Thpppt!

Some mornings all you can do is say “what the …?”

Last week I was sick. Getting up and physically getting to work took everything I had on the days that I made it to the office. I was late each one. I knew this. I've never been the best at it, usually skating in at the very last minute. I knew I needed to do better. That was my mindset I took on over the weekend. I was going to do better! I did good on Monday (which we all know is the WORST day of the week AND it was a holiday, so I totally didn't want to be working anyway) … I even had time to splurge and stop on the way in for my favorite egg & sausage taquito, still making it to work on time.

Then came today - Tuesday. I swear … Murphy doesn’t have anything on “Cindy’s Law”.

Actual line of events:

Woke up late … instead of being dressed before taking my girlie to school, I barely had time to put a coat over my jammies … fortunately I slept in my flannel bottoms and shirt last night.

Got home from taking girlie to school and decided to go ahead and take trash to curb. Bag caught on stupid broken car in garage … broke … trash & garbage all over front of garage and driveway. Must be cleaned up.

Toast burnt. Set off smoke alarm.

Milk spilled on counter and floor.

Skipped my morning tea because of running late, therefore, also missed my morning quiet time.

Lunch bag fell behind dryer and had to get step stool to reach over the back and retrieve.

Found hole in original pair of black pants to wear. Changed to another pair of black pants.

Toilet over flowed – not from the front but from the back. Had to turn water off at base of toilet. Mop up floor. Will wait to fix till get home at night.

Black pants now drenched. Change to blue pair of pants.

No shirt clean to go with blue pair of pants.

Change to only remaining pair of pants … grey wool. Remember that today is going to be warmest of the week … in the 60s. Wear sleeveless shirt under jacket hoping to offset sweat from wool pants.

Pack lunch without incident. Feeling lucky.

Pull up to stoplight to exit neighborhood. Already running late. Wait for green light. Green light switches on … just as siren sounds from firehouse at the corner. Have to wait for firetruck and EMT bus to clear intersection. Just as they clear the intersection, my green light turns red and I must wait again. Since I happened to glance at the clock when I arrived at the intersection because I wanted to see how late I was running, I know that I got to enjoy sitting at that intersection for a full 7 minutes. Joy.

Race down the road, paranoid, watching for cops as my little red car flies down the road. Notice that gas gauge is low. Decide to wait until after work and hope.

Highway traffic moving good. Feeling hopeful.

Exit ramp to second highway blocked due to construction. Have to detour.

Manage to get off at next exit but need to deal with more stoplights with this street. Give up in frustration.

Slam into parking lot, grab stuff, walk quickly to door.

First words out of manager’s mouth are not “Good morning” or “hello”. They are “Cindy, I really need you to be here on time.”

Frustration doesn’t even begin to cover it.

I want to scream at the top of my lungs … THIS DAY SUCKS!!!!!!

Deep breath.

Okay.

It is my choice. I can have a good day or I can have a bad day. It’s a matter of perspective. It is a matter of how I choose to go forward.

I’ve made a cup of tea (blackberry sage, a gift from a friend who loves me) and I’ve had a moment to write out my frustration.

I’m going to choose to have a good day.

However my choice is coming with an addendum. One more thing does not go right … I’m heading home and going back to bed.

Seriously.

Iridescent Magic

Water

Soap

A stick with an open shape on the end.

A soft puff of air.

Four ordinary things.

Yet when they are combined, they create magic. The stick with an open shape on the end becomes a wand, wielding the soft puffs of air to create floating balls, glittering in the light with the colors of the rainbow.

Four ordinary things.

Yet when they are combined they light the eyes of imagination in children ... whether it is the infant who gazes with wide and wondering eyes at the mysterious globes floating through the air, the preschooler who giggles with gleeful joy as they run through the cascade of iridescent balls, or the older child who delights in their accomplishment at creating the smallest or the largest of spheres to bounce and weave through the breeze.

Four ordinary things.

Yet even adults find delight in them ... willing to deplete their oxygen again and again to keep a crying babe happy, watching the joy that is brought by such a simple act, finding the pleasure in watching small ones wonder at the disappearance and older ones catching and bursting each one before it lands on the earth.

Years ago, I attended a street festival and one of the booths was demonstrating the use of enlarged wands ... using pans of soapy water ... the magical globes were huge as the were twirled through the air. I watched as the youngest attendees laughed and clapped and ran through the enormous spheres, bursting them. I watched as the oldest attendees watched from the sidelines, indulgently smiling while their own hands twitched to be the ones to wield the wands to create the magic.

The simple, yet intoxicating magic of bubbles.

Valentine's Shopping

Happy Valentine's Day!

Or ...

As a friend of mine says ... Happy Single Awareness Day!

Some people spend the evening cuddled with a honey or out for a nice dinner or some other romantic/fun activity.

Me?

I was at the grocery store. Oh. Yeah. It was me and my paycheck romancing in the frozen food section over which Ben & Jerry's flavor was going to be for tonight's episode of Supernatural. (I went with Phish Food. It's a quirky little flavor and tonight's ep, Mystery Spot is supposed to be a quirky fun episode.)

Actually ... I indulged myself and went to my favorite local grocery store instead of the low price national chain store that I usually go to when I need to get more than just a few things. I thought I'd be okay. I had a list. I'd made a list of everything I want to prepare this next weekend/week and I could stick to my list. Right??? Yeah ... so ... needless to say, I succumbed to the impulse buy ... more than once.

Is it my fault that the bananas looked so beautifully yellow and yummy, even though my kitchen is stocked with grapes and apples already?

Is it my fault that it is supposed to be a lovely 31 degrees tomorrow after enjoying the tropical breezes of 68 degrees today - therefore enhancing my craving for homemade chicken noodles ... meaning I had to get the ingredients to create the object of my craving?

Is it my fault that after how many weeks (4 to be exact) they finally decided to stock my favorite sourdough english muffins, necessitating the purchase of two packages (one to have out and one for the deep freeze)?

Is it my fault that this is the store that carries one of my favorite brands of tea and they just HAPPENED to have my favorite blueberry flavor that I only had one more bag of left?

I'm telling you ... impulse buys ... they could really hurt a girl's budget. So ... when indulging in the impulse buying, it is wise to keep an eye on the bottom line. For instance ... the item I got that was 2 for $2.00 that rang up at $1.52 each. Hey!! That's my $1.04! You can't have it. Took them 10 minutes to track down that price check, but that $1.04 paid for ... ummm ... half of the bananas I bought impulsively!

sigh.

I'm hopeless.

No ... actually ... this is where the hopeless person part comes in ... I have just spent an hour at the grocery store. I have re-stocked my kitchen and have the supplies to prepare just about anything I want to eat.

So, of course you know what I did for dinner? I stopped on the way home and picked up a Subway sandwich.

To go with my Phish Food ice cream.

Happy Single Awareness Day, indeed.

Thank goodness it's Thursday ... atleast I can honestly say that I spent Valentine's day with a couple of good looking men. Of course I'm on my couch in my flannel jammies and they're on my television screen ... but hey!

We all know I've got a great imagination.

How to Raise the Pharmacist's Eyebrows

The company I work for has a wonderful benefit for it's employees called a Flexible Spending Plan. If you have it, you understand what I mean. If you don't, it's very simple to explain.

Over the course of a year, employees can have a certain amount (of their choice) withheld from each paycheck, pre-tax. During the year, as medical expenses are paid out of the employee's pocket, they are able to send in the receipts and they are reimbursed those out of pocket expenses from their plan. I look at it as a medical savings account. The really nice thing is that if you have a big expense, you can still be reimbursed from your account - even if all the funds have not been collected yet.

There is, however, a drawback. If you don't use the funds by the end of the year ... you loose them.

The end of the year for my plan is actually January 31st.

At 6:30pm on January 31st, I had $73.00 left in my account.

Well ... obviously that won't do! But what to get? I've done the doctor co-pays, the antibiotic refills, the doctor hasn't written my new script for allergy meds so that one's out, I've got new glasses, ordered new contacts, seen the eye doctor ... what else is left? (Don't say dentist - we're not going there right now!)

You know ... I'll admit that sometimes, I don't always hear things. It's okay, I'll freely admit that ... but when I told my plan administrator my dilemma and she asked me if I had stocked my medicine cabinet yet, I went silent.

"What are you talking about?"

"Aspirin, over the counter meds, band-aids ... anything medical."

"Since when could we do this?"

"Since all year ... I told you last January when we resigned you up."

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

--- Um ...I'll save you from a replay of this part. ---

"Anything medical?"

"Yep. Anything medical - just not vitamins."

Okie doke.

I head to my local pharmacy.

I pick up a basket.

Mega-mondo size of ibuprofen? Check!

OTC allergy stuff? Check!

Cough syrup? Check!

Cough drops? Check!

Well, that took care of $20. Let's head over to the band-aid aisle!

Do you know how inexpensive boxes of band-aids really are?? Do you know it's even more difficult when the whole blasted aisle is ON SALE! The one time I don't actually need it to be.

After 20 minutes of checking out the various brands and sizes and selections, I began to fill my basket ... adding in my head, working towards spending that remaining $53.00.

I have gauze pads and first aid tape. I have large band-aids, small band-aids, flexible band-aids for knuckles and fingertips. I have waterproof band-aids and clear band-aids. I have butterfly strips. I have first aid cream, a new tube of Neosporin, a new tube of Benedryl anti itch. I have sterile eye wash and sterile wipes.

I got everything I could think of and took it to the pharmacy counter. As the girl rang up my purchase (came to $74.26, I figured I could afford the $1.26), she kept looking at me kinda funny, but didn't say anything. Never one to stay completely silent, I told her that I was stocking up my cabinet and then jokingly said that I'd have to find a bigger cabinet to keep everything in. That's when she pointed to the bottom shelf of the aisle I'd been standing in for the last 20 minutes as I made my selections.

There, for all to find and see, are first-aid kits ... already put together!

But wait ... surely I have gotten a better assortment of products? Nope. Not really. Actually, the large kit that actually weighed in at a cost of $50 had more band-aid sizes than I did AND it had an ace bandage included. I didn't get an ace bandage.

But I've got a jumbo box of flexible knuckle band-aids.

For someone who frequently looses the skin on her knuckles to evil file cabinets, I think this works out just fine for me.