(We interrupt the honeymoon pictures)

I've started feeling pretty panic-y and nasty tonight. Most of the night I've been restless, and it's now doing a segueway into anxiety.

Joy.

I wouldn't mind meditating right now - I even have new Twilight Alchemy oils to try - but my study is so messy that it's not a real option. So, even though it's almost 11pm, I'm off to start cleaning the study.

Day Two

Rear of Notre Dame, including those funky little apostles marching up the spire. Note: clouds! I'm not sure how often you'll see those in photos of this trip. Not, at least, until Prague.

One Year Ago Today.

This time last year - give or take a few hours - we arrived in Paris to start our honeymoon. I've been pondering the idea of posting a picture per day, in celebration of a good trip.

I give you the first actual picture Mr. Squirrel took:
That is me, sitting in the courtyard of our Paris B&B, waiting to check in to our room. It may also be the last time I wore jeans in the entire trip, as it was already hitting 95F at noon.

Also, some days there might be two, because I'm a sucker for photos.
This is nearing the end of day one: the super-touristy restaurant right near the Eiffel Tower. I include this because just last week I realized that the lack of outdoor seating in bars and restaurants around here makes me sad. This was where we toasted the beginning of our trip (yes, with champagne) and ate something before wandering back to the B&B and collapsing. (Note: we had arrived at 7.30am that day. By 9pm, we were both knackered.)

Apparently that knot in my stomach wasn't just from stress. I was up all last night sick, and I swear I've never actually felt my stomach muscles quiver in quite that way, before. I'm assuming it was caused by the lobster (!) that my neighbors/landlords made for dinner last night... but damn. Not much fun. I still don't feel much like eating anything, this morning.

I have, however, pretty much finished the syllabus and I think it's improved over last time I taught this. I need more time to rework the whole thing (readings, assignments, etc.), but that time is not now.

Bullets. They're just bullets.

• Tomorrow (Monday) starts the second session of summer courses. My syllabus is not finished.
• Our friend's wife died last weekend, and the last week has been spent trying to help him cope. I'm not sure if any of us helped, or not. Or if "help" is possible, in this situation.
• I'm trying to decide if it will be possible to pass one of my fall courses to friend (above). I realize that adjunct courses are not quite that malleable, but he needs the money more than I do. Am figuring that being honest about the situation to the chair of that department is the best bet.
• Much of this has left me with a knot the size of Montana in my stomach.

What exactly *is* this?

Tonight, I came across the cats in this position.

Little Guy (the Siamese) originally was asleep with one leg on either side of Winter.

Hmmmmm.

Oh, and...

Following up on that last Peru post, an odd shower experience:

This morning, I finished off my shampoo. Because of this, I didn't much feel like using the normal conditioner I use.

No, that doesn't really make sense. It wasn't that I was out of shampoo and therefore was just wetting my hair... I had just enough shampoo for today's shower. However, non-matching levels of shampoo and conditioner apparently make me uncomfortable.

Anyway, I peeked out of the shower to see if I had any other options, and what I saw on the shelf was a nearly-empty bottle of conditioner (Back to Basics Blue Lavender). Suddenly happier and more comfortable, I grabbed that, and applied as directed.

I was immediately overcome with a scent association, and was a bit overwhelmed with it -- the last time I used this particular conditioner was at the end of our honeymoon, at which time I'd become sick to death of the Blue Lavender smell, and had shoved the remainder of the conditioner on the shelf for "emergencies." I had used it daily for 5 weeks, and several times the shampoo (same scent) had to double as body wash... I'd definitely overdosed on that scent.

This morning, I felt like I was standing in a shower stall in Paris, and it was the strangest damn feeling.

You all are probably going to have to put up with random photos from last year, starting in a couple weeks...

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Random P.S. to comebacknikki: if you'd like to try the Mme. Moriarty perfume, I'd be happy to send you a bit! Just drop me an email - er, and remind me here to check that account! - and I'll send it out. The more BPALers in the universe, the better. :)