almost a post

I haven’t been here, there or anywhere online lately. The fact is that I've been the victim of a recent, unexplained attack of efficiency.

I've spent the last 10 days or so engaged in the most mundane endeavors imaginable, and while the accomplishment of said tasks has been personally satisfying it would certainly have made for some very tedious blog entries. Not that it's ever stopped me before ~ God knows that I am not above chronicling how many calories I ate for breakfast or the number of miles logged on a treadmill. It's just that I wanted to spare you, my imaginary audience, such pedestrian fare. Out of imaginary respect.

But I just got back from the gym (5 miles and an hour of Chi Gong…d'oh! Sorry...habit) and when I realized I had an hour of free time (well, free-ish; there's laundry to do and I ought to pack) I thought, hey ~ why not roll all that dullness into one post?

So: this week I cleared the kitchen counter of the detritus of a couple of years; the result of an indifferent and laughable filing system ~ bills paid, payable; insurmountable or unaccountable ~ all properly filed away now. Gone too are the clippings from newspapers yellowed with age; book reviews and directions to gallery exhibits long past; articles on how to remove red wine and grease stains from the carpets, and spider mites and rabbits from the yard. A column on how to properly wear false eyelashes ~ I'm keeping that one. It may come in handy. Also keeping the Bizarro cartoons. Just because.

I threw out magazines and catalogues I'd been saving for...dunno. The Rapture, maybe. I cleaned the house and hit the garden, finally finishing cutting back the roses and mucking about in the dirt. I found the bottom of the laundry basket and had lunch with a friend. Started a new painting and even dabbed at the epic, never-to-be-completed piece whose working title is now 'Journey.' As in 'Never-ending.'

My car died, not once but twice ~ the first time I bought it a new battery and whispered sympathetic words of love and gratitude in it's ear. The second time I just growled and left it to sulk by itself in the garage for the weekend. Now it's at the shop, awaiting diagnosis. I am expecting a call.

I colored my hair (again) ~ an impossibly, implausibly who-does-she-think-she's-kidding-with-that bittersweet chocolatey brown that makes me want to don a tiny black tee, move to a loft in SoHo and take up smoking again. I had it trimmed as well; chunked up the bangs but kept the length. I'm letting it grow just to see if I can still get away with it.

I can’t.

I went shopping and bought a soft, teal-colored little somethin' somethin' with a deeply plunging neckline to wear under a bright, sparkly little somethin' else at dinner during our cozy Valentine's getaway tomorrow. I already have a pair of strappy black sandals with 3 inch come hither heels. It’s entirely possible that I could injure myself. Long story short ~ I get lucky Tuesday night or die trying.

Happy Valentines's Day!