Oh my god, my day yesterday. It could best be described as being like Marianne Williamson:
Crazy.
First, I showed up to my appointment with my optician, which was at 8:15 am. She splits her time between Olympia and Tacoma and forgot she had an appointment with me down here, so that didn’t happen. (I actually wasn’t mad at all. It was fine for various reasons, the least of which not being that the poor woman is trying to wear several hats at once due to them being understaffed, and I really wanted to get downtown and go to coffee with a good friend — who also had limited time in the morning – because …)
… She needed a friend, so I sat with her and we talked and I was moral support before she had to go. Then I went to my soaking tub and massage. But it wasn’t until I walked more than halfway to the massage place that I remembered I didn’t ride the bus, I drove and parked downtown, AND my parking was expired.
So I ran all the way back to my truck, and thankfully didn’t have a ticket, but I had less than ten minutes to drive there and hopefully find a parking spot downtown near the shop. And I did, yay. Whew.
Then I’m in my soaking tub appointment, and last time the tub took a really long time to fill up, so I turned on the water before I took my cleansing shower, thinking I had this down. But the faucet was a little wonky, so it filled up with ice cold water, which was totally my fault for not making sure it was positioned right. So I had to drain half of what was there and get the hot water going.
I got to soak comfortably for only about ten full minutes before my massage. Whatever no big deal, privileged first world white people problems.
Got my massage, grabbed lunch, went home, measured some windows, made a shopping list, drove to this blinds place I’ve been meaning to go to and finally had time for yesterday, aaaaannd …
… They’re closed. But, their hours are 9–5 M–F. So I call number, a shop guy picks up and tells me everyone from the showroom is out making appointments. “Do you know when anyone might be back?” This guy sounds like Bill AND Ted: “Uhhhhh I’m just the shop guy!” Never mind.
Go shopping, E V E R Y old person in Thurston county is in Fred Meyer. Oh. My. God. Good thing I’m on meds! It takes twice as long as it should.
Go home, start making chili, totally underestimate how long it’s going to take me. At this point I probably shouldn’t be taking on another task but I was really feeling up for it and wanted to seize upon my sudden ambition and was excited to make chili from scratch. Was supposed to meet the friend from earlier again for beers at 5:45. Due to craziness for both of us, it gets moved to 6, then 6:30, then 7, because …
… Not only is the chili taking longer than I thought it would, but while making it, I remembered I still needed to go pick up my prescription at Safeway before they close at 9. And it’s super important because I haven’t taken my Singulaire in a week and my asthmatic allergies are acting up, AND …
… I ran out of Lexapro last night. Which is my anti-depressant. No problem, it’s on auto-fill! Right? I call up just to make sure it’s ready for me. The pharmacist tells me 1) it’s not on auto-fill and 2) I’m out of refills. “So we’ll fax your doctor,” he casually says in a friendly but oblivious manner. I must have said the magic words when I told him that’s my anti-depressant and I’m completely out, either that or he heard the panic in my voice, because he said “We’ll loan you three against the future refill to get you through the weekend” without any hesitation what-so-ever.
I end up having to toss *some* of the chili because it won’t all fit in the crock pot. Hhhhnnnnn. “We’re gonna need a bigger crock pot.” Oh well. Lesson learned. Halve the recipe. (Or get a bigger crock pot, which I’ll probably do.)
Jump in the truck after cleaning up the disaster I made in the kitchen, get there and grab my prescription in record time, thank the pharmacist profusely, get back in the truck, should be home in time to freshen up real quick and catch the bus downtown to meet my friend for a beer when …
… the truck won’t start.
Aaron and Diane (my angels) come to my rescue – Aaron just to make sure I’m doing okay and Diane to give me a jump. We try jumping it with both the Hyundai and her Subaru. No luck. Great. Is it the starter? Just a super dead battery? Who the fuck knows. Go back inside Safeway, give them my make and model, license plate, phone number. They tell me no problem if it’s there overnight.
The three of us go to my house, Diane finishes doing what she needs to do on her laptop, I finish cleaning up and start some laundry, we all head downtown and have a delicious dinner at my favorite cocktail bar, Dillinger’s, and I have three very much needed, well made, stiff cocktails.
I wanted to write all this out last night but when I got home, I brushed my teeth, put on my jammies, and fell into bed. I didn’t even fuck around on my phone or play any of my goofy mobile games. Lights out. Good night. Completely done with this day.
Anyway, the moral of the story is to love your people, keep them close, and help others. Friends are important. It’s fitting that we finished watching Train to Busan (2016) on Halloween, just the night before.
—emily duchaine
Flommist Emily Duchaine lives in the Pacific Northwest. She likes to drink mead, learn about sharks, and listen to the Talking Heads. She pretends to be a professional businesswoman most days. Copyright © 2019 Emily Duchaine.
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