The art of levitation

Wednesday, Grimoire needed to be at the vet between 7 and 8 a.m. for his comprehensive exam (vaccines, etc.) and dental work. So Tuesday night, before I went to bed, I put the tray of food and water (all the bowls are on a baking sheet to minimize food spewage) up on the plastic bin of food (because Grimoire can drill through a bag of food in no time), which is on top of a yard-high cabinet (which is completely covered with stuff). I set the alarm for 7 a.m., figuring I’d just throw on clothes, throw in my contacts, take him in, come home, and go back to bed.

The crash sounded at 6 a.m. Apparently my 20-lb cat has the superpower of levitation, because somehow he vaulted 4 feet into the air to obtain foodstuffs. So at 6 a.m. I had to clean up dry food that had sprayed from the bathroom to the washer and dryer, along with water, which made the dry food soggy and mushy on the bottom of my feet.

It wasn’t worth going back to bed.

I tried to sleep after I took him in, but it wasn’t very restful. That night, I slept on the sofa because it’s lower and he was all wibbly but he could still jump up on it, as opposed to the high bed. I was too cold, then too hot, and the pillow was all wrong, and I had to help him out of the litter box, and… Not the best night’s sleep then, either.

Thursday afternoon I tried to give him his antibiotics and he aspirated the liquid and lay on the sofa drooling and wheezing and completely limp and I thought he was going to die. He didn’t (he’s entirely fine), but it didn’t allow my brain access to creative or productive areas.

Last night I slept for 9 hours and was still tired when I woke up. But I got things done—even went to the gym for the first time in a month, since I’m (a) not on vacation and (b) not entirely hacking up a lung.

Writing continues apace, slow but steady. And I can live with that right now—the steady part, at least. Progress looks like this:

24271 / 70000 words. 35% done!

One rejection this week, a Sophie story from Rachel Kramer Bussel’s rubber anthology, although she accepted solo stories from both Teresa and I (pending publisher approval of the TOC). And I received my comp copy of The Mammoth Book of Best Lesbian Erotica, which has a Sophie story as well as one of Teresa’s. (All the ones of mine I sent were too recent—in the US, the best-ofs are of recent stories, but in the UK apparently they’re just…any story, as long as it’s not recent.)

Tonight I had dinner with Morgana and Brian, and they came over to watch the second Harriet Vane miniseries, “Have His Carcase.” Brilliant. I realized that in my less-sane moments, I want Harriet’s 1920s hair, but I imagine it would actually be too much work.

Ken will be home tomorrow! Calloo callay!

So, the tally:

Writing—good.
Family and friends—fabby.
Cats—adorable.
Health—improving.
Life—mostly harmless—no, wait, very good!

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Currently Reading: Ill Wind, Rachel Caine
Lately Listened To: Lullagoodbye, Taylor Mills
Recently Watched: Ghost Hunters (hey—it’s research!)