As has been usual so far this year, I've been flying around the country like a madwoman, with barely enough time to reload my suitcase let alone get anything done in the house. Last week I did a 28-hour trip to Austin (left at 5:00 am on Thursday from NYC, left at 5:00 am on Friday from Austin). Then I came home for one night, went to a major synagogue function on Friday night, reloaded my suitcase, flew out on Saturday afternoon to Chicago, saw my best friend and her new baby, had an all-day meeting with my colleagues on Sunday, did a tradeshow for three days, stayed with my family, and came home on Wednesday night (well, actually, Thursday morning) at 1:00 am. So, I got one short night of sleep on Wednesday actually with Adam in one bed!, then Adam left for Providence on Thursday morning. I think I can count on one hand the number of nights we've spent together in the last month; it's less than we used to spend when he officially lived in Providence and I lived in Riverdale. Why did we decide to move in together? When does this living together thing actually start? On Thursday evening I came home to the beautiful smell of oil-based paint - apparently the painter decided that the oil primer that we'd bought for the tin ceiling in the kitchen was the right primer for the old bathroom (remember that one, it's the only running water we have in the house?). So, by the time Adam realized what was happening, Victor (painter) had primed the bathroom with oil thus necessitating (according to him, anyway) that the paint we use in the bathroom also be oil. So Thursday night, when I'm finally able to kick back and relax a bit and watch the next-to-last West Wing (before this weekend's finale), I'm instead burrowed under the covers, with all the windows open, holding a cloth against my nose and mouth because the smell is so bad that it makes my eyes water. At about 9:30 pm, after finishing WW, I had two thoughts: either drag the Aerobed to the 3rd floor and sequester myself up there, or decamp to my friend Marni's house for the night. I was too tired and lazy to do either, so I opened the windows wider and hunkered down for the night. By the morning the smell wasn't so bad - but Victor was there at 8:00 am, ready to put on a fresh coat of primer....ooh, can't wait. So, unbelievably, given all my recent travel, I'm considering it good news that I'm on the road again this weekend, this time to Providence via Amtrak to spend Mother's Day with Adam's mom and his brothers/sisters-in-law (and sister-in-law-to-be). I don't think Adam has anything more lethal in his Providence apartment than a dirty bathroom, so I'll be fume-free for two days. The painter promised to try and finish on Monday, but his promises have been pretty empty lately, so I will probably have to set up camp on the 3rd floor after all. I worry about Joey the cat hanging out in the house, too, though he's smarter than I am and probably spent all of last night on the 3rd floor without me.