On My Own

Tom's on a business trip this week.  I've been dreading this.  As it is, I usually spend most of the day inside the house taking care of Sly, cleaning, and grading papers for my very-part-time job...and by the time Tom arrives home from work, I am desperate for his company and a change of pace.  I didn't think I would survive this week without knowing I would have some small relief from my typical schedule each day.  So I set about to fill up my calendar with activities.  I am babysitting my cousins-once-removed two days this week, going to a midwife appointment, eating dinner with my dad one night , tutoring one student, eating dinner with my mom one night, visiting a friend and her new baby, and eating dinner with friends one night.  Man - at least Tom going away is good for my social life.

One thing I'm not sure how I'll handle on my own, though, is the litterbox.  Perhaps one of the few things I truly love about being pregnant is that it gets me out of litter-scooping duty for nine whole months!  Now I know some people aren't that worried about toxoplasmosis, and I've heard the rumor that if you grew up with cats, you've probably been exposed to it already and aren't at risk.  But my mom grew up with cats, and got it during her pregnancy with her fourth child, putting my youngest brother in a lot of danger!  So I don't want to mess with it.

Tom tells me I should do everything possible to convince some charitable soul to come over and scoop the litter for me.  Yeah right.  I can just imagine that phone call: "heeeyyyyyyy friend, I have a really big favor to ask.  Would you be able to drive over to my house and scoop a bunch of cat crap into a bag for me?  Thanksomuch."  I'm thinking I'll probably just resort to piling more and more clean litter on top of the dirty stuff, and hoping to smother the smell.