So, do you want to know what's better than a trip to the vet on a perfectly good Thursday night?

How about three trips to the vet?

I took Sherlock to the vet last night for his pre-flight health exam/certificate; he's due for his rabies and distemper booster vaccines, so we take care of that. The vet tells me he'll probably be fine, but to keep an eye out for vomiting, diarrhea, panting, and/or swelling of the face--the signs of an allergic reaction to the vaccines. Fine. Sherlock's an angel through the whole thing, and we go home.

Well. As soon as he gets out of the carrier, he immediately starts throwing up all over the place. ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE. I scoop him right back into the carrier and we head back to the vet (...just in time for him to have diarrhea on the way, at which point I heroically did not cry, but wanted to, on his sad little sick-kitty behalf). They admit him and give him some Benadryl and anti-nausea meds until the reaction stops, and say they'd like to keep him for a couple of hours for fluids and observation. So then I go home, clean up the apartment, take a shower, and howl to my mom; finally, I came back in my jammies for the poor guy, who was stoned out of his mind, but more or less okay. (Also, incidentally, I'd stopped on the way home [the first time] for a barbacoa burrito from Chipotle, and let me say: in times of kitty-barf crisis, the LAST food you are going to want is a reheated shredded-beef burrito with beans and sour cream. In case you were wondering.)

He still wasn't himself this morning when I left--I'm hoping it's just taking awhile for the Benadryl to get out of his system, and that he will be his usual nutjob self in the near future. I want my goofball kitty back!

Also, apparently he has a heart murmur. Excellent.

(See what you started, United? $125 to fly with a cat, my ass!)

I totally want to do that Thirty Days meme that's floating around, but it strikes me that this is maybe not the best time. Maybe January, when I am unemployed and living with my parents, so as to be a special kind of internet cliche? How about that? I think so.

(Did I tell you all what I really am going to do, though? Buffy. Since I have no plans for pregnancy bed rest, bunion surgery, or any other periods of forced idleness in the near future, half-employment will have to do. Besides, who in their right mind tries to become a TV writer without having seen Buffy? I'm going to do The Wire first, though.)

I'm trying not to be a crazy person about this move, and I think I'm doing a reasonable job of it--I made a to-do list, in proposed chronological order, and am working through a few items each day (Health insurance: check! Vet appt scheduled: check! etc.). Any new realizations go on the list, so as not to torment me; there are moments of OMG must get it all done now now now, but then I focus on all those satisfying already-existing cross-offs, and everything is good. Also, the desire to cross things off motivates me to do the things I would normally put off. It's magic! I would like to shake the hand of whoever invented the to-do list.

(One thing, though: Does anybody know anything about cleaning service rates? I'm planning to hire a service to clean before I go--I figure they can do better in a couple of hours what it would take me a whole miserable, overwhelming day to do alone, and probably not as well. The only service I could find with a price list online starts at $170 for a move-out clean [which seems a bit high to me, personally]; the rest require a phone call for an estimate. Before I start calling other places, does anybody have any insight?)

In any case, our driving itinerary is more or less set. We're taking nine days for a semi-circuitous southern route, governed mostly by friends and landmarks along the way. It's moving-tainment! The plan thus far is:

December 14: DC-->Charleston, SC
This is purely to kill a day so that we don't arrive at Graceland on Tuesday, when they're closed. Southern charm generally, two more states checked off the list, and my first trip to the Atlantic = icing.

December 15: Charleston, SC-->Nashville, TN
It seems like a lot of small venues in Nashville are dark that night, so boo to that, but I'm hoping to talk Al, driving buddy extraordinaire, into the $10 bluegrass show at the Station Inn rather than the $15 Christmas extravaganza with Crystal Gayle(!) at the Bluebird Cafe.

December 16: Nashville, TN-->Springdale, AR
...via Graceland, where I mostly hope to pick up some fabulously kitschy Christmas cards to send from the road. This is the part where we stay with pathstotread! Yay!

December 17: Springdale, AR-->Austin, TX
Wherein bijal shows us awesome things in Austin and makes me want to live there. (Really, though, I couldn't. I'm afraid of basically everything non-human that lives in Texas.)

December 18: Austin, TX-->Midland, TX-ish
Thanks to midtownmandy for the hilariously detailed report on West Texas (not to mention family) history! I don't think Al even knows what she's getting into with this part of the drive, but I suspect that some well-timed fried apple pie might be just the ticket. Heh.

December 19: Midland, TX-->Phoenix, AZ
...yep.

December 20: Phoenix, AZ
Al pointed out that I'd accidentally erased a day in planning our itinerary, so we're taking a rest/play day with mutual friends in Arizona (...unless disaster/traffic/weather strikes and we use it somewhere else).

December 21: Phoenix, AZ-->Los Angeles, CA
Unless we decide to be more hardcore than thou and go all the way home.

December 22: Los Angeles, CA-->Benicia, CA
Depending on levels of road-sickness, kitty-loneliness, and desire to be spoiled rotten by my parents, in which case we'll already be home.

Fun fact: By the end of this trip, I will have (at some point) visited every state that borders Kentucky, but missed Kentucky itself. This is a disturbing hole in my states-visited list (which, incidentally, will be at thirty-eight by the time we hit California). Note to self: learn to like horse racing and whiskey? (...Sold.)

Ah, well. Back to the to-do list.

Or, okay, actually, I don't. But I could use some peace these days, long-term and short-term, passing understanding or not, and there is prayer involved, and if I have to supplement with little-kid Sunday school songs, so be it. I can out-"Pharaoh Pharaoh" you any day.

Nothing like a good, bracing stressful conversation to get the blood pumping after vacation, no? I gave notice at work this morning. I was nervous, but it went well--my boss was sad for herself, but happy for me, which I think is the best expected outcome from this kind of conversation. I also offered to contract from California, which is doubtless some kind of administrative nightmare to set up but might provide some income. Income is good.

So: Two weeks. Apparently I am doing this.

Thanksgiving was delightful and delicious; I spent the long weekend at my aunt and uncle's outside New York, which mostly involved eating and sitting around with my brother, watching old Poirot installments and assembling our Christmas lists. I think the day after Thanksgiving may actually be my favorite holiday--Thanksgiving is a sleepover, the way we do it, and all the real fun happens the second day, eating leftovers in our pajamas and playing board games and not cleaning. On the west coast, we sometimes go to the beach together. This year, my brother and I only left the house to go see Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I adored. I don't think of Roald Dahl and Wes Anderson sharing much in the way of sensibility, but somehow the combination is just brilliant--something about Dahl's frank irreverence and Anderson's respect for that, and his relishing of sad stories, is perfect. I loved the book as a kid, and the movie lived up one hundred percent. Just delightful.

Saturday, we did muster up the energy to leave the suburbs and have (for me) one last hurrah (for now) in New York. We went to the Jane Austen exhibit at the Morgan, to lunch with girlunravelled, down to SoHo for some shopping (my brother is obsessed with home furnishings these days, and required a trip to CB2 for throw pillows, but I think I won biggest, if by "biggest" you mean "nerdiest": a U.S. road map of NPR stations!), and back uptown for Carrie Fisher's one-woman show, Wishful Drinking, which I liked pretty well. She remains charmingly crazy--I especially liked the bit about her family and Elizabeth Taylor's family--though I can't help but think that anybody who's done Star Wars, When Harry Met Sally, AND 30 Rock can't possibly be bad. As sarita_m noted, she didn't talk at all about WHMS; I shudder to think, but could it be that "You're right, you're right, I know you're right" (and also "I've been looking for a red suede pump!") are not as life-changing for her as they are for every body else? NOT ALLOWED. Also, my brain periodically forgets that she was married to Paul Simon, and I am never less surprised when it remembers.

Also, a small bit of advice: In case of loneliness/cold-heartedness/black mood syndrome/the fear of being alone in the world, get a cat. Now, here's what you do: Get to know it a bit. Let it learn to like you, and to associate you with playtime and snuggles. Then leave for a few days (with suitable supervision for the cat, obvs). Then come back. Guess what? You are the most important and best-loved human in the world! Sherlock was absurdly, touchingly, hilariously happy to see me yesterday, and has been in ultra-love mode ever since, all, "If I cover you with my fur and my kisses and then roll over and make funny kneading motions in the air over your lap, you will rub my tummy eternally and will never leave me again!" (Little does he know that, in less than two weeks, I am abandoning him to my brother, an airplane ride, and a new house with a new cat before we're reunited. He's going to take it all back. I feel bad.)

Okay, so since I have approximately seventy-seven hours of work left here, I guess I should make use of some of them? Right.

This is so weird.

So, do you know that feeling where you think something happened, and then you realize that you're not sure it happened, and that maybe it was actually a dream? And then you feel the need to ask a third party, in such a way that will not reveal what you are actually asking, about the strength of your connection to reality? That just happened to me. I literally couldn't tell. I had to ask the internet. (An upcoming Bones spoiler, if you must know; not a dream, apparently. I disapprove, but am also reserving judgment, as this show has a long history of making me delight in things that I am not excited about. Surprise me, show! Also, I am tres disappointed that we did not get Bonesland Thanksgiving, where they all get together and act like a family, and Booth and Bones may or may not kiss over a half-stuffed Turkey, not that I have given this any thought. Just saying.)

Weekend was relatively uneventful, except for the part where I realized that I'm moving cross-country three weeks from today, ack ack ack; mostly, I did pre-move things like buy Sherlock's airline ticket home and apply for health care (Kaiser Permanente, y'all: perfectly decent individual coverage for $126/month. Plz to accept me, Kaiser, as you have literally insured me since conception. ILU!). We didn't even go to the movies, as planned--apparently "national release" for Fantastic Mr. Fox doesn't actually denote a national release, and everything else was either a terrible choice or a Movie of Obligation. Better to save $10, I guess, and go home and photograph my knitting for Ravelry and watch HIMYM? (I just got to "Slap Bet," you guys! Best episode so far by like a thousand percent!)

Don't you love that I have a blog, right now? This is why the internet exists at all. I did nothing! LET ME SHOW YOU IT.

Speaking of Ravelry, though, I did finish my cousin's baby present, Elijah, and let me tell you about the power of little baby animal faces: all along, I'd been all, "The one in the picture is so round and adorable! Why does mine look like the sad middle-aged stockbroker of the baby elephant world?" And then I made his little French-knot eyes, and: instant baby talk. So cute, you guys!

( Look at his widdle face! )

And now, I go back to pretending like this is a work week at all, while actually composing my packing list for New York Thanksgiving. Good times.

I think the State cafeteria is trying to kill us. Today was Thanksgiving lunch day, which basically serves to remind the entire State workforce that there will be turkey and assorted starches...but not until a full week from now, and not here, so go back to work, drones! THANKS, HILLARY. I don't see YOU eating the green beans amandine, Madam Secretary.

But today is Thuuuursday, and tonight I'm going with erries and sarita_m to the Amanda Palmer show in Falls Church! Not being a legitimate, active Amanda Palmer fan, I am going along partly for the hell of it and partly to stalk Neil Gaiman (Amanda Palmer's boyfriend, which, in what universe is THAT fair?) if he's there, and partly to fall in love with AP like everybody else already has. And also because I love this sort of small-venue show. And then: possibly some TV with erries, but also the world's saddest sleepover, where there will be actual sleeping and then getting up for work in the morning. Boo, professional life.

So, in preparation for Sherlock's first plane ride, I bought him a harness (covered with skulls and crossbones, to capture his inner badass) and leash. I broke out the harness last night and let him wander around the house in it for awhile--he didn't seem to mind, exactly, though he clearly thinks I am a crazy person and is anticipating a doll-clothes/baby-buggy situation any moment now. Apparently a lot of cats go "paralytic" in a harness, and simply lie down and don't get up; he tried that out until I started throwing his toys for him, at which point he just looked conflicted and kind of long-suffering, and then army-crawled after them. Heh. I'd feel worse if his mild emotional distress wasn't so hilarious.

And also, earlier this week, carmen_sandiego gave me interview questions. ( Ta da! )

Someday, it will be the weekend. Sigh.

I have literally nothing to do. Literally. Nothing.

And so, taken from enigmaticblues, ( Ologies! )

Good heavens. How is it that today I have 1) slept in, 2) showered, 3) gone to Whole Foods, and 4) watched The Philadelphia Story with friends, and all I want to do is take a nap? Pathetic.

In any case: Thank you, veterans of all stripes, for your work and for your sacrifice. I'm grateful.

I went to the doctor on Monday and have been declared non-contagious, pinkeye-wise, though the doctor also bumped me up to seven (SEVEN!) eye drops a day--three of one kind and four of another--plus ointment at bedtime. When did I become my grandparents? I haven't even become my PARENTS yet, and yet. If they made one of those giant grid pill organizers for eye drops, I would not turn that down. On the up side, I am getting waaaaay better at self-administering the drops. On the down side, the new drops make my mouth taste bad. Ta da! The human bloodstream at work!

So, have you seen Tina Fey's top ten favorite 30 Rock moments? Fascinating. I'm working on a list of my own for P.S. BTW, the brand-new-yet-already-neglected pop-culture blog; so far, TF's list and my list only cross once. What would YOU put on the list?

On a related note, when it comes to script-writing, I am currently the biggest slacker that ever slacked. It's appalling. I hope that taking time off will improve that situation; I worry that it won't. This is what self-discipline is for, I suppose, but aaaack, self.

Last weekend, I saw An Education, which is lovely, and everybody should see it. Nick Hornby wrote it, which gives me hope for our future together (things have been dicey since How to be Good); also, Carey Mulligan is going to be hopelessly famous in about a year (though she was already Kitty Bennet in the Keira Knightley P&P and also Sally Sparrow on Doctor Who, which is not nothing), and Peter Sarsgaard and Rosamund Pike and Emma Thompson were all fantastic, and I kind of want to (ill-advisedly) cut my bangs short like Carey Mulligan's. It all ended a bit too quickly and a bit too definitively (I would have left Jenny's future more open), but still. YAY.

I ALSO saw and was mildly disappointed by The Men Who Stare at Goats--it's clear that everybody involved wished it had been made by the Coen brothers instead of whoever it was actually made by. It's also clear that Coenness can't be faked, even if you bring in Intern George and Jeff Bridges. It was funny, but a bit thin, which is tragic--the U.S. military and the paranormal should be kind of a shoo-in, right? Eh.

And I finished ( Mad Men. )

Work tomorrow, WHAT. I didn't DO anything today. I want a do-over.

So, Very Important Announcement: It turns out that, even when flavored with fruit, Greek yogurt is basically like eating an entire cup of sour cream. It was nice while it lasted, my thick and tangy friend, but I think I am officially grossed out by you. This makes me sad, especially since I have three more days' worth of strawberry Chobani in the fridge. Hmmm.

Weekend with my friends from California/Australia was very fun, but left me completely wiped--all that running around was pushing it, I knew, and I'm paying for it now in the form of fake mono and low-grade chest congestion. FINE, BODY. YOU WERE RIGHT. SUE ME FOR HAVING FRIENDS, GEEZ.

To rest up--it's for my health!--I'm doing TV catch-up. I'm staging a campaign to catch up on Mad Men so I'm current for the finale; the middle of the season is kiiiind of boring (Don and Betty in Rome, whatever, except that was some HAIR, Betty Draper), but I saw an ad for this week's episode that nearly gave me a heart attack, so there's that. I am also--did I tell you all this?--working on S2 of HIMYM, finally, which I am enjoying but not obsessed with. So far. Sorry. And then there's Fringe, which is inexplicably engaging for not actually being that engaging right now, and also I am pretending to watch and adore Modern Family, which means I have seen the pilot and then caught bits and pieces of it on other people's Tumblrs, and say to myself at least once an hour "WTF: Why The Face?" And if the Yankees hurry up and win it, Bones comes back this week, which puts me in a strange moral place. CONFLICT.

Sooooo, also, who has two thumbs, speaks limited French, and is starting to get excited about going back to California? This moi! Lately, I'm a whole crazy bundle of mixed feelings about leaving the East Coast, but this weekend I got thinking about spending my (admittedly distant) birthday at Disneyland with my oldest friends (because it will also be THEIR birthdays, and who knew that we would spend our thirtieth birthdays together much like we did our sixth?), and also about how I can zip down to Comic-Con if I want to, and also about how the sun shines there, and how there's tacos. And beaches. Swimming pools! Movie stars! It makes me all tingly.

Stolen from everybody, but directly from pathstotread.

Current Books: I'm sorry, David Copperfield, but I think we need to go on break. I only read you on the bus anyway, and you're keeping me from some necessary Austen brushing-up, and I just think it's the best thing for me right now. It's not you; it's me. I want to read other things.

Current Playlist: For lack of a better answer...Glee. It's a sickness. (Am also simultaneously feeling disinterested in and slowly rediscovering my vast collection of indie pop. It's all very strange.)

Current Guilty Pleasure: Bonesfic--the SAME Bonesfic, repeatedly. (It's a small pool of the good stuff.)

Current Colour: Bright orange-pink

Current Drink: Water

Current Food: Acorn Squash with Chile-Lime Vinaigrette

Current Favourite Show: Bones. CONCEAL YOUR SURPRISE.

Current Wishlist: 1) To win the ABC TV Fellowship (the artist formerly known as the ABC-Disney Fellowship); 2) to feel definitively good about moving (would be facilitated by #1); 3) public-option health care (HARRY REID, GUYS! GO GO GO!)

Current Needs: Combination time-turner/teleportation device; also, toilet paper

Current Triumphs: Austenacious; running and not hating running

Current Bane of My Existence: Lack of inspiration; pitch-black mornings

Current Celebrity Crush: Jason Segel, in a completely non-physical, "I love your work" kind of way

Current Indulgence: Probably the Bonesfic--I could always be doing something more useful with that time.

Current Blessing: I don't know, you guys. My parents are pretty nice to me sometimes.

Current Slang: Ummmmm. P.S. BTW?

Current Outfit: Gray wool slacks, lavender cardigan over cami, gray suede flats with gray suede pansies on the toes, huge turquoise ring from Paris H&M circa 2003

Current Excitement: Thanksgiving in New York!

Current Mood: Sleepy. I took a nap on the bus this morning--it was so warm, and Sarah Vowell was talking to me about Puritans via my iPod--and it turns out that napping = having to wake up all over again. WHAT.

Ooh, it is apparently Halloween week and, therefore, acceptable for a flood of sugar to flow freely through the fourth floor here at State. Cookies and candy and unidentifiable Brazilian sweets, oh my! Plus, Yoplait, which I will tell myself is healthy. Ish. In the mean time: HI HI HI HOW ARE YOU HI?

Weekend was mostly about furniture and paint samples and the buying of various home basics. Turns out shopping for other people's furniture isn't very interesting, but my brother is and always has been an excellent shopping buddy, so it all worked out. He's now installed (with a table and chairs, an air mattress, my sleeping bag, a frying pan, a plate, a can opener, some plastic silverware, and five suits) in his apartment ten minutes away, so: perfect.

I spent the rest of the weekend organizing my online life: I finally got my resume online (welcome to the twenty-first century, self?) and added it to my professional website, along with Austenacious, and got rid of all references to Cinema Hype. I also, uh, started a new website? (I don't know, guys. It's a sickness.) Meet P.S. BTW, the pop-culture site I'd been considering to take the place of CH, partly as an outlet for thinky thoughts on movies and TV and partly as a writing sample. PLUS I wrote a longer post about the reunion of the Turtle Club for Read in Reverse (pending my mother's scanning of a childhood picture of us), PLUS I met with captainoz and bilunabirotunda for Austenacious. So the moral of the story is that I have waaaay too many websites going, but they are all clean and properly linked and either freshly updated or about to be so. All is right with my binary world.

How are you?