cleaning

i hate cleaning my room.  hate it! as a grown-up, i've done pretty much everything i can to avoid having to clean it.  at the same time, a clean room feels nice.  some tidiness makes all the difference; things can be found, stuff i don't use or want can be thrown away or donated, and the very act, while loathsome, does make me feel productive. 

to that end, i've spent some time today listening to podcasts while cleaning.  i love the unfuck your habitat tumblr (it's really great!), and one of the tips on there is so easy; work for about twenty minutes, then take ten off.  all the welcome to night vale podcasts are about twenty minutes long, so that's the soundtrack to tonight.  have you heard the night vale podcast?!  it's hilarious and smart and cheeky and i love it.  i can't believe i'd never heard of it before.  i'm slowly catching up, throwing things away, and putting clothes (gasp!) on hangers in my closet.  it's wild over here. 

gigantic

 the boys are three months old now!  they are bigger every day, i swear.  all they do is eat, poop, wrestle and sleep.  i love them.  everyone loves them!  it's amazing how two adorable cats make everyone so happy and how we all dote on them. 

tali has been a bit sick lately (he either ate something funky or has worms), and his brother has spent a lot of time grooming him and cuddling him.  next week i take them to the vet for their first shots and stuff, and then sometime soon they need to get fixed.  i'm not looking forward to that, because i hate the idea of my boys feeling bad, but i also don't want them running loose in the neighborhood, leaving babies in their wake.  although let's be honest: their babies would be adorable.  sorry boys, enjoy your nuts while you can! 

shipwreck

 every summer, anacortes has a festival they call shipwreck.  it used to be two days long, but lately has been just one.  it's a big garage sale/slash/art fest, and i love it.  when i was younger i used to go for all the bands (one of the founders of K records, calvin johnson, lives in anacortes, because hello?! have you been there? it's gorgeous), but now i go with the girlchild and we buy tshirts and local artists wares.  sometimes weirdo toys too, because by now you know how i feel about toys.  above are cards by jill bliss, who is currently living on whidbey island, near where i grew up in coupeville.  i had a lovely conversation with her at shipwreck, only to discover when i got home (via her blog) that she's living in my hometown.  i kind of want to email her and say, "hey! i know that town! let's have a beer and let me tell you all about the reserve."  yes, it's slightly creepy, and no, i'm not a stalker, but i think she would enjoy my whidbey island tales. 

 one of the main reason i go to shipwreck is because slow loris is there, selling  random, one-off or slightly off-printed t shirts for $10.  i am not opposed to paying full price for one of her shirts, but i love not knowing what you'll get at shipwreck, and it feels great to buy a billion of her shirts at once.  normally the girlchild and i get one, but this year D wanted one too.  he got this lovely ouroboros, on the softest green jersey. i could literally buy every shirt slow loris makes and be a happy woman.  the prints are also always amazing.  i have one needing to be framed right now, and seeing the slow loris crew makes me want to get it up on the walls.  

i can't crochet.  you know that.  i could once, in my late teens, but have since lost the knack.  the creator of the amazing super vagina made these, and i took all of three seconds to realize they had to be mine.  i should have bought more of them!  i showed them to the girlchild and she said, "of course! i knew you would love them." i showed them to D and he said, "you really have an eye for...something?" but he loves them and is not sad they are going to be hung up.  i'm not sure where yet, because they are so great.  why can't they be all over the house?! if i could crochet, there would be five miles of them wrapped all over the house.

in all, it was a great day.  my mom and aunt came out, i ran into some friends, i ate a delicious hot dog, and got exactly enough sun.  i always miss anacortes a bit after a fun day like shipwreck, but then i come home and remember that i love my little house in the skagit valley.  with its kittens and garden and my little family.  i took a long weekend (four whole days!) and have enjoyed just being home, goofing off, cleaning and spending time with my favorite people.  i love my job, but it's demanding, and a few days to relax was called for.