Squirrel Girl

I’m anxious, maybe because I won’t have a full weekend to relax and kick around the house for a month. My nerves are wound up tight as cheerleader’s ponytail, and no, I am no longer freebasing OTC decongestants. I feel like Lucy, my skittish black cat. One out-of-place noise and I’m clattering out of the room with my claws out and my tail puffed.

On Monday, I got to work three hours late. I thought that I had by chance avoided the weekly nail clippings. Not so. 12:45 p.m. and the snip-snipping began. God help me, but one day I am going to wrench those fucking clippers out of his hands and run out of the building, never to be heard from a again.

This past weekend was non-stop chaos as Adrian and I shuttled from one social commitment to another. The visit to Williamsburg was nice, crap weather aside. Even though my quest for Tori tickets was fruitless (damn you Ticketmaster!), I had Zen shopping and lunch at the ‘Tec. It’s weird to explore the little town I know and love with someone other than Adrian. Since I roamed about with someone new I didn’t stick to my usual path and discovered places in the ‘burg I didn’t know existed.

For starters, there was the B&B we stayed in Friday night, the Aldrich House. Tucked off of Second Street on a non-descript cul-de-sac, the Aldrich House was a spacious, yet homey B&B run by Tom and Sue Patton and lorded over by the resident feline princess and three-legged wonder, KC. We were lucky to be the only guests in the place, so we took advantage of the huge great room to chill out after a wonderfully filling dinner at Christiana Campbell’s Tavern and bond with the purr machine KC.

Adrian and I stayed in the lovely Patton Room, and my only regret was that I didn’t get to enjoy a bubble bath in the massive whirlpool tub. Breakfast was excellent with huge slices of French toast, a bowl of sliced fresh fruit, sausage (that everyone else enjoyed), and scrambled eggs. I got a little mushy inside when I noticed that the juice glasses were the same type of hand-blown flutes Adrian and I used to make our first toast at our wedding reception. Our stay was made particularly special by an early morning visit by KC, who slept in the bed with us for a few hours and made use feel like we were at home curled up with our own kitty babies.

This was our third B&B experience since this summer, and I’d have to say it ranks slightly under the exceptional Barclay Cottage of Virginia Beach and their massive gourmet breakfasts, awesome personal attention, and perfect location. At the bottom ranks our stay at the Gentry House in NOLA. While the price and location were just right, I felt like we were afterthoughts to the innkeeper as he was taking classes. Amenities were sparse and our rooms did not get cleaned daily (or at all during our week’s stay, I think), but we did get rocking croissants for breakfast each morning and killer restaurant recommendations.

We’ll definitely stay at the Aldrich House again, and since being bitten by the B&B bug, will continue to find ourselves seeking out accommodations at inns rather than the typical hotel/motel experience.

My second ‘burg discovery was Mermaid Books on Prince George St. Tucked in a tiny basement shop below Parlett’s, Mermaid Books could be considered my ideal store: crammed to the gills with used and vintage books, tchotcke of various decades, and tons of ephemera here and there throughout the shelves. Add a dash of vintage clothes and hats, and I would have thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Evelyn had to practically drag me away when it came time to go find Tori tickets. If I’d known what a fruitless expedition that turned out to be, I would have stayed happy as a clam amongst the shelves and boxes so precariously arranged until I was weak with hunger and could no longer stand. I don’t know how long Adrian will stand the claustrophobic atmosphere and the proliferation of old stuff, but I will return to the Mermaid next ‘burg trip.

Congrats to my husband and his navigator Jeff who won their class in the Rides of March Rally. This was their first rally, and I am just pleased as punch for their success. Luck number 13, after all.

Be jealous. I’m going on a date tomorrow night.