You all thought you were going to get a witty report on my eighth grade reunion. Well, this will be witty but not about the eighth grade reunion.
After having bought a richly purple blazer to wear to the reunion with purple jeans and a black t-shirt, I set about looking for the location of, time of, and directions to said reunion. I searched every stack of paper in my humble abode and found neither the reunion info nor the phone number of the person coordinating it. My theory is that I threw away/recycled the reunion info thinking it was a list of ergonomic keyboard vendors from Dick when I had my last stacks o' paper search for a missing check from my tax escrow account from the bank where I have my mortgage. The good news is I found the missing check this time. I also found the list of keyboard vendors, which I was sure I had recycled, a wonderful poem by John Muir, which my mother had sent me, 3 catalogs I didn't know I received along with the 12 I did know I'd received, the proxy for the Concurrent stockholders meeting, various American Express receipts, and a letter from the bank informing me that they were lowering the interest rate on my mortgage. But alas, no reunion info whatsoever. I pondered my plight for awhile and decided that the universe clearly had other things than reunion in mind for me. I set about the business at hand.
First thing Saturday morning, before either of us were actually awake, I took Max to the vet for his followÑup bloodtests. He was mad at me for starving him all night (the blood tests require he not eat for 12 hrs). He scratched my neck so hard it drew blood. Unfortunately I had decided to wear a brand new T-shirt with tai chi pandas on it (i have 2 different ones with pandas doing tai chi). So I stuck a paper towel under my chin to staunch the blood flow while I drove to the vet. The bleeding stopped but not without getting some on my shirt. I opened the hatchback to take the cat carrier out and discovered Max had shredded the cardboard carrier. So, I gingerly grabbed him and tried to avoid further bloodshed, dropping the cat carrier in the parking lot in the process. I left it there while I went inside. The vet checked out Max, took blood, weighed him, and sent us on our way saying she'd call with the test results later in the day.
I got Max home without further damage to my body or my clothing, and remembered to take the remains of the cat carrier back and put it in the dumpster. No one interrogated me about my trash this time. I fed Max -- he was happy. I dropped off the laundry, deposited all those checks I found, went to the post office, dropped my vacation negatives at the camera shop for reprints, ate breakfast at Ford's (actually breakfast 2 -- I had been up so early that breakfast 1 wore off before lunchtime), did a few more errands and went to my 10:30 massage appointment.
After the massage I went to Andover Bookstore but didn't find whatever I was looking for. Mostly because I couldn't remember what I was looking for. By this time it was 12:30. I took a nap.
Forgetting that this was the Head of the Charles regatta weekend, I decided to go to Harvard Square to look for whatever book it was I was looking for. I spent a long time looking for a parking space. When you can't even find a space in the overpriced garage under the overpriced hotel, you know the square is crowded. Anyway, I bought books, gave change to panhandlers, and decided to see the 5:45 show of The Wedding Banquet. I got coffee (decaf) to go at Coffee Connection and spilled it on my shirt. Picture me in this white T-shirt with pandas doing tai chi with bloodstains and coffee stains on it and massage oil in my hair. I'm lucky I didn't get mistaken for a homeless person. I grabbed dinner at The Skewers and headed for the theater. Outside the theater I was accosted by a man and 2 children claiming to be Romanian refugees. Having no more change, and seized by my overly generous impulses, I gave him $20 bill (I know this is crazy, I plead temporary insanity) and headed into the movie. He followed me mumbling "...rent...more..." wanting more money. I told him I didn't have any more and went into the theater and then stood zombie-like trying to figure out what just happened until the ticket taker asked me what movie I was seeing.
The Wedding Banquet is great. See it if you haven't. I cried. I laughed. I really liked it. I raved about it to Mom the next day.
After the movie I headed home to watch game 6 of the World Series. Great game! Loved the dramatic finish. Still would rather have seen the Phillies win, but loved the game anyway. So, now with one swing of Joe Carter's bat, the baseball season is over until next year.
Sunday morning I was seized with a cleaning frenzy. Severe cleaning frenzy. I emptied, cleaned, and reorganized the linen closet. I took tons of stuff to Goodwill (I hope some Romanian panhandlers get my old Cheap Trick T-shirt). I found all kinds of things I didn't know I owned. The frenzy continued into the bedroom where I cleaned and reorganized the dresser and on and on. I found my travel alarm, which has been missing for 2 years, and my save the coral reefs sweatshirt, which has been missing for 3 years. I found nostalgia items like the t-shirt commemorating MASSCOMP's going public. (No, I didn't give that to Goodwill -- I'm thinking of having it framed.) On I cleaned madly. After I took the last load to Goodwill, I stopped at the car wash to vacuum the broken glass out of my car, which has been there for 3 weeks now. I vacuumed and vacuumed and vacuumed ignoring the fact that my hand/wrist/arm was exploding in pain. Just as I was almost satisfied that I had gotten as much of the glass as I was going to get, I glanced at my watch and realized I had exactly one hour to get to Sudbury for Malice Aforethought at the Chiswick Park Theater with Mom. I raced to Sudbury and pulled in seconds before Mom.
The play was bizarre but very entertaining. If I say anymore I'll spoil it in case you ever want to see it or they make a movie of it. Mom and I had coffee (allegedly decaf) at Friendly's and swapped vacation stories. I raced home and resumed the cleaning frenzy. I couldn't sleep, so I think either the coffee was NOT decaf or the cleaning frenzy pumped me up.
The vet called and said Max's blood tests were normal except for slight anemia. His white cell count is back down to normal and his liver function is fine. He seems to be his old self again.
Thus endeth another exciting episode in the ongoing soap opera "Janet Has No Life But is Very Busy". Tune in next week as our heroine goes to 2 birthday parties, picks up the reprints of the vacation pictures, and stays the heck away from Romanian panhandlers.
Janet