Better Living Through Literature
Words + Projects + Stuff I Like
Photos are back today (yay!) so let’s look at Toby being very dedicated to testing the blankets through every step of the process.
There was the Stretching Test:
The Biscuit-Making Test:
The Rolling Test:
And the look of approval that everything passed the test (blurry, but he looks SO PLEASED here):
And here’s half the final stack of finished blankets. I hope they help some shelter kitties stretch, roll, or make biscuits a little more comfortably:
Because I could use some time off. Toby says, “Yes, Mom, you need to stay home with me in the sunshine.”
Soon, Toby.
1. October has been a rough month, health-wise: I got a head cold for a week and now I’m just getting over a 24-hour bout of food poisoning. While the weather holds I really need to re-stain and seal the back deck, get the windows washed, and about 10 other outside chores–but all I want to do on the weekends is mimic Toby:
2. Maybe this article about the difficulties of time management and prioritizing tasks can help me figure it out.
…what fierceness lurks under the serape….
…and in the bed being crazy?
The Toby knows!
1. It was poet Wallace Stevens’ birthday yesterday, who once said, “After one has abandoned a belief in god, poetry is that essence which takes its place as life’s redemption.” Happy birthday, Wally.
2. Doc took this picture of Toby yesterday after I’d left for that early commercial shoot. I intend to do much the same thing tomorrow:
Toby sitting in the bathtub, being a goof:
The flower pots in August:
Turns out my Little House on the Prairie “fever n’ ague” from yesterday was actually strep throat, so I’m home again today until I’m not contagious. Fortunately, after just 12 hours of antibiotics, I can tell they’re working. Yay modern medicine!
Of course, I should also credit Nurse Toby with this improvement. I’ve made Doc stay away so he doesn’t get it, but Nurse Toby has been by my side:
Or showing me all his healing Powers of Cute:
As I mentioned last Friday, I’ve been struggling with getting enough sleep. Once I make it to bed, I can sleep pretty well, but stopping whatever I’m doing and getting there has been a challenge. It’s been so bad that I got home from work one day last week and fell asleep on the floor while petting Toby. (He meowed in my ear to get me up again.)
So Monday I ended up in bed at 10:30 and got 8 hours of sleep and oh. my. god. you guys. Turns out that all those sleep studies are right and that if you get enough sleep it’s not a struggle to make it through the day and you have good ideas and you’re a happy person! I’ve been asleep by 11:30 all week. I feel like a sorcerer for figuring this out.
Toby says, “Well, of course, Mama. I could have told you that sleep is good.” 
I spent Saturday deep cleaning the house, plus washing windows and vacuuming blinds (and then went around saying to myself, “Look how clean those windows are!”). So for the sake of balance, Sunday had a whole lot of this in the morning:
“Don’t take my picture, Mom. Also, why is it blurry?”
And some of this in the evening for good measure:
Toby says, “Don’t let it give you any shit.”
