Escape to Kittery

When NoL woke up yesterday morning at 6 or 4, or whatever time it was, not being able to breathe, she decided that she cannot stay in the house for the weekend, due to her allergies. Unlike me, her allergies are not seasonal (or at least not all of them), and it seems clear to us all that she has severe allergies to the cats (or at least to having three of them plus a dog in the house). I had already done my researching, searching out and finding someone who cleans heating vents, so whatever % of her allergy problems that have been exacerbated by the dust and so on kicked up through the venting system because of the heat will be addressed on Monday morning. Hopefully, that's a good 50%. But, we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully that's also some of mine, but like I said, mine are very much outdoor and seasonal allergies.

Regardless, we took the opportunity (if you want to call allergies an opportunity) to get out of the house, and we are all currently in Kittery, ME, after a day of Sedwick skydiving and a day of NoL and I just hanging out. Unfortunately, while I had EVERYONE else's stuff all packed up, including bowling balls for tonight, I forgot my own stuff, so I had to go out and buy clothes and PJs for the weekend. Can you imagine? That's going on my imaginary (or not so imaginary) spreadsheet of how much extra money I've had to spend due to cats. Today, we are planning on going to Portsmouth to hang around before leaving for bowling in Lowell. We decided last night to try to stay over in the house tonight since we'll have been gone for two days, but tomorrow, after the vent people come, we'll leave for my class (NoL will come along) and be out of the house while everything settles for the day/evening.

There is some happy news. I got some nice PJs and some nice clothes. I also got some candy for the Christmas basket at the place called "Yummies" in Kittery. We had a nice dinner of lobster bisque and crab melts, which was relatively cheap. I got all of my medications and I'm trying some new things for my eyes and nose (just over the counter salines and things). I bought some scrapbooking things at Michael's and I made some progress on my niece's scrapbook, which will be her Christmas present this year. It appears to be turning into two different scrapbooks, but that seems to be fine. I found a model (online, of course) 3D World Trade Center that I think my Rollie will love. And this morning, I woke up early (before 8) and didn't feel like I needed to sleep for hours more. I think that without sleeping pills and with all of the allergens in the house, I've just been feeling rather ill. So, hopefully, the cleaning of the ducts will take care of some of that.

It looks like NoL and I will be coming to NY on Thursday and staying through Sunday, or at least Saturday, so as to escape the allergy/cat situation. Yesterday was another very fun experience in a conversation between NoL and the other housemate. Basically, the other housemate has been told that the cats need to go by the end of Nov. NoL was trying to come up with ways to make her life better (e.g., putting the cats in the bedroom or the basement), but that was a no go. It's a long story, one best told by NoL, so I'll let it go at that. Suffice it to say we were chased away this weekend and we'll be chased away next weekend. Happily, for me, there is only one more weekend in November that I'll have to survive since I'll then be leaving for the Thanksgiving holiday. I can't wait to see my guys.

The gist is that apparently the cats will be gone by the end of the month. It's a long story, and it remains to be seen whether this is the case, especially given the violent reaction yesterday (which seemed odd since we thought this was settled). If the cats are not gone by the end of the month, I may not come back to MA until Eric and Deb's wedding weekend (on the 5th), and then I'll probably attend my courses on the 7th and 8th and leave to go back to PA. I'll pack a good number of my winter clothes and books I think I'll need for the winter months, and I'll wait patiently to see if there's any change.