“[Lindsay] and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”

Do you ever just have a BAD day?  Yesterday was unmistakable the worst day I’ve had in many moons.  I was so excited to come home from my 10 day trip to spend time with my husband.  Unfortunately Sunday and Monday flew by tantamount to the Holiday season and I didn’t get the much anticipated time I needed. I woke up yesterday irritated. I got ready in a hurry, and headed to work.  I left my purse at home, the garage door wouldn’t open, there were too many cars to make my travel light, and every time I had a passing opportunity, a vacuous driver cut me off.  The music on the radio was vastly vacant, and the rain had no end in sight. At work, it didn’t get any better.  I left my yogurt in the car, I smushed my banana, looked in the mirror realizing I didn’t put on mascara, and my hair was a frizzy mess. My participants in class were welcoming and I was happy to see familiar faces full of anticipatory smiles on my behalf.  I was hoping that would change my outlook, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to cut through it.  Instead, my boss walked into my messy office, and scrupulously scrutinized my lack of 2012 time off request ability. My understanding of basic classroom etiquette was also questioned.  Now, I’m an intuitive person and I maximize opportunities and time and in my opinion, I’m unique in my ability to be aware of my surroundings and the retention of the knowledge we are packaging up like a banana split.  It’s challenging to be an adult in a classroom for 8 hours as a learner, and even more difficult to continue for four weeks without any humor or activities involved.  So when someone accuses me of playing too many games or wasting valuable time, I struggle to respect the concern.  

Lunch sucked, I over-boiled my TV dinner, burnt my hand, and splattered all over the microwave.

During lunch break, my Angry Time decided an unexpected visit.  I supposed with fate’s help, I idoneously chose to wear red pants.  I tried as hard as I could to wash off the evidence, but the ladies room paper towels just pilled up and made the spot more noticeable.  So in my angst to fix, I resorted to the Adam Sandler approach of covering it up.  I re-tied my shirt so that it graciously covered the necessary spots.  Still, I had to finish the day as a leader in the classroom.  Joyous!

Part of my lack of enthusiasm for the last day of January was faulted to my lengthy To-Do list. 

1. Two parking tickets to deal with
2. Overdraft Protection fee to negotiate the removal of
3. Auto Quest-get my plates, get my car washed, the cigarette charger-mabober is broken, the rear-view directionaler-teller is broken, They are requesting an additional $122 for Licensing + Registration= $322 to register a vehicle?!?! It makes absolutely no sense!
4. Mortgage Pre-qualifcation meeting
5. Finalize Sun-River trip
6. Look into Europe trip for PTO requests
7. Add weddings/wedding events to my calendar
8. Details of home auction
9. Are we going to Mexico?
10. Shoedazzle return
11. Expense report
12. Thank you card

Ugh! I never have such heavy task lists.  I hate tasks anyway, so to have this many and of this magnitude is irritating!

At least I started the day off looking semi-decent.

In my attempt to resolve my day, I began planning my PTO by calling my husband.  This didn't get very far because it's hard to match our schedules.  I rarely cry.  If I get on the verge of tears, to avoid the embarrassment especially in the office, I just stop the conversation.  So if I'm on the phone, that person could continue talking without noticing my absence for a while.  My husband HATES this, so he's previously requested that I at least notify him.  So, I feel the anger/frustration/sadness welling up from things not going my way, and I simply say "I'm hanging up." no response.  “Hey, did you hear me?” as I think, oh man, I waited too long.  One more word and looking up to stop gravity won’t work.

“Babe,” he says, “we can work this out, lets do it tonight. We’ll work through your task list and I’ll give you a massage.  We have a lot of planning to do.”

Now for most people, this would probably be a joyous moment.  For me, it was the inevitable onslaught of unavoidable tears.  Tears of gratitude for offering help, tears of irritation and frustration.  Tears of too much time since the last time I let them go. After I hang up, I immediately look straight up in the air and think to myself. Please, no one come in here right now.  Please don’t call back. Gravity, work!  Don’t well over, don’t well over, dooooooooon’t do it!’  It was too late.  I let them out. Two cute little tears took a stroll down my flushed cheeks.  With a quick change of subject, I avoided smeared make up. Mission accomplished, yet not perfectly.

At the end of my day when I finally left the office, I drove to the car dealership to pick up the license plates for the car I purchased mid-December.  Yep, it took over 6 weeks, and I’m sure on the err of the temp pass expiring, they finally decided to take care of business.  Which, to my surprise, is costing me an additional $122 on top of the $200 already left in designation of title and licensing.  I was promised a phone call/voicemail by 5:00 explaining the excess of expectant fees, and to my dismay and in concert with my day, I still have not received the promised follow up.  Upon my entrance into the dealership, a man I do not know asked me if I was Lindsay and told me that Joey left me a message.  The no she didn’t, yes she did, no she didn’t, yeah, she said she did game got old really quick.  So they put on my plates very nicely after I paid the $122 with the promise they’d follow up today.  We’ll it’s nearing the end of today and I STILL have no itemization or explanation as to the increased and very out-of-pattern fee.  Not even the Washington Department of Licensing has a clue why my plates were so much more expensive.   How in the world can it cost $322 to License a vehicle in Washington? How much did yours cost? Perhaps they’re made of gold!

After a quick trip to Costco surreptitiously only spending $12.45 I drove home and curled up on the couch to finish “Heart of the Matter.”

MP: Whenever I get into a really good book, I start thinking about my day to day life as if I were narrating it in first person:  I smile as I look up wondering, how do I get out of this awkward silence.  What does he expect me to say?  Can he tell that I’m not paying attention? Goodness, I’d like to be anywhere but here at this very moment!

Does anyone else do this?  Or am I alone?

The book I just read was “Heart of the Matter” by Emily Giffin. 

She’s written a few other similarly tasted “love” stories that keep you turning the page.  For those of you that are judging my choice of literature, big deal.  I’ll listen to the type of music I want to listen to and read the type of books that end happily.  While I’m confessing, I also love any sappy love story: real, true, movie, book, short story…I love them all!  Especially the depiction of that first kiss.  My stomach grows flutter babies at those tender moments.  Has always ever since I can remember, and I don’t foresee my taste changing.  So there’s that. ßNatalie Portman, Garden State.  I also am in absolute love with Nicholas Sparks books.  I crave the release of each and every new novel and sink my body into the couch under a cozy blanket and read for hours on end.  I hope there’s no harm in welcoming myself into fictitious characters lives’ to live vicariously through their heartwarming tales of love.  Sap Sap Sap-a-licious!

Trevor came home, we ate scrumdidly-umptious costco chicken, and instead of tackling a single task, we snuggled on the couch and fell asleep until 1:00 AM.  This is a task I would normally avoid, yet under the circumstances of a glass of wine and a massage from my husband, I was perfectly content falling asleep in his arms.

And now it's time for: 

Final Thoughts by Lindsay:

"I think I’ll move to Australia!"

Not really, but the thought did cross my mind a few times yesterday.  I read this book to my nieces and nephews a lot last week (a gift from my bookshelf instead of the store, in honor of shop free 2012) and they laughed out loud everytime Alexander says wants to move to Australia.  Kids are so free spirited! I'm envious at times! ...Funny how fate intervenes at the perfect moment! 

Cheers to a better tomorrow! :)