So...puzzles and pee

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People, when Ol was sick last week, I ordered two new White Mountain 1,000-piece puzzles. Cuz that's how I roll when illness courses through our house. Ol has pretty much zero interest in puzzling, however, so I didn't start in on Wacky Packages until Saturday. I schlepped my trusty card table from the garage to the basement, set up shop on the couch and laid out about 80% of the border and a few of the silly packages before taking a break. Hours later, or was it overnight, I returned to the table, eager to continue.

What I found was the aftermath of a Tasmanian Devil's spin through the 1,000 pieces. Seriously, none of the pieces remained together, some were back in the box, the floor was littered... it was like some lunatic had tossed a giant puzzle salad with frenzy and then left as quickly as he'd arrived. But wait, what's that? Why are some of the pieces in the box wet? An anxious, investigatory sniff alerted me to the completely unwelcome presence of pee. Cat pee. Nutmeg, he of the UTI, had apparently gone apeshit in my puzzle and then iced the cake by wetting it. I dare say I was more offended than I've been in some time.

Tom was repulsed and suggested I throw the puzzle out. But I could tell just how challenging and enjoying Wacky Packages would be, and so I refused. I put that sucker together, piece by soggy piece, until I finished late yesterday afternoon. Disgusting, but I was not about to let Cat get in my way: Wacky Packages did not disappoint. Then I scoured my hands 85 times because really, it was kinda gross.

It's always something.

Oliver finally returned to school today, and it is unbelievable to have all this time on my hands. I took myself out for a quick breakfast and then exercised. And showered. And actually filed my nails. As our home would have been condemned had any non-family member seen it, it's good I have also had hours to clean.

Have y'all read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? I have been reading it aloud to Jack and Tom for the past two nights, and it is fabulous. Very edge-of-your-seat with innumerable opportunities to teach J new words. We've been lighting a fire and cuddling round the hearth. Thank you Verne!

www.em-i-lis.com

No nephew yet, but...

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Ok y'all, my nephew decided to take.it.slow. He has not arrived, and my cute sister and her husband continue to walk miles around the hospital in Florence. She had so hoped for a Halloween baby, but when that day passed, we thought, Ok, November 1. How wonderfully alliterative and neat is 11/1!! Indeed, Elia's water broke this morning, but then no dice, and so 11/2 it likely will be. Via FaceTime, I attempted to sell Elia and her hubs on the marvelous mathematical nature of 11/2 because, obviously, 1+1=2. They were like, "Seriamente, sorella. Tu sei pazza." Ok, ok. Maybe it's just me because my birthday, 4/16, is so mathematically neat too. 4x4=16!! This is as mathematically adept as I get, so it could be that limitation too.

I pushed a bit, and Elia was like, "Man, November 2 is The Day of the Dead in Italy. Like, people walk around with bouquets of flowers to lay at their relatives' graves." Hmm. Ok, I can still work with this I thought.

We said goodbye, and T and I then tried to find a list of famous people born on November 2 because perhaps a great celebrity coincidence would make 11/2 seem beyond grand. If, for example, Benedict and I shared a birthday, that would be A-MAZing. We don't. He was born in July for the love.

Anyway, famous people. We really struck out in this pursuit. Marie Antoinette and Daniel Boone are decent, but she was guillotined and kind of a wench, and he is fairly forgettable. All in all, they're B-list at best.

So what about important events? Wonderful happenings? Some of those would be swell.

The best we could find was that BBC TV was rolled out on 11/2 in 1936. On that very same day in the very same year, however, Mussolini proclaimed the Rome-Berlin axis, so that's really a wash at best, yes? Later on 11/2, the South Vietnamese president was assassinated, and later still, David Schwimmer was born.

So.... moral of the story is: the day is yours, my darling nephew. It is wide the eff open just for you. I dare say that by virtue of being a fabulous Ital0americani boy you will surpass all the rest. We can't wait to meet you!