Boyfriend picked out a nice place for us to stay in Tucson. See the orange flowers? When Mouse and Boyfriend get rich,* they will buy a casita with an interior courtyard and will plant it full of orange trees and night-blooming jasmine, so the air is always fragrant. Won't that be lovely? There will also be tacos al pastor and margaritas,** if you'd like to stop by.
Meanwhile, Mouse is still sick, but like the bees (who are drunk on the orange blossoms), she doesn't much mind, but just wanders around bumping into things and taking deep breaths of scented air. She would buzz if she weren't so sleepy.

Bzzzzz.

*What? It could happen.

** Salt, rocks, fresh lime juice, not too sweet.

Mouse is out of here! She's hopping the last plane to Tucson* tonight, and then embarking on epic road trip with Boyfriend: Arizona, Houston, New Orleans (sort of), Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and then back home to Chicago. Don't worry, this should generate plenty of blog postings along the lines of World's Largest Ball of Twine and similar. Hooray for Americana.

Anyway, I'm off to pack and catch the plane, cold and all. Ta! See you tomorrow.

*Ha ha ha!

(Image from Flickr)

P.S. If the lack of squeaking is making you lonesome, go look over here for some entertainment.

Mouse loooooves stacked wooden heels on shoes. They feel dainty and sturdy at the same time. Have you seen all the stacked heels going around (clack clack clack)? Top row at Anthro, middle at Urban, bottom at J. Crew. Also good ones at Banana but the photos won't go over. Click here for the ones I think I will buy in lieu of all-black leather pumps for, you know, businessy things.

Nina Simone, "Feeling Good," with cool type to look at. From here, via Black*Eiffel.

P.S. Cough. Cough, cough.

Mouse is sick. She feels like she is tied up in a duster and batted about by Miss Moppett up there. Posting will be light until the shaking around stops.

(Illustration from The Story of Miss Moppett by Beatrix Potter.)

The Toucan*

Tell me who can

Catch a toucan?

Lou can.

Just how few can

Ride the toucan?

Two can.

What kind of goo can

Stick you to the toucan?

Glue can.

Who can write some

More about the toucan?

You can! 

Mouse was touched by all the good luck messages, particularly the one Jamie almost accidentally wrote on her iPhone: "Toucan do it!" Toucans are excellent. Mouse had one sit on her arm once, and they are even funnier up close. And not scary, like pelicans.** So here is a Toucan poem in celebration of Mouse surviving her big scary day. Hoorah!

("The Toucan," Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein. Drawing also by Shel Silverstein, from here.)

* Mouse does not have her copy of Sidewalk handy, and does not remember if there was a toucan drawing. The toucan drawing seems not to be on Google anywhere. So here's a flying hippo instead. But does anyone have the toucan drawing?

** Mouse DOES NOT like pelicans. They are creepy and have eyes like the kind of dinosaurs that want to eat you up.

Mouse has to do a big scary thing today. Wish her luck!

If you ever get hit by a car (literally or metaphorically), Mouse hopes that someone does this for you.

(As posted by a dear friend.)

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss. Mouse is very deeply grateful for The Lorax and The Butter Battle Book, and The Sneetches. Now we can all teach our tiny people about life.

(Image from The Lorax, Dr. Seuss, 1971 [way before Wall-E].)