Nettle tea and news: Earthquakes and early onset dementia.
I’m settling into the new office pretty well, but finding it stuffy and in need of a good ol’ box fan to blow my papers around. I got one of those slow-burning wood wick candles yesterday, and in between randomized songs I hear its hiss. Yesterday I left the nest to run errands and search for trinkets, and came home with an armful of weapons to use in my fight against the cat box. My desk is now five feet from it and it does not matter how clean it is; I can smell it. I figure the whole floor in there needs to be mopped, and the walls soaped down too for good measure. An altogether new cat box wouldn’t hurt, I’m sure, but for now I am waging battle with artificial smells. Current winner: the rosewood plum Febreze candle a foot away from my nostrils. The odor-eater cake and gel air freshener in the closet get the assist.
Nesting insanity, I know.
I’ve been thinking a lot about labor lately. Last night in class we had contraction practice. I held a bag of ice at regular, long intervals while Ray was tasked with comforting me. It was hard to take it seriously and honestly that room was so hot that the ice in my hand felt pretty good. I have no idea what I am going to need or want him to do to comfort me in the heat of a contraction, but I guess that’s the point. It’s time to start practicing all the ways in which he can help me so that we’re not just grasping at straws when the real event is here.
Yesterday I had to make some returns at the mall, so I strolled through the baby section of JC Penney just to see if I would magically have any interest in buying baby clothes. I stuck to the sale racks, of course — there is no way I am buying my newborn a $20+ outfit … although I guess I have done this for other people’s children — but still balked at how much everything cost and how cloying the designs were. So frustrating. I left convinced that I would never want to buy clothes for my child, ever, and then a couple of hours later found myself reluctantly pulling into Once Upon a Child just to give it a chance. And, okay, I kind of get it now. They had cute consignment stuff marked for $2.50 or and I got bundle to bring home. Finally, first clothing purchases made. They’re in the dryer now.
I don’t want to go to work today. I have so much to do and would like to just sort of sit and think about things. Alas.
Do you think some sort of room divider could help? A new litterbox probably is the best idea. Also, if there’s a window between you and the litter box, put a window fan in and run it on exhaust. I guess I’d need to see the room’s schematics before offering further modes of attack.
How many bathrooms does your house have? Meaning, could you move the litterbox to a less-frequently used bathroom? We keep two in the downstairs half-bath that nobody really uses so the smell isn’t an issue unless WHOA CHANGE THE BOX! time. It isn’t ideal for when company comes over, but if we ever have a party we just move it upstairs to Ian’s bathroom, where the third litterbox resides.
TB, I have a screen in front of the closet door but my desk is literally four or five feet from it. It’s a small room and the windows don’t open so ventilation is also an issue. A fan would help even without open windows, just because it gets stuffy in here, so that’s on my list.
Megan, Sadly I just have the one bathroom. I would love a second bathroom. Foremost on my list of musts for any new house I buy will be a laundry room or mudroom or some sort of room that will allow me to sequester the cat box away from everyday life.