Satisfactory end of the working week

Not 100% satisfactory, because yesterday's lunch with the Austrian MP (only one, because the other one thought the arrival time was the departure time of the plane, and thus missed his flight -- no comment...) lasted till 4 p.m., so I couldn't take ze boyz to the vet. I thought I'd do it today, but events kinda overtook me, so it will have to be Tuesday. No harm done, though, I merely have to do it before 10 June.

The trousers I'd ordered from Marks&Sparks arrived today. They fit perfectly, and I now have four pairs of linen trousers, which I needed urgently. I could've gone to the tailor, but somehow didn't really feel like it. He's good, but not that good, i.e. well-made off-the-rack clothes look better on me. Plus, the length is perfect -- bless M&S's short-standard-long choice. (I wear "short", merely to state the glaringly obvious)

Lola was allowed to sleep on the bed last night. By ze boyz, not me. She stayed near my feet on the right side, ze boyz further up on the left. This is a step forward. Merely to be on the safe side, I ordered two books yesterday from amazon: "Aller guten Katzen sind ...?" ("... Cat's The Charm") and "Wenn Katzen Kummer machen" ("When Cats Become A Worry"), because even though I know a lot about cats and know my critters quite well, one lives to learn.

This morning, when I entered my walk-in wardrobe, Cornelius was sitting on the floor. "Hello, Co-" I said, looked up and said, "Hello, Lu-" then followed his upwards stare and said "Oh, and hello Lola!" Lucius and Lola were sitting on the third and top row of shelves respectively, and obviously didn' quite understand why their mother goddess laughed out loud. But it really did look very funny.

I wish the storm that has been brewing for hours would decide whether to break or not. Because I'd love to know whether I'll be playing tennis, running or going to the gym after work. (To be honest, I don't feel like doing anything today, so if it's gym I'll probably give it a miss. I blame yesterday's two hour of tennis and one of pilates, even though I've finally reached the stage where pilates doesn't give me sore muscles anymore. Sore muscles! Me! And the hamstrings to boot! Our coach is really, really tough.)

Oh, and I have chocolate! This, BTW, is one of the most unexpected developments: I've been avoiding choclate for *ages*. Every now and then -- meaning twice or three times a year -- I felt I needed some; otherwise I really didn't like it. I can't pinpoint when it started, but it's a fact that I quite like chocolate now. Not 70% cocoa chocolate, but chocolate nonetheless. Janine sent me some two weeks ago, custom-made by http://www.zotter.at/ (OMG YUMMY!!!!!), and I asked her whether I could have some more. "Some more" turned out to be around 2 kg. Chilli, ginger, whisky, champagne and cardamom. I'll give some to the embassy girls, and of course to Ursula, Stefanie and Irene (why not Alexandra, why???), but there'll still be a lot for me to enjoy.

And the weekend starts in 15 minutes!!!

Oh. It's raining now. That probably rules out tennis (probably, because those showers are very localized, so the courts might even be dry even though it's raining here), but since we'd be running on the riverside, where the ground is sandy, there's a chance running might be possible even if tennis isn't. You don't want to know about the logistics involved -- every morning I have to pack an outfit equally suited to tennis, running and gym, plus the racquets, plus two pairs of shoes (running and tennis), and I have to clean the running shoes for possible use at the gym... It's a tough old life, that's what it is.

Last but not least: I'm utterly in love with Jasper Fforde's books!