Day #2

For some reason, I see fit to stay awake until 5:30am, browsing Craigslist for apartments (why, I don't know) and finally fall asleep to a $2.99 iTunes purchase of Steve Martin on Saturday Night Live.

At 10am, my alarm sounds and I feel my cat, Holiday, scratch at my left hip, as if to say, "please make that awful noise stop."  

I hit "snooze" and lie there for 15 more minutes and three more wake-up calls, then stand up out of bed and decide to skip a shower in order to make it to Littleton in time for my car appointment.  I don my repeat apparel from yesterday, brush my teeth, wash my face and throw on a pair of heart-shaped aviators. 

Twenty minutes later, I hand my car keys over to Dodge service support and beeline for the waiting room with my book. I check my e-mail and find a message from my mom.  I read, then laugh until I cry. I want to share the joke, but it seems inappropriate, so I keep it to myself and continue to giggle at random intervals.

Later, spring cleaning ensues. My cats stare at me dumbfounded, trying to understand why everything is not in its original place. I make six trips to basement storage and I finally feel better in my own bedroom. 

I feel dead all day, but never take a nap. It's now 1:34am and I finish The Time Traveler's Wife, which I think is the first book to make me cry - ever.  

My second cat, Maynard, is curled up at the bottom of my bed, feet twitching like he is chasing something in a dream, which is strange when he runs for no one and Holiday's stretched out on a throw blanket on the back of the couch. I hear a thud and see she has slid, with the blanket,  onto the floor. This makes me laugh.  

My attention darts outside to an alley cat that has been crying for the last two hours. A quarrel between it and another outside cat ensues. It's clear who is winner, because the other is now wincing in pain. I don't know whether to run out and help or leave well enough alone, but decide on the latter because alley cats have reputations and I'm sure battle scars look handsome to the ladies.