Last weekend I had resolved to catch the mouse in the laundry room and resolve the horrendous smell in the living room.

I never did catch that mouse. I think it either went away or was a figment of Tino’s imagination. Maybe it just learned to be quiet.

The smell, too, lingered on. I tried everything I could think of: baking soda and vinegar down the drain, cleaning out the garbage can with cleanser, and getting all the “crusties” out of the stove. I did a ton of dishes, too, but I kept leaving this one casserole dish that I used for an eggplant parm, “for next time”, except when next time came, I would forget about it because it was off to the side. When I finally lifted the pile of pans stacked on it, I discovered something horrible. I dropped the pans, clutched my stomach, laid down on the couch, and pitifully called for Rob to come deal with the maggots that were worming their way through the moldy, runny cheese.

I miss my dishwasher!

1. Keep steadfast in your hunt for the perfect purse. It will be worth it in the end.

2. If you don’t read the paper, cancel your subscription.

3. Irish car bombs are fun! But only once.

4. Meeting people in real life from flickr is fun and not creepy! (Happy anniversary, G!)

5. You have to let bread rise twice, or it won’t be as pretty. If you can’t wait, though, it’ll still taste good having risen only once. Also, if you need it to keep for several days, undercook it a little bit. When you’re ready for a slice, cut off your slightly doughy portion and finish it in the toaster over. Fresh bread for days! Make sure you keep it wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, though, or it will mold.

6. Tow truck drivers really do say “ten four!”

7. Seriously, don’t buy hard to register cars, like, say, vintage Volkswagons you can’t drive. Really. Really. Just don’t.

8. I build pretty snazzy shelves!

9. It’s fun to get up the day after Thanksgiving if you have fun guys to hang out with. And totally worth it if you want to score a Wii.

10. Speaking of Wii’s, you really do need to respect that they are “physical activity”.

11. I don’t need an expensive bed.

12. I don’t need two Thanksgiving dinners.

13. Photography is not too hard to learn. You should get a book, though, to help.

14. To clean vomited calamari out of your car: 1. Make your husband do it. 2. Be smug in the fact that you have something with which to mock certain friends with for a good long while.

15. There are a lot of REALLY amazing people in Puerto Rico who will help you should you find a dirty hurt dog and want to adopt them.

16. Dogs > diamonds.

17. 50mm lenses are AWESOME!

18. The iPhone is NOT over-hyped. It is awesome.

19. The only marriage anyone should ever have an opinion on is their own.

20. Rainbow Christmas > White Christmas.

21. Bringing your own shopping bags to the grocery store isn’t too hard once you get into the habit, and so much nicer than lugging gross, bad-for-the-earth plastic bags that cut into your hands.

22. When you are too sick to decorate your Christmas tree, it is wonderful to have friends come over and do it for you.

23. When you are part of a family, you can make up silly phrases, words, and songs and then use them on a regular basis. (In our family, some of them are, “Happy Dog Face”, “Happy Dog Foot”, “Uncertain Foot”, “Kind Words”, “Furminating”, “Snearaly”, “Sweetie Ears” and “Puppy Pile”. Also, the “Mountain Laurel Song” and the Song for Chubby Dogs.)

24. Rob and I have nearly the same political views. I honestly didn’t check before I married him, but I’m glad that worked out.

25. Bring your camera everywhere.

26. You can’t split a White Castle Crave Case three ways without risking a horrible stomach ache.

27. I learned a lot about the real estate and geography of western Brooklyn. In fact, I’m pretty much an expert on western Brooklyn neighborhoods.

28. Keep your eye on Tino. He’ll escape.

29. Ask tons of “stupid” questions if you’re confused about your health insurance. It will save you hundreds of dollars.

30. Dogs get colds! Who knew?!

31. Peeps are fun!

32. The dogs like goldfish, and so do I.

33. My husband makes breakfast in bed for me on my birthday. SCORE!

34. Good photography comes from the heart and soul and eyes. It does not come from the camera.

35. If you’re feeling blue, throw a dinner party with true friends who don’t care that you threw it together last minute. It will be good for your soul.

36. Margarine is the devil.

37. It’s ok to make $350,000 impulse purchases for sentimental reasons. Wait, hang on, this one I’m not sure about yet.

38. Ehhhhhh, you can cut your own hair. Well, I can.

39. If you have no dishwasher, you need to just buckle down and handwash on a regular basis, otherwise you will be stuck with Mount Dishmore.

40. Podcamp people are cool.

41. Living in Brooklyn suits me.

Tino jumped into bed last night several times, and every time he did, his little jabby paws would prod me awake as he made a nest for himself that inevitably included some bit of my person. He would circle a few times (jab jab jab!… jab.) and then flop down with a contended sigh, like he was thinking, “Ok, this time they’re going to let it slide.” Each time he landed, we put him back on the floor with a firm “No! Stay!”, but he must have heard “Try again in a few minutes.” because it went on all night long.

The lack of sleep and rushing around made today one of my least favorite kind of days days, although it ended nicely, with a cozy ladies dinner in Connecticut, and I got to put my hand on G’s ever-growing belly and feel her tiny daughter kick me hello.

Tomorrow, however, is totally empty. For the first time in a long time, and probably for the last time in a long time, the weekend is laid out totally blank! It’s New York City, I’m sure we’ll find something to do, although now that I’m thinking about it, we do have two important housekeeping tasks to tackle: find the source of the horrendous smell in the kitchen, and trap the mouse that lives in the laundry room and makes the dogs crazy.

Wish us luck.

Have a happy autumn weekend!

taken by me, from flickr