Couldn’t blog the dogs

… because every time I whipped out my camera, they stopped doing whatever it was that was so darn cute. But they were so darn cute! There were three big dumb floppy girl-dogs and we had just the best day! My internet connection wasn’t fab so I did a lot of reading while they snoozled, and that probably did me some good too. I rode the high from the big-dumb-dog-day until oh, probably yesterday. Today I came back down to earth a bit and kind of remembered that I’m sad.

But also very busy! But is that just a way to distract myself from the sad? But it’s good to distract yourself in the early stages because you’re too wounded to look directly at the pain, you’ll spiral. But it’s bad to distract yourself for too long because the grief is gonna sneak up and getcha at some point when you’re least expecting it! Aw hell, I don’t know.

And then in the middle of all this Mr. Husband texted me a buncha fightin’ words and I decided to wait a few days before responding because I was mad-mad but I didn’t want to escalate, and then today he had to tell me about some tax thing and he was calmer and less of a dickbag and so now I have all this anger and nowhere to put it. I can’t really go into detail because of other people’s privacy but it’s been a bit of a roller coaster. But just a small one, the kind you see at the fair that’s run by a dude in a ladybug costume, you don’t even have to be this tall to ride. I guess that’s an improvement.

Still singing All At Once by Whitney Houston, though. Yeah he’s a moron, but he was my moron.

My new job is boring

Not to me, of course – I love every minute I spend there! Content Management Systems! Tick this box! Paste in this text over here! Email this person! Wheeee! But it doesn’t give me a lot to blog about.

I got a few more little busy things done, appointment for the winter tires, sorted out a health insurance thing, dry cleaning. You know. And taught my one remaining English student about the distinctions between I’m gonna, Imma, and I’m finna. That was fun.

Ooo! And tomorrow! Dogdogdogdogdog! A friend is taking his mom to a show in Munich so I get to dogsit both his dogs and her dogs in a house full of dogs for an entire day tomorrow! And I’m allowed to feed them pizza bones and it’s going to be SO. MUCH. FUN. I plan to introduce them to Deep Space Nine. The world definitely needs more dog trekkies.

I’m getting better at not thinking about my husband. Would my therapist say this is a good thing or a bad thing? Hmm, she’d say a break to heal is good but at some point you’re going to have to face all this. But is this that point? It’s been almost seven months.

But nevermind that. Let’s think about shiny things!

Oops, forgot the photos this time

So yeah, I got back from Pakistan with just enough time to drop off my luggage and change my clothes before dashing off to a very loud show in a quite small club – well, not that small, I guess. Smaller than the Crocodile, bigger than the little dives on Eastlake where my friends used to play for free beer, if that helps you visualize it.

Anyway.

Then home to sleep, and then in the morning I got up and went to the Recycling Kaufhaus – that’s this amazing giant second-hand shop that has everything and if there is a Look I’m going for in the new house, it is definitely “Used.” Found some wall-light fixtures (Thing 2 is tired of peeing in the dark), a mop bucket, a couple other all-purpose buckets in that white industrial plastic instead of the cheap flimsy plastic that buckets are made of when you buy them new at the store, got a few bowls and a teapot, big square basket, a Swiffer, eyeballed this wonky turquoise exercise-bike but did not buy it. Then I went to the hardware store for a few more cleaning supplies, and then I drove to the Dorfen house and hugged my kid. We had dinner and caught up on lots of things and I did a bit of cleaning and that was Saturday.

Sunday was some copy-editing and more cleaning and unpacking and also tea with my MIL to ask her questions about the garden (the answer to all of which was “wait til spring”). She seems unhappy about some of Dr. Bob’s recent life choices, but she says she can’t say anything, he just gets all mad. Sigh. I spent the rest of the day binge-watching Crazy Ex Girlfriend.

This morning I um. Hhh. Well I went to city hall and registered the Dorfen house as my new address and also picked up the garbage collecting schedule and a bus schedule, and then told the bank about my new address and then I went to the Utilities place with all the paperwork they’d sent me and nervously told them that I’m not a native speaker and also my husband used to handle everything so I am way more clueless than the usual customer and a nice young woman sat down with me and helped me fill it all out and explained what would happen when – the meter reader comes in December, you get a bill in January, if you used less water/gas/electricity than the usual amount you get some money back, it all seems very civilized. And then I went to Lidl to buy headphones – I never go to Lidl, but hey, €5 – and I saw a friend from 10 years ago that I’d lost touch with so yay, hug hug hug, you’re still here! You’re coming back! Yaaay! So that was nice. And then on the way home I found a secondhand store that has a lot of housey things so if Gus needs more bowls or something he can look there instead of waiting for me to get them at the Recycling Kaufhaus, so that was good because I’m only there every other weekend, at least for November. Maybe every weekend in December?

And then I went home and moved the furniture from the living room where we’d just plonked it down, to the rooms where it would ultimately live, and then I drove back to Heidelberg and here I am. Kinda tired, but feeling very successful whew!

Sorry for no pictures. But it was a good weekend!

So that was Pakistan

Here are the last pics from Pakistan, mostly High Tea at a restaurant called the Spice Bazaar…

Fountain outside the Spice Bazaar

The Salad Course

Fried Things and Some Noodles

Pakistani-Chinese food!

 

…and a shop whose name I found amusing…

…also a trip to the grocery store and a vegetable they call “bitter gourd” that I thought tasted a lot like zucchini…

And finally, ice cream at a place where you park and a guy brings a menu out to the car and you tell him your order and then he brings you ice cream. To your car.

That was Thursday, and the Friday super early I flew home and arrived just in time to drop off my luggage at home, change, and rush off to a show with some friends. There was beer. And a spot of moshing.

Song du jour of the day: Witch Doctor by De Staat, the band I saw Friday night.