It will be fun to watch you transform the space in your talented way.

Awwww...thanks!

Braintree is very near Boston. I'd love to see you, but that weekend I'm going to be on vacation in New Hampshire :(. Bummer!

Vacation in New Hampshire is a good thing! I won't know my overall schedule until I get up there. I'm hoping to convince Trudy to hop on a train to Utica with Dallas for a visit.

I have yet to actually spend a night or day in the place I bought in Otter Lake last summer. I can't wait to get in there and make it mine. I strongly suspect that my parents have been doing things in there. Step dad replaced the pump for me. I hope that the well is adequate for my family. The old owner said I might have to dig a better well. We'll see. We might be roughing it for a while. Yay for mom next door.

Vacation in New Hampshire is a good thing!

Yeah. It's our big summer family trip. I'm excited. It's a good way to celebrate my 30th birthday, I think.

I'm hoping to convince Trudy to hop on a train to Utica with Dallas for a visit.

Oh, fun!

I have yet to actually spend a night or day in the place I bought in Otter Lake last summer.

Well, you'll have to do that!

So, tentatively, I think I can give a cautious Yay for the whole GettingMyShitTogether-ness accomplished so far today.

• Bagged up 3 binliners full of clothes to give away.

• Thrown out assorted other things.

• Prepared stuff to give to next door neighbour (wee tables, teaching materials etc) for use of next year's teachers.

• Found accommodation for The Cat Daniel over the summer, where they will make sure all his medical records are ready for Thailand.

• Reserved flights from UK to Cairo (August 15th) and Cairo to Bangkok (August 17th) to pick up cat and head to new job.

• Established how much it will cost to take cat with me.

Still need to close my Egyptian bank account, pay for flights and get Police Reports finalised at British Embassy. And finish sorting through stuff and tidying and so on. Nevertheless - Yay me!

Go Fay!

That's a lot done, Fay! When do you actually leave Egypt?

Yay, Fay! I am so glad you can take Daniel with you!

Yeah, I'm glad I've got my arse into gear and DONE something. Although it was really the lady at the cat shelter who bulldozed me into getting organized - Go Team Her!

....and now I'm actually wondering whether I should double my moggie problem, by getting Daniel a wee friend in Bangkok? Because there are all these domesticated street cats being left behind by expats, and locals won't adopt them, so it's really down to expats...and if I've got one cat anyway, surely another one isn't going to make that much more chaos? Is it?

Obviously not going to jump the gun on that, but it's something I'll keep in mind for when I get there - assuming I can find myself pet-friendly accommodation! (Please God!)

He's clearly enjoyed knocking around with next door's cat (variously known as The Cat [to the neighbour], Socks [to my Flatmate], Death [to me] and DeathSocks [to FriendAroundTheCorner]), so it might be nice for him to have a companion. Maybe.

Anyway, today is June 24th and I fly on the night of June 27th/morning June 28th. Busy busy busy!

IME, cats are not like dogs - two is not really terribly different than one, in terms of household disruption. And they can entertain each other, so you get a net savings in guilt when you're busy.

Of course, people I know who have multiple dogs use the "What's one more?" principle to justify. And I think that having two dogs who only have to be reminded of their manners is probably easier than having one puppy who needs to be taught his manners.