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So I'm not dead. You know, in case you were wondering. I haven't been lying in a ditch on the side of the road (you were so worried! you were worried sick! couldn't I have called?) and I haven't even been, like, eaten by wolves or something cool like that. Or wildebeests, that would be even cooler.
(Wildebeests? Or wildebeest? Which is the plural? Help me out, my ratio of Hours I've Been Asleep to Hours I've Been Awake is hovering around the 1:10 mark.)
No, I haven't been dead the whole week, I've just been pinned down under the weight of a hideous cold (welcome to 2008! here's some green mucus and a voice like a 13-year-old boy!), as well as packing and unpacking for Vietnam, and then packing and unpacking for my return back to the States. Where I arrived safely this afternoon, thank you. I have much to tell you about, including my bespoke new wardrobe (half of which I am now regretting), my various reunions with the townspeople of Hoi An, the fact that I don't have Sean's main Christmas present to give him, the two hours I spent in Business Class on an eleven-hour flight, and the fact that one of my cats has been peeing all over the bed every day since I've been gone and now all my sheets smell like kitty piss, despite Sean's insistence that he has washed them rigorously. (Cat pee! You are the creation of Beelzebub! You are the Paris Hilton of the urine world! Why don't you stop lingering and just leave? You've made your statement! Nobody wants to remember you anymore!)
Obviously, I'm rather jetlagged. And that bit I said earlier about unpacking? Untrue: my two sixty-pound bags are still sitting untouched on my bedroom floor, five hours after I walked in the front door this afternoon. Well, I mean, I've taken the enormous Toblerone out of one of them. But that was a given, wasn't it?
Jan 08, 2008
Amen, lady. My bags have barfed all over my foyer merely so I could access my toiletries, otherwise, I've done zilch since my return to D-Land from the States yesterday. Also, I sound like Kathleen Turner meets Steve Erkel. International flight induced head colds are awesome!
Jan 08, 2008
I hate unpacking and it takes me forever to do it. I think it has something to do with hanging up clothes because I hate doing that when I do laundry, too. Glad you are back safe and sound, if not completely healthy, and can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.
Jan 08, 2008
Welcome back! And if it makes you feel any better, I've been back in NYC a whole week, and both of my suitcases are still sitting untouched in the middle of my bedroom floor. And considering I live in a typical Manhattan apartment, that means that I have nowhere to walk.
Jan 08, 2008
Welcome home!
Also, wanted to weigh in on the cat urine bedclothes. You may need to get rid of them. Urine-Off works well on carpets and other fabrics so I would assume it'd work on sheets, but part of the key is leaving it wet on the exact spot. Cat urine has some really interesting properties - enzymes and crystals and other magical things that makes it so smelly. Anyway... getting he smell out can be a challenge. I'm sure Sean did wash them rigorously.
Good luck!
Jan 08, 2008
My cat once peed on my car seat and despite a rigorous cleaning, the smell always came back in the summer. Something about the heat resurrected the stench. Finally I got rid of the car (not because of cat piss but it could have been reason alone - remember the Seinfeld episode when he had to abandon his car because it reeked of B.O.?)
Can't wait to hear all about your adventures.
Jan 08, 2008
I'm so interested to hear all about your adventures in Vietnam! Feel better soon and do some blogging for all your readers who must live vicariously through you.
Jan 08, 2008
The correct form, I believe, is "wildebeasties." They roast well, perhaps with a little thyme; serve with gravy.
Jan 08, 2008
Try soaking them in Oxyclean and near boiling water. It may take a couple soaks, but that usually does the trick.
Oh yeah, welcome back!
Jan 08, 2008
Welcome back!! If it makes you feel any better, I'm just getting over a head cold too, but I don't have an exotic mini-vacation and new clothes to show for it.
Jan 08, 2008
Welcome home! I'm sending you virtual matzo ball soup and banishing you to bed with a trashy magazine
P.S. I feel you on the cat vs. bed issue. Guess who's comforter and cute duvet cover went straight to the trash when my roommate accidently locked my cat in my room overnight, causing him (my cat, not my roommate) to relieve himself on said comforter and cute duvet cover? Mine!!!
Jan 08, 2008
Welcome back!
There's nothing worse than wanting to climb in your bed and having kitty pee smell to deal with. Yuck!
I had a friend whose kitty peed all over a pile of towels. Someone suggested washing them in hot water with like 1/2 a gallon of white vinegar. I was sure she would have to throw all the towels out, but she said the smell is gone. Worth a try, no?
Jan 08, 2008
I second the white vinegar. I recently had to deal with a new adopted kitty who had some issues with peeing on things. Just put some white vinegar (uh, I don't use as much as 1/2 gallon) in with your wash and it will do the trick!
The mattress is another story...
Jan 08, 2008
Hi! Nature's Miracle for the cat pee. Or, new sheets. (Yay, new sheets!)
Jan 08, 2008
Welcome Home! Can't wait to hear all about your adventures. I hope you feel better soon . . .seems as if 2008 brought the ugly cold to a lot of people!
Jan 08, 2008
Mmm Toblerone ... reminds me of that Friends ep with Joey and his requests of a giant Toblerone bar from Ross.
Jan 09, 2008
I have a recommendation (not cat urine related)! There is this awesome program I read about in NYTimes called Scrivener. It is mentioned in an article that curses the blank-screened tyranny of Microsoft Word and its deleterious effects on the creative process. I tried to explain it to a friend and made it sound markedly uncool, but what could be better than a program that allows easy organization of research, references, drafts, chapters, and subplots via key word search? I know it does more, but I'm still working my way through the tutorial. It displays things beautifully, with corkboards, index cards, and full screen view with typewriter scroll.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/magazine/06wwln-medium-t.html?ref=maga...
Jan 09, 2008
Yay you're back! Best wishes for resting up and feeling at home. Unpacking will happen either quickly or slowly but it's not worth worrying about. And now at least you know the cats missed you, right?
Jan 10, 2008
Welcome back Holly! Don't feel bad. I think we're all trying to get over the holiday experience (and unpacking). Plus, some of us have been trying to make sure we don't float away in all the water we've been getting lately. :-/
Happy 2008!
Jan 10, 2008
We too are dealing w/the cat "situation" as well in our house. Unfortuneately, due to a previous I owned many years ago I have some experience with this subject. The smell is probably in your mattress as well (unless you had a waterproof pad on it, if you did you're covered.) Not only would I do the vinager thing w/the sheets I would put some of it in a spray bottle & spray it on the mattress. Once it dried I would flip the mattress to be safe. If the cat can still smell it, they'll do it there again. Good luck w/that. Hope you feel better & can't wait to hear your travel stories.
Jan 11, 2008
I have to thank you for all the great music you keep passing along. I've discovered Beirut, Los Campesinos and now Fionn Regan through your site. Thank you! I can't wait to hear about your travels and the mystery present you bought for Sean. :)
Jan 13, 2008
i absolutely hate unpacking. it's seriously the worst thing ever.
except for maybe trying to get cat pee out of fabric. you may not just need new sheets, you may need a new mattress as well unless you had a mattress pad on it.
i've not read your other comments; i'm sure someone has told you how to get the smell out. they're probably all worth trying but probably none of them will work. the smell of cat piss is more elusive than jason bourne.
feel better soon!