Liftoff!!!

It finally happened!

Unless it’s happened while I was gone, and I just didn’t know…

BUT…

I was at the computer desk. The cat had just gone into the cat condo on the second level of the cat tree, as she has numerous times before, since I finished it and installed it by the John Wick poster.

Then, I heard an unusual sound. I looked over, to see her in the condo on the FOURTH level! I’m not sure if she was batting at one of the toys I left in there, or scratching the sisal rope on the post by the condo’s window.

Before I knew it, THIS had happened:

She got up on the shelf above the upper condo, and tried out one of the perches!

She seemed a little uncertain about getting back down, but ultimately climbed down, just fine. And there was some excited meowing going on, and some floor-level zoomies, in between all the phases of her experimenting with the tree.

There was also a moment before all this happened, when she’d gotten on top of the PC desk, while I was eating something or other, and I looked at her and noticed she just looked healthier. Like she’d filled out some.

I have been doing my best to give her “drive-by” waterless shampoo baths. She’s gotten more used to the detangling brush and will tolerate that, sometimes even repositioning herself so I can reach the rest of her. The shampoo? Not a fan. So, I grab whatever areas I can, each time, and just pick a different spot, the next time. Eventually, I get all of her.

Work also went really well. We had a couple stragglers, but we had also had a biggish gap toward the outset of my closer’s shift, where we had no one and were able to get ahead of closing cleanup. All that remained by the time we locked the doors was the second half of the vacuuming, and even that wasn’t much. Just the entryway mats.

My coworker had said she was real tired. It’s a second job for her, and made for a 12 hour day, including her full-time position. But even so, she volunteered to start the cleaning, before I could even ask her to do any of it. Which I really appreciated. All in all, we divided tasks pretty fairly. We both left in a good mood, but eager to get home, and relax.

Not sure if this counts as “girl dinner.” Maybe it isn’t quite random enough? But I had one crab rangoon (the LONE remaining rangoon that I just couldn’t finish last night, or this morning)… and the fried rice left from both my entrees. I had the Szechuan Style Beef last night for dinner, and the Cashew Chicken this morning, for breakfast. Ate some rice with both of those, but I never finish all the rice in one go. Combined what was left of both, then hacked away at the jicama some more, and sprinkled it liberally with Tajin.

The last time I went to the grocery store, I saw they also have Tajin displayed with their bowls of cut-up, mixed, fresh fruits in the entryway. Maybe soon, I will treat myself to one of those and go nuts! The Tajin bottle I got wasn’t the biggest they had, but it’s still not small. I’m sure I’ll have plenty left after the jicama is gone. I’m curious to see how it would taste with various fruits.

Also had a Cutie Mandarin orange, and a Nature Valley protein bar for “dessert.” They’re not as low-carb as some of the other protein bars out there, but they taste a LOT better.

AND I am off the next two days. AND I am going to Paranormal Cirque over the weekend. AND I successfully requested off for a zine event at our downtown library, and a folk music event at another library branch. I don’t think anyone had requested either of those two days off yet (within the management team), so I should be good to go! I’m especially looking forward to checking out the booth or area or what have you, where you can learn to make your own zine.

Is it kind of a teenish thing to do? I hope I’m not the only adult taker. But as a writer/creative, I thought it might be a lot of fun! And it could be an excellent, alternate way to get my work out into the world. Making a zine combining some writing and some visual art, and seeing if maybe the indie bookstore downtown wanted to carry it? I had already thought about doing something more multimedia.

And I’m excited to see and read the stuff on offer at the other booths, too!

Still thinking I might re-up Hulu early on my next check, with the bundle special. Was just debating turning on Disney+ and looking for some entertainment, for a little while.

I told kiddo about watching the Wizards of Waverly Place movie. She remembered loving the movie, when it premiered on the Disney Channel, and said, “That show slapped.” Added that I had been feeling nostalgic, remembering everything we used to watch together, even if I hadn’t remembered the story behind the movie. Had I watched that one all the way through with her? Maybe not, but I did watch a lot of her shows. It was fun!

Didn’t do much in the way of Morning Pages this morning, but I did jot down some details from the dreams I remembered after having fallen back asleep for about half an hour. I think I forgot one altogether that I’d had a grasp on, before setting the 30 minute timer on my phone, post-thyroid medication.

I do remember having discovered a white minivan plastered in vinyl stickers, with the Ghostbusters logo on the side doors. My dad was there, and a whole bunch of other people I didn’t know from real life. Not sure what my relationship was to them in the dream. Dad asked what kind of car it was. At first, I guessed Cadillac, because that’s what one of the stickers said. But then, I saw the manufacturer’s lettering on it said something else (I have forgotten what).

He drove, after we all piled in. There were a lot of us, but somehow, we all fit.

I asked if we were ever going to start moving forward, because it seemed like he was driving in reverse the whole time, but then realized that was an illusion of my facing backward (which I don’t think actually makes any sense).

There was something that was either a partially-recalled third dream (but not, I don’t think, the one I lost track of), or an added scene to the other one, where I was talking man-troubles with another woman and said it would be nice to get a phone call once in awhile. I wasn’t bitter about it. More taking it in stride and laughing.

But I also dreamed of K. I was back at my previous job, up at the register, when he suddenly appeared in my line, standing before me, waiting to be checked out.

It wasn’t a lusty dream, or even an overly-emotional one, like some of the others he’s been in. This time, I was contented. I was happy to see him, but in a very centered sort of way, and simply told him, “Well, now you know where to find me.”

Not sure what to make of that.

I’m still on the fence if dreams about the departed can possibly mean they’re actually making a connection with you. I’ve made my peace with the realization that all the spiritual experiences I have had could be phenomenon exclusive to the physical plane, however you want to explain it, that maybe there is no afterlife waiting.

Even if that is the case, I’m mostly okay with it. I don’t feel like I would be living my life any differently, regardless. It would be nice to reconnect with loved ones in a different reality, parallel to this one. I wouldn’t mind seeing them again. And I wouldn’t mind being able to watch over kiddo from on far. But I feel like my subjective experiences have enriched my life for their own sake, without having to be evidence of anything beyond.

And I have a healthy dose of skepticism, based on my mental health diagnosis. Yes, there is always the notion that having “creative” brain chemistry enables you to perceive things others don’t, sometimes to the degree of taking you out of “consensual reality” altogether. But I no longer feel the need to chase after liminal experiences at the risk of losing my ability to communicate with others, and remain grounded.

Mostly, I just wanted to share my enthusiasm about how GREAT it is to see Unity acting playful and curious and engaged again. I SWEAR I have tried playing with her, to no avail. Might have to see if I can relocate the laser toy, or pick up another one. I think she used to like that. The “fishing pole” style ones do nothing for her whatsoever. My parents have some at the house for Happy, but with Happy, you almost have to get violent with it to get him interested LOL. Last I heard, they were thinking about donating them. I hadn’t told my mom you have to either pelt him with it, or wap it really hard against the furniture.

I’m already inwardly groaning at the idea of constructing another one of these things, but maybe I’ll get him a cat tree of his own, if they’d allow it in the house. We’ll see. At least if I got the same one, I would have an idea going in, exactly what was involved in putting it together.

Alright, time for me to figure out how I will be wrapping up my evening. I’ve got a little bit left in the book I’ve been reading. Not one of my two library checkouts, which are still waiting. Looks like I’m at 94% with it. Spirits, Rock Stars, and a Midnight Chocolate Bar, by Deanna Chase.

I could have done with it being a little spicier, but then, that’s me. Sometimes, you have to meet a book where it’s at. The repeated last-minute interruptions to love scenes that almost happened, near the beginning, weren’t fun for me but might add to slow-burn tension, for another reader. And she’s a NYT Bestselling Author, and I’m just me.

Not many traditional publishing credits to my name. Nothing book-length. I still haven’t followed up on those possible lit mag and publishing company listings, either. But I want to take my poetry in a different direction than where it’s been more recently. I want it more generous of spirit. Some pieces may work for what I have in mind, but I’ll have to write some more. I should be writing more, anyway. It’s good to keep at it.

I had also started another Natalie Goldberg book on writing. Wild Mind. Did a few exercises with that, then paused, right where the homework gets more laborious. One, you’re supposed to spread out over weeks or more. But I made notes about the last two exercises in my journal, so I can get back to them easily.

Maybe I’ll see about getting some writing in, tonight. That could be good.

AH HA! I was looking for something to close out this post. A great reminder. We’re all on our own journeys, and there is room in the world for everyone’s stories, everyone’s art.

As I recently said to bestie, quoting something I had seen elsewhere, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”