As hard as it was to read some of the prayer requests yesterday, I was so glad that y’all shared them. I spent some time praying for each one of you. I’ve never really done that before because, honestly, sometimes it’s just hard to know about all the hard things happening in people’s lives, but I think it’s a something I’m going to start doing from time to time because there is nothing that brings peace like knowing people are praying for you.
Not to mention that it totally fits into my resolve to quit living in fear of all the what-ifs.
So, just know I’m praying for all those requests. For peace. For resolution. For strength.
I should also maybe pray that my days get a little more interesting because I am sitting here trying to figure out how to make a day spent running errands sound remotely exciting.
Yesterday morning I went up to Caroline’s school because she was doing the announcements. They do them like it’s a news broadcast so she was with a group of her classmates. And so I went to her classroom to watch on the big screen. I probably frightened a few children because I don’t believe in putting on makeup before 7:30 a.m. unless it’s under extreme circumstances.
But I felt like I got away with it because I put on my yoga pants and an Adidas t-shirt like I was leaving for an imminent workout. The truth was I waited until Caroline came back to class to tell her she did a great job and then went to Starbucks.
For many, MANY, months, Starbucks has been like my own little writing office. However, I’m kind of at a lull with the book right now (similar to the eye of a hurricane) but I’m in the habit of going to Starbucks at least three times a week. Basically I’m a step away from becoming the old retired guy I see there every morning who walks in, drags a chair from the nearest table to use as a makeshift ottoman as he sits in a comfy chair, drinks his coffee and reads three different newspapers cover to cover.
The only thing that differentiates the two of us at this point is I still don’t feel comfortable enough to wear my house shoes to Starbucks.
After a couple of hours there, I left to drive to the Volvo dealership because the dashboard of my car has been screaming for weeks that I have MULTIPLE BULB FAILURES. Not just one bulb failure. MULTIPLE. And I’ve realized that part of the multiple includes my left blinker. I wasn’t that concerned when I thought it was just a taillight, but when your front left blinker is out you become that annoying driver that never signals when you’re about to turn and no one knows what to do and chaos ensues.
So I went to see if they could help me with my multiple bulb failures and they can. On Tuesday. Which means I get to have five more days of being THAT person.
I drove from there to Target because I bought Caroline a t-shirt a few weeks back that she deemed unacceptable. It was pink. With hot pink hearts. What was I thinking? It was clearly offensive.
Speaking of, Caroline told me last night at dinner about a situation at school. And I told her that I thought what she was feeling was a little bit of jealousy and that was perfectly normal. She looked at me and said, “THAT IS SO OFFENDING. IT’S NOT JEALOUSY”. I apologized for being “offending” because she is teetering on the emotional edge these days and I wasn’t really up for a meltdown. Does anyone know if eight is the new thirteen? Because sometimes it feels like the new thirteen.
Anyway, I walked around Target and tried on some colored skinny jeans that were only $22. I really wanted them to work but they fit more like leggings and the waistband didn’t even cover my bottom while I was standing up. So who knows what fresh horror would be unleashed if I actually tried to bend over in them.
Then I meandered through the shoe department and found some gorgeous platform leopard print heels that don’t go with my life at all. Not to mention that I’d probably want to cut my feet off with a plastic knife if I wore them for more than five minutes at a time. They are more of a sitting shoe.
So I left the shoe department and looked at the Easter stuff and eventually made my way to small electronics where I debated buying a new blender because I’m on a huge smoothie kick right now and our blender is about the worst blender in the history of blending. You can’t even turn it on and off. I just have to unplug it and plug it back in. It’s a tedious process at best. But the smoothies make me feel so healthy and so I LABOR INTENSIVELY over the blender each morning.
I nearly bought a blender called The Ninja because, well, it was called The Ninja. But I couldn’t commit and hated to make a wrong blending decision. And after all that, I ended up leaving Target with just one thing.
A book.
I bought The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks because I’ve heard it’s good even though it appears to be about science and medicine. Two subjects I try to avoid. Which is ironic considering I used to sell pharmaceuticals.
But the point is that I spent an hour in Target and only spent $13.87.
It was a Target miracle.
And to celebrate, I stopped at Sonic and bought myself a large Diet Coke.
That was my day.
I can’t apologize enough for all the lameness contained therein.