Some days you have to sneak up on the Word Raccoon. After her little fit last night (more on that soon), I just took her hand and pulled her through this morning.
Breakfast: (salad, WR, because you will mean to make one at lunch but you will be too hungry to, and some cherries. She ate about half of both before baring her teeth at me)
Hair: I had made her wash her hair yesterday so she had no excuse for lingering over it except whining that her curls looked tangled and like she’d had a rough night’s sleep. (It does. She had.)
I did not give her time to quibble over clothing, I have a selection of “work these in this week” clothes on the garment rack in the hall. Jeans, sweater, let’s go.
(I did give her a moment to put on her purple furry coat, but she wasn’t feeling it today, mercifully.)
Someone has to get shiz done, WR, and I reckon that’s me today!
She kept telling me there was no way we could make it to the library before it opened as she paused to do one “tiny” task after another.
I said I’m not Mother Time and so it didn’t matter. The idea was to get there.
We whipped on some eye and lip makeup, two things she feels cheated of if I don’t give her those. I said absolutely not to dithering over jewelry. Not after the night she gave me.
I did allow her to choose our shoes: the silver slip-ons.
I wrapped her in a scarf, threw on a coat, picked up the bag I had quickly packed without her input or even allowing her to finish the podcast episode she had been trying to listen to. “Rude,” she said.
I insisted on a bag of snacks: the rest of the cherries, a banana, string cheese, because I know she will be hungry in an hour flat. (BTW, I ordered a mini box cutter last night to carry so we can open all the snacks. Score.) There may be other, nonperishable snacks lurking in my bag but I’m not telling her about those or the cookies in the car and you’re not either! LOL.
We landed in the library parking lot just after they opened. She parked so crookedly that I made her take another lap, and we headed indoors in hopes of beating the crowd.
WHAT SHE DID LAST NIGHT:
First of all, I was doing the usual rounds of watching stupid YouTube shorts. Recently I was tricked into clearing my history, so I’m having to re-teach it what to show me. (That’s a stupid-moment story for another time.).
I fell asleep.
I woke up and the raccoon was clutching the phone while listening to Ed Sheeran lyrics.
I don’t mind Ed’s music.
But I don’t make a habit of listening to it. Apparently Apple shared a “romantic” playlist since it’s this weird, short little month that it is. Maybe it’s because WR took out the bag of V-day decorations to put up this week. Anyway, she was typing her own lyrics into the notes app.
They were ridiculous in that soft, cringey way where you know you’re playing with big feelings, but also, sleep deprivation and algorithmic romance playlists are a dangerous combo for someone who likes to riff.
I’m contractually obligated by WR to include at least one terrible line from last night. Here you go: “Death by lowercase / We move with strange poetry / through conversations.” She insists this is brilliant. I remain completely unconvinced and utterly embarrassed.
She said it is intolerable, this soft-romance fog that February brings. Something about needing to surround herself with familiar things, and soon, to keep from floating off the planet. Classic WR dramatics.
But I’m not sure she’s wrong.
While she naps (fingers crossed,) today’s work is to review a novel section and identifying scenes that need adding. I already have some notes to that effect. I will write the bones of the scenes separately, and then incorporate and expand them into the section.
I’m not sure how much of this I will make it through this morning since the section is about 100 pages long. It depends on how quiet WR will be. I’m pretty sure she’s gone back to sleep because I gave her boring food and clothes, and because this is the novel and I am not handing the notes app to her for more song lyrics or poetry.
Thank you, no thank you, WR.
(Whew, I just had a minute: I couldn’t find the new section I put together of those scenes. I had put it in the wrong folder. Yikes! All is well. I blame WR, though.)
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