Say nice things about me, 'cause I'm gone. . .

Tomorrow I leave for California, where I will be spending a week in the lap of near-luxury, if not outright dissipation, in the company of Beloved Sister and Friend Pens The Lotion Slut.

Beloved Sis has been emailing all week with details about the tiny goats'-milk soap she's wrapped in Japanese printed paper and arranged lovingly in tiny straw baskets in the guest-house bathroom. Pens said today on the phone, "It just makes me feel bad to think that we're going to be using up all her toothpaste and stuff, you know?" To which I replied, "Beloved Sis will be like a pig in a wallow, knowing that she can go out and buy new Vetiver soaps and wrap them in delicate paper with flower-petal inclusions. GET OVER IT ALREADY."

There is whale-watching scheduled. And wine-tasting. And pedicures and facials and a B & B in Cambria after the tour of the Hearst Castle. I am taking a pair of leggings on this trip, bought special today at Target: that's how you know I'm serious about being in Northern California.

What this means for you, the devoted minions of Head Nurse: I will not, unless circumstances permit, which I certainly hope they don't, be posting. I'll update you on the Hospital Follies du jour when I get back. You're on your own.

There may be pictures, too.

PS: Thanks for the good wishes and prayers; my house is on the other side of Bigton from the fires, which are now mostly-contained. If y'all want to donate money or clothing or household goods to the folks in Central Texas who lost fucking everything, please talk to your local Red Cross chapter. We need animal chow, too--everything from cat food to horse feed. Thank you.