6 good and 1 bad

GOOD THINGS: 1. The sister sock to my sockwars-sock-that-fits came today! I celebrated by taking photos. If you're especially attentive (or a stalker) you may notice that I took this photo on sometime large and firm. Covered by a blanket. A bed! 2. I finally got a box spring and am able to stop sleeping on the floor. Actually, I'd been sleeping on the futon (also known as the metal frame with bits of packed-down batting draped over it) after a particularly horrific spider encounter. In bed one night -- mattress on the floor -- I was blissfully reading and thinking of nodding off. Then I adjusted the blankets and out from under them crawled a spindly brown fellah about the size of a half dollar. I left the mattress immediately and in a very undignified manner. I couldn't bring myself to go back, so I've been sleeping on the futon which, while not spider proof, is at least a few inches off the floor. If I wake up with a spider in my bed, I want to know that it wasn't easy for him to get there. Anyway, I have a complete bed now and Otto and I are spending the late afternoon lying on it, enjoying the sun coming in through the back door* and listening to birds and other small things rustling in the leaves outside. 3. I found a new grocery store, and it has a section of German food, organic packaged foods (not just fresh vegetables), and random bits and pieces of stuff from the UK. There are stores around here with larger selections of all of these things (except German foods -- but their presence is apparently due to the population of elderly German immigrants who live nearby), but this one is part of a chain and only five minutes from my place. I will be going back and trying German condiments with dangerous names. 4. Some students have taken an interest in the course I'm teaching in the spring and they emailed me for more information. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 5. Thanksgiving vacation is fast approaching. 6. The Senate, the House, and Rumsfeld. BAD THING: I finally dragged myself to the student health center and got my prescription for my blood pressure medication renewed. This is good, but my BP was shockingly high. So high that I'm not going to tell you what it was. Just imagine high numbers and add ten to each of them. Luckily I have this lovely new bed, the setting sun, and a cat to calm me down so I don't have a stroke before I go pick up the prescription. Oh, and did I mention? I've got new socks! I really loved this photo until I realized that my left foot is pointing right at the toilet. Oh, screw it. I still like the photo. *That door has some serious locks on it, don't worry.