For a change, it wasn't raining when I got up, so I went out back to see how my plants had fared in the recent deluge. Horror! Two of the containers had standing water up to the brim! A couple of the daffodils had already yellowed and started rotting. I cursed, and tipped out the water, sloshing out a fair amount of dirt along with it, and getting my slippers soaking wet in the process. I tried to empty some of the other pans, but I didn't have time and had to dash off to work fretting over my bulbs. Stupid plastic containers, their drainage holes didn't hold up to a big storm and now I don't know if I'm going to see any of the sixty or more bulbs that were planted in them last autumn. Ach, what a mess. Gardening is not all joy, I tell you.
At work, my day began with the news that Washington, DC, was snowed under and closing its airports. Twenty percent of my clients phoned in simultaneously, desperate to get home. Many more called throughout the day trying to rearrange their flights, rent cars, book hotel rooms, and reissue tickets. As the air traffic slowly ground to a halt in the east the cancellations spread throughout the country, affecting flights everywhere except short commuter hops and the west coast shuttles. On top of that, I had an extraordinary number of calls about vacations to Mexico, people wanting to book and pay right then, not just shoppers. I fielded several enquiries about European vacations, followed up on absent agents' reservations, straightened out debit memos, apologized obsequiously to irate clients, halted crime, rescued orphans, leapt tall buildings at a single bound, and left work feeling like I'd been hit over the head with a hammer repeatedly.
I cheered up immediately on the ride home as I realized I had a big, fat Nordstrom's gift card to use up. I made dinner, smooched my husband, and took off for the mall with glee. I had an excellent time shopping, and I spent all of the money. None of it was "fun" clothing, but that's okay. I always hate spending a lot of money on basic items like underwear and socks. It's sort of like spending a lot of money at the grocery store on non-food items; it makes you feel like you didn't get much bang for your buck. Using a gift certificate takes the sting out of forking over a lot of money for something almost no one sees.
And now I plan to go to bed and sleep the sleep of the deserving, having deftly negotiated a difficult day.
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