary car seat covers and hang a crucifix on the mirror.

"an acid stomach and a sudden urge to weep"

I signed the papers yesterday and I feel no joy at all. Everyone at the dealership was saying congratulations and of course they're happy they just sold a car but I am not feeling the congratulations. The best I can muster toward positive emotion is satisfaction that it's all over and we won't have to do it again...hopefully. The finance lady asked if we were going to celebrate and I said I'd be going home to vomit profusely and it's good we already signed the papers because I think I made her sick. Never be honest in a car dealership, it upsets the cosmic balance.

So I drove it home yesterday and now it's in the garage...where it will stay until we pay it off or until my other car has a full head rotation exorcist experience. It would be safe to say I'm a little bit on edge but apparently not too on edge to google search hello kitty car seat covers. My need to protect the new car and also be a dork come fabulously together here. Apparently I'm on a budget now so I might have to use an old blanket and just visualize hello kitty in the stains, le sigh.

"celebrities are so much smaller in person"

These are our newest babies, six Barred Rock Chicks. So far it's going very well. Chairman meow is interested but not attempting to actually get at them, Knox is only interested when we are but enjoyed sniffing the chick I presented him with and the chicks are peeping happily and sleeping like a feathery carpet. I'm working on telling them apart but so far I can only tell the fluffy one and the even fluffier one apart from the crowd. I might just name them all susan and forget about it until one turns out to be a rooster.

"the guilty guy always asks for a lawyer"

I saw the sun for almost three whole minutes this afternoon, it was awesome. It's gone now but I'll always have the memories. Actually tomorrow is supposed to be nicer...before the thunderstorm. Not that I'm complaining about the rain, the garden is doing wonderfully. I'm still sort of surprised that all those things we planted are growing. It's amazing. The corn is up and lots of dry beans, potatoes and enough onions to eat one a day all winter...not that we'd want to we just have to remember not to plant so many next year. I have to thin some carrots and lettuces but right now the garden is so soft you can't really walk in it without causing a plant apocalypse so they'll have to wait. I'm really excited about all the growing and I'm even more excited that I don't have to lug water all the way up the hill, YAY RAIN!

I'm planning a long hike for tomorrow if I don't have to work. It's been too long since we've walked in the park and I really miss it. I'm even prepared to walk if it's wet, Knox and I have been cooped up inside too long and he's always such a good boy when he's sleeping. Things with my job have been really crazy lately but are starting to improve, or maybe I'm just learning how to deal. I'm working hard to remind myself that I'm not her mother or her keeper and if she cancels all her doctor's appointments the day before and neglects to tell me...well, whatever. It's extra stressful to find your employment wavering when you're trying to buy a car but I think things will be ok. It's sort of good for my job security that we have to keep remaking appointments. The women I work with applaud my patience so I'm trying to live up to that. It's definitely work.

The Bickersons

Yesterday Knox and I went to the pet store to get kitty a new litterbox and instead we got him a backpack. We also met some very sweet kitties up for adoption, a pair who would like to stay together and seemed cautiously curious about Knox. I really wanted those kitties. In fact, I want to take home every kitty I see all the time. There was a free kitten sign on a road nearby and I had to will myself every day not to stop, fortunately it's gone now. I asked Matt what he'd do if I came home with another cat and he just shook his head, like the possibility of owning one more pet just wouldn't fit in his brain. He has to keep reminding me that the chickens will be pets too and will upset the house enough for the next few weeks without adding a territorial kitty battle upstairs.

When I think about it properly I know it's a bad idea, Chairman Meow will crush the opposition no problem. She hisses with deadly accuracy. I had secretly thought that if I got a pair they might stand a chance but probably it'll just turn into trench warfare for the next five years or until someone finds our bodies with multiple sharp cuts at the jugular. Puppy will miss us. He'll be only a slave in the new society, forced to surrender his treats and toys for the greater good. Guess I'd better stop searching petfinder all afternoon.