speaking the truth

I woke up earlier than I've been recently (though still later than I want to be), well-rested though I did have some weird-assed dreams. I got up and looked out the window - snow! Maybe an inch, but enough to cover everything with pretty white and that just got the day off to a good start.

I got dressed (instead of spending half the day in a bathrobe) and stuck a Trans-Siberian Orchestra album in. Spent more time listening to that and playing on the computer than I'd meant to, but ahh well; I was in far too good a mood to worry about it.

Eventually I shoveled the sidewalk, then walked up to the store to get some stuff. Shoveling _hurt_ but life goes on and the walk was lovely. One of the houses I passed was full of fresh squirrel-tracks in the snow - I noticed that both of the trees in the front yard are oaks. I didn't get to see any of the actual squirrels but they were clearly having a good time earlier.

I didn't get a lot done today but it was good to just sit and relax. The house is clean and there's not a lot I have to be doing right now. Lewis fell asleep on the couch round about five and I let him sleep - when I woke him up around six-thirty to talk about dinner, he went right back to sleep, so I decided to forge off on my own, and made chicken paprikas _nearly_ all by myself. He woke up in time to help me with the last bits, which was the only part I wasn't sure about; I could do it entirely by myself, now. It came out pretty good and we have enough leftovers for two more meals.

I got some copying done while he was napping, too; the photomasters are _almost_ all copied and soon the originals can head back to Jae in Finland. Three less boxes in our house. Oh, and Lewis looked through some of the stuff in the bedroom; that's yet more stuff I can get rid of.

Tomorrow he flies down to Norfolk and I drive up to baronadhemar's for a couple days. Have some errands to run before I go, and I have to pack enough sewing to keep me busy. Looking forward to it.

What with all the stress and stuff that I've been dealing with, today might not sound like much...but I spent nearly the whole time genuinely _happy_ and, well, I needed some of that.

I'm leaving this here mostly as a note to myself, though others may find it of interest.

intoku: Just as the number one can never be reduced to zero, once we act or speak, our action or speech is never completely erased.

An old Oriental saying tells us, "Sow good, and the harvest will be good. Sow evil and reap evil." We must understand that everything we do comes back to ourselves.

Therefore before wishing for our own happiness and welfare and that of our children we must do good in secret. To do good in secret means to act without seeking attention and praise, to act without any hope of reward. This is called intoku.

Among the various ways of performing intoku, to walk the way of the Universe and to lead others along this way is best.

I got up a bit late today, and took Samson to the vet. That went okay, but he's got tooth issues and will be on antibiotics for a while. Since he's one of my Wussy Cats, that means confining him somewhere. Up until very recently that was the bathroom...I guess it's time to think of something else.

Spent a long time working on this post, which I'd actually started last night. I'm semi-pleased with it. I think I'm going to do more meta-writing like that, on the theory that at least it's practice. Also, people might think it's cool enough that they start reading my LJ, and then I can do a web page with a weekly column and get people to subscribe to it, and then I can publish a compilation of my columns and make wads of money.

Okay, it's a theory.

It's been a long, rainy, somewhat dreary day. I decided to pamper myself and took a shower with the oatmeal-lily-mango soap I got from Peyton at Crown Tourney. Nice, nice stuff. I think I'm going to use 'cool-smelling' soaps more often - they're a not-expensive way to feel better about things. I _like_ smelling nice stuff, and I like the way the soap works. I've got a couple other cool-smelling soaps I want to dig out, too.

I have recaptured the Samson, and he is re-ensconced in the bathroom, with a surprising amount of petting allowed in transit. I still think I'm gonna wind up having to put him somewhere else, though.

Now I'm sitting here clean, in clean clothing, with clean hair, and everything smells _nice_ and I'm loving it. I'm surrounded by my rats and my cats and it's raining and cold outside, but it's nice and warm in here. I've got a couple of candles lit and good music on. I'm _writing_ again - nothing earthshattering, nothing that's going to make me wads of money, but ... stuff. Something.

There's been a lot of bad stuff over the last while and yeah, I've really been a mess at times. There was a lot of crying yesterday. Today is better. Tomorrow might be crappy again, and I expect a lot more crappy before I'm done the mental-rearrangement I've been working on, and figure out for sure where I'm going. But I'll take today, and tomorrow can take care of itself.

So I hear a bunch of squeaking, and I turn around to see that Siegfried (the big rat) and Reinhart (the little rat) are wrestling, and Siegfried has pinned Reinhart on his back, and Reinhart is squeaking indignantly...

...mostly because Siegfried is busily _washing_ him.

They're in the same cage now, and appear to be getting along Just Fine. It was amusing - the cage and some of the things in it are new to both of them (though I also put in a bit of each of their used bedding, and their preferred sleeping-places). So they both spent about the first ten minutes running around and looking at new things, completely ignoring each other. It was hysterical.

So, things are gonna be okay.

I'm so glad I got Siegfried a brother.

--

I went walking tonight -- just up to the store and back, but I'd forgotten how much I _like_ walking at night. Especially on a crisp cool fall night, with a full moon and the scent of leaves in the air...

--

Then I made fettuccini alfredo By Myself for the First Time Ever. It was good...and so damn easy, I don't know why I didn't learn it years ago. 'Course then, the last time I tried it I messed it up, and I don't know how I did that, either.

The more I learn to cook, the more _independant_ I am that way, the happier I am, too.

--

Took Chocolate to the vet today. I was supposed to bring Samson and Taltos too, but well...didn't happen. They're _fast_.

Chocolate rode in a pillowcase, because I could _not_ get him in the damn carrier. Until he freaked out in the pillowcase, but he was in the car by then, so I let him out and he sat in my lap, fairly happily.

Turns out that the vet had a few minor emergencies this morning, so two fewer cats to deal with was a goodness. I met one of the emergencies, a mastiff with a broken leg. Two hundred pounds of _dog_. He was so big, Chocolate didn't hiss at him. I think he thought he was a horse. Sweet dog, though.

--

Tomorrow I think I'm gonna take a mental day off and go hike on the Trail or somewhere for a while. Then, Serenity, either with Jodi or by myself, depending.

I'm wearing jeans and a flannel and socks.

I've got candles lit.

The sky is that lovely, lovely deep blue you just don't get when it's warm out.

Why can't it be nice like this all the time?

Last night, for the first time in months, my little cat came upstairs to snuggle me as I tried to get to sleep.

I finally slept well. Because, I had my little cat. :)