my new favorite

Things that get me out of bed on a cold Tuesday morning in April

1. Homemade granola: So granola has become my newest culinary obsession because it combines three of my favorite things -- saving money, bulk foods, honey-covered baked goods. Last night I was feeling DOWN, raided the bulk foods at Madison Market, headed home and immediately set to work furiously toasting honey-glazed oats and almonds and sunflower seeds. Does my apartment smell delicious? Yes. Is my tummy full of goodness at 9 a.m. this morning? Yes. Do I now possess enough granola to feed a small country for a year? Fo sho. Wins all around.

2. The threat of sunshine: Hey sunny, I saw you peeking out from under my blinds this morning. It's okay, baby; I don't bite. Come gimme summat sweet Vitamin D.

3. An inflamed right tonsil: HO. LY. WOW. It hurts. It hurts! What is it about sore throats that makes everything feel icksville? My teeth hurt, my ear hurts, my sinuses hurt. And as to where this came from, well, I'm pleading the fifth.

4. Major endowments: Of the college persuasion, dirtymind. Columbia just gave me 12 credits free next year ... that's about $12k I don't have to stress about. And/or a year's worth of rent in Brooklyn. And so the benefits of a well-endowed Ivy League university begin to reveal themselves. I'll take 'em.

5. http://www.theonion.com/content/news/son_of_a_bitch_mouse_solves_maze Aww, son of a bitch mouse!

6. NOT TALKING ABOUT Pennsylvania. I'm already overwrought.

what walks on four legs and holds the key to my heart?

So Olive is now at, what I'm calling for the purpose of trying to make myself not feel like the world's worst mother, her West Seattle summer camp playing with her sister and the world's greatest yellow lab, Ms. Penny. A few weeks ago, while Olive was dallying around outside on my windowsill, the building owner drove by and, well, that's that. I'm not supposed to have cats. I was breaking the rules. Case closed. Long story short, Olive is gone until I leave for New York in August and my heart is broken.

Yeah, so my apartment is a little cleaner, and I don't have a million glasses in the dishwasher that have fallen victim to dipping kitty paws, and I don't have to live with double sided tape all over my couch blah blah blah. I do have a silent house, and no one to cuddle under the covers with me at night, and no one to greet me at the door when I get home and talk to me when I'm bored, and nothing to pet and scratch right before I fall asleep on the couch for a nap. I never pictured myself as a cat lady, and i still might argue that I'm more of just an animal lady in general, but Olive has got me whipped and I miss her immensely. I actually can't think about it without bursting into tears. I miss my girl.