our stuff has arrived and taken up residence in the middle of the floor. it's a hopeless mess and akin to some famous puzzle or conundrum of which i can't remember the name: what do you call it when you can't do anything until you have already done something? i can't put the furniture in place because the boxes are blocking the way, but i can't empty the boxes until i have the furniture in place. actually, that sounds like a catch 22.

mike has set up the tv and the vcr, though, so i can watch movies as i wallow in my despair.

speaking of despair, baxter is sick. when we woke up yesterday morning, his eyes were all foggy and he wasn't moving. mike said "hey, he didn't wake us up at 6 a.m.!" and then it turns out we wish he had. we brought him to the kitty hospital and as of this afternoon he's doing better, although they still don't know what's wrong with him. all of this begs the question: is there such a thing as health insurance for kitties?

and speaking of health, mike did his first tour of central park on his bike. he claims to have survived, but his shirt is still damp with sweat 24 hours later so i'll let you all be the judges of that.

one more thing: it seems that all i had to do to get a job in new york was simply to move here. yesterday i was interviewed at two different places and was offered jobs at both. one is at the queens public library in a large hispanic community and the other is at a bookstore (the one that "the shop around the corner" in "you've got mail" was based on, in case you have seen that movie). i'll probably take the library job, but the bookstore is tempting too, particularly since they bring in so many amazing authors (and famous people shop there too! go figure!)

well, now it's back to my living room. we're thinking about all of you out there in the midwest (and elsewhere) and wondering if you are sweating as much as we are in as much ridiculous heat. i'm so glad our air conditioning is up and running.