#2962 wait, there IS more

 

This weekend I was at the day spa getting a little self-care maintenance: brows groomed, a manicure, and a pedicure. I hadn't been to the spa since November, so I was due! I am fortunate to have an awesome aesthetician named Baily, who is not only a master aesthetician but also a competitive short-track speed skater. She's amazing! 

Since we haven't seen each other since November, we had some catching up to do. She was telling me about her boyfriend training to get a spot on the Olympic short-track team, how they are going to Montreal in October for a World Cup event to qualify for the Olympic team, and how excited she is about possibly going to Milan in February. She said she won't be on the team, but she'll go to support her boyfriend. Then she asked me what I've been doing this summer, and I said, "Just working." I did mention that I volunteer at RBGA and that I'm going on vacation in September, but my main reply was, "Just working."

As I was gazing at my pretty painted toenails the next day, I thought about our conversation, and I was annoyed with my dumb answer. I have been doing SO much more than just working. In fact, I'm am working fewer hours this summer than I have in the past. I do lots of stuff besides work! I could have told her that I've been to nine concerts so far this summer. I look at flowers and I talk to people from all over the U.S. and the world. I've read 12 books in the last three months. I spend good time with my dogs every day, taking them for walks and playing with the frisbee every morning. I'm holding down the fort at home while MT builds our real estate empire (lol) and takes time to pursue his dream of doing a major through hike. I write, draw, and paint. I plan, dream, and think deep thoughts. I go to the movies. I collect stickers. I take photos. I sit on the deck and practice the Italian art of dolce far niente. I am learning to speak French, Spanish, and Italian with Duolingo, practicing at least a little, and sometime a lot, every day. I have a 494 consecutive day streak in the app for goodness sake! I am healing my metabolism. I'm thinking about the next phase of my life. I am mostly filled with le joie de vivre. I AM WAY MORE THAN WHAT I DO TO COLLECT A PAYCHECK.

And you know what? The next time I see Baily at the end of August, I'm going to tell her all that stuff.

#2633 I could have been a juror

When I returned from vacation, I’d received a summons for jury duty. I filled out the form and submitted it, then kind of parked the thought at the back of my mind. Last week, I received an email from the court that I had been selected for a jury pool in the criminal court. There would be a pool of 25 prospective jurors, and four would be chosen to hear the case.

Today was jury selection day. The selection process was held by video conference. I got on a few minutes early to make sure everything was working well. At the appointed time, 8:30, the judge greeted everyone, explained the start of the process, then gave us all our juror number, checking our video and audio feed to make sure she could hear each of us.

The next step was asking people if they were able to serve. One woman was put back in the jury pool because she didn’t have a babysitter. Several people were put back in the jury pool because they were getting over a cold or had cold symptoms. As the people were dismissed, I was starting to feel pretty good about my chances of being a juror. 

After the judge spoke with all the potential jurors, she greeted the attorneys and asked after their health. The prosecutor was fine. The defendant’s attorney was fine, too, but someone else in the defendant’s group had a lingering cough. The judge met with counsel in a breakout room, away from the jurors. We kept our video on, our mics muted, and hung out for awhile. When the judge came back, she said that we were all dismissed because it was her job to protect everyone’s health and even though she didn’t think the lingering cough was Covid-related, she wasn’t going to take any chances.

My obligation to serve on a jury is over for two years. If I get another summons, I can decline. I can also sign up, if I choose. For my trouble today, I will get $18.50 from the court. I also got a bit of a different start to my day, and a little story to tell.

#2253 cold and scared: a night at the Garden

Tonight I volunteered for the gate at a corporate event at RBG. I was scheduled to get there at 7:00, but was asked to come early since they were short-handed, so I got there at 5:30. It was chilly today, only in the 60s, but at least it wasn't raining. I was prepared for cool weather, though. I was wearing a long sleeve shirt layered over a t-shirt, jeans, and shoes and socks. I also brought a beanie, a scarf, gloves, a long raincoat (just in case) and my puffy jacket.

I slowly added layers as the sun started to go down along with the temperature. By the end of the night I was wearing everything except the raincoat and I was still cold. I was probably warmer than a lot of the guests at the event, though. As they left, I saw them eyeing my coat and hat with envy. I waved good-bye with my gloved fingers. I assured them that I only looked warm and that I was actually very cold. I had been standing around out there for a few hours, after all.

As JoAnn the tram driver and I were waiting for everyone to leave, we had an unexpected and unwelcome guest: a mouse. It took shelter under the tram. Maybe it was warm under there. Every time it peeked out from behind the tire, JoAnn and I would shriek. The mouse would take a few steps past the tram, probably trying to get to the safety of the geraniums, and JoAnn and I would squeal and stomp our feet. JoAnn eventually climbed up on a chair, yep, just like in a cartoon.
I was standing over by the gate where I could keep an eye on the situation. JoAnn thinks there might have been two mice; for my sanity, I'm going with the thought that there was just the one creature and that it was just as scared of us as we were of it.

JoAnn got a radio call to go to the Rose House to pick up the last guests. She didn't want to leave me alone with the mice, so I rode along. I was thankful that I wasn't out there alone with the mice. Another thing to think about out there!

We picked up the last guests and then we got to leave. I have to tell you, I had the heater cranked up in my car and the seat warmer on high. I did finally start to warm up as I got closer to home. My feet are still cold though. Also, I was paranoid that a mouse had somehow climbed into my bag and I kept expecting one to climb out on the seat and scamper around. My imagination is active. I turned up the radio and sang really loud, which I'm sure would scare a mouse. You better believe I emptied my bag outside just in case. It was fine, and I felt a little better.

Time for bed now. Hope I don't have mice dreams and that I can get my feet warmed up.

#2118 gag

I hate pickles. There is not one good thing I can say about pickles. I don't like the smell, I don't like the taste. I don't like dill flavor. I don't like cucumbers. Pickles are a hard NO for me.

Now picture this:

I'm in the suite at the Jazz game. There is a bucket of kettle cooked potato chips and a thick, delicious looking dip near the bucket. I love me some chips and dip, so I take a crispy, crunchy potato chip and scoop out a nice little dollop of dip, the perfect ratio to the chip. I put the chip/dip combo in my mouth and start to chew. First comes the crispy crunch of the potato chip, then the creaminess of the dip. I was expecting an explosion of ranch flavor to hit my taste buds, but no...

IT WAS DILL. DILL WITH A PICKLE UNDERTONE.

I was surrounded by our clients. I put my hand over my mouth and tried not to gag. I swallowed as quickly as I could, tears squeezing out of my squinched up eyes.

I ran to the fridge and grabbed a Diet Coke, popped the tab, and proceeded to guzzle down about half the can in one go.

MT was staring at me. One of our clients turned away with a slight grimace.

MT asked if I was okay. All I could do was point to the sign. The sign I had failed to see prior to that fateful bite:

#1976 that video will need some editng

There is a new instructor, Miki, at the gym and I like her a whole bunch. This morning after her Zumba class, she was going to do a demonstration of a new Shakti yoga class that she will be teaching on Monday nights. I have been wanting to get back into yoga and I like Miki, so I thought I'd stick around for the demo, especially after she asked me if I would. Another lady that I see at the gym regularly, Barb, also stayed for the demo.

I put out a yoga mat over where I had been for Zumba, but Miki told me to bring my mat over closer to hers. She also pulled Barb's mat right over next to mine. The mats were pretty close together. About that time, Lisa, another one of the instructors walks in. She's wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Right after that, another instructor, Anthony, came in. He was also wearing non-workout clothes.  Lisa says, "Oh great! Are you two okay with being filmed? Let's get going Anthony!"

Wait. Did she say filmed? What?

"What?" I say.

"Oh, we're just going to make a little video to put on the website to get people to come to the class," Lisa says brightly.

Let me just reset the scene here for you, friends. There's Miki, a lovely, small, fit and toned Hawaiian woman with gorgeous long hair and a beautiful smile. There's Barb, a tall, willowy blond with amazing cheekbones and a lean dancer's body. And then there's me. I found myself humming this Sesame Street ditty:

Anthony takes out his iPhone and says that he is ready for us to start. He zooms in on me and Barb and then steps back to get all three of us in the frame. Miki tells us to sit on our mats and she asks Lisa to turn on the music. It's very upbeat and not at all yoga-y. Miki begins to move her arms and bounce her knees and flow with the music. I try to keep up, very aware of my flappy arms and the fact that my knees don't quite want to bend into the akimbo position we are in. Anthony keeps moving around.

 Miki is now standing up and wiggling her hips, arms straight out like she's on a surfboard. She looks amazing. Barb looks amazing. I look like I'm convulsing. A few different positions take place, including cat/cow which is done on the knees. I can't/won't be on my knees because the scar tissue and the parts feel weird. It feels sort of like a low voltage jolt of electricity when I try to be on my knees. I don't like it and I won't do it. So I just sat there, basically ruining the video, not that I hadn't already made it awful earlier. Oh well. (I apologized to Miki when it was all done.)

I think they will probably make another demo on Monday after the regular yoga class. I heard Lisa, Anthony and Miki talking about it while I was putting my stupid yoga mat away and getting my stuff. They were all super nice and said thanks a bunch of times, but I left feeling a little humiliated and out of my league. Miki's Shakti yoga was unlike any yoga I've ever done. It was high energy with constant movement. It will probably be fun, but I was sort of caught off guard by the whole thing.

If they end up putting any part of the video out, I may let you know, but I think it's pretty doubtful. It would probably take way too much editing to make it usable, although I'm pretty sure there's at least one image of me smiling maniacally as I tried to follow along. They could probably use that with the caption: "If she can do it, so can you!"

Ugh.

Have a great weekend!

#1917 my solar eclipse experience

Oh friends! I am so excited to write this post and relive the eclipse experience. Right off the bat I want you to know that seeing the total solar eclipse yesterday was a total highlight and something I won't ever forget. It was quite possibly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I'll also let you know right off the bat that I do not have a photo of the eclipse. What my eyes saw and what my camera saw are two different things. I do have a bunch of photos to share with you and I'll describe it as well as I can. Here we go...

MT and I drove to Shoshone, ID on Sunday afternoon to spend the night at MT's brother Kevin's house. Our goal was to get into the Path of Totality, which was about a 70 mile wide band that went through central Idaho roughly from the Sun Valley area through the Stanley area up to Challis. From the image below, you can see Stanley is right on the blue line which indicates that it would have the longest time in the shadow of the eclipse. We wanted to get there, if possible.

For several months and even more in the weeks leading up to August 21, we had heard that thousands of people would be in Idaho for the eclipse, so we decided to leave Shoshone at 5 AM and get as far north as traffic would allow. Kevin's wife, Janet, came along with us. Kevin had to work. He is a Sheriff's Deputy so he as on traffic duty.

There were some cars on the road with us in darkness, but not too many. In this first photo, we are near Hailey, ID. You can see there's a car in front of us, but it's pretty quiet out there.

We got to Galena Summit just as the sun was starting to rise, so we pulled over to take a photo.

From there the road winds down the mountain and we found a scenic overlook that was already crowded with cars. We stopped to stretch our legs, use the potty and take a picture. The headwaters of the Salmon River are in this valley.

We kept driving along, following the river, looking for good eclipse viewing spots, heading for Stanley. Caught this image of the sun rising.

We got to Stanley around 7 AM and decided to have some breakfast of the Mountain Village Resort restaurant. They had a special eclipse menu, complete with special eclipse prices. MT and Janet had eaten there the previous weekend and said that the new menu's prices were a couple of dollars higher than they had been the week before.

After a really tasty breakfast, we bought eclipse t-shirts and headed out to find a place to watch the solar show. We found a good spot in the parking lot of the Stanley Ranger Station. We liked it because we also had a great view of the Sawtooths.

You can see that the air was kind of hazy but there was not a cloud in the sky.

We were super excited for the eclipse!

Did I mention it was kind of cold? When we got to Stanley, the temperature was around 35 degrees (1.67 C). It warmed up to around 50 degrees (10 C) by the time the eclipse started around 10:10 AM. We lounged in our camp chairs and watched the moon's progress across the sun.

My chair is in the middle. I had taken off my red sweatshirt and it's hanging on the back of my chair.

As the moon continued it's path across the sun, the light around us took on a muted quality and the temperature started to drop. The automatic lights on the car near us came on as the sky grew a little darker.

We were getting really hyped up for totality. Check this out:

11:27 AM

At 11:27, it was still quite light and the eclipse was probably around 97 - 98% complete. The sun is super bright and still puts out a lot of light, even when 97% covered. The temperature has started to drop by now. I had to put my sweatshirt back on.

11:29 AM

 At 11:29, the sun was 100% covered by the moon and we are in the shadow of the moon in the Path of Totality. You can see that it is quite dark. You wouldn't have been able to read a book. It's not dark as night; it's more like the time of day when the sun is coming up or after it has set and the glow is lingering. We were in the Path of Totality for just over two minutes.

Here's a photo of the sun that I took during totality:

11:29 AM

Maybe if you click on the photo you will see a little black dot right in the middle of the sun. That would be the moon. On the video I put on Facebook, there are a couple of glimpses of the sun and you can see the black dot. What the human eye could see was completely different, in my case, than what my beloved Iphone's camera could see. 

What I saw with my own bare eyes was a black circle surrounded by a brilliant ring of white. I found this photo online, and this is pretty much what I saw, except that the ring of white was very thin.

11:31 AM

You can see in this photo that MT is looking directly at the sun without the glasses. At this point the totality is complete, but we are seeing the "diamond ring" effect. It kind of looked like this:

Seeing the total solar eclipse was very moving for me. It was a powerful couple of minutes. I was teary-eyed and choked up about it, which isn't really surprising, if you know me. I was surprised to see MT teary-eyed and that Janet was also choked up. I've talked to another friend of mine who was watching in Sun Valley and she said several people in their group were moved to tears as well. I've been thinking about my reaction and the only way I can explain it is that seeing the eclipse and actually being in the shadow cast by the moon onto the earth was so unusual and so cosmic that being there for those two minutes touched my soul. It sounds so hokey, but it was very pure and genuine and really, really beautiful.

Of course the eclipse was not complete. The moon continued it's journey across the sun and we watched the whole process as the positions were reversed. It started with what looked like a nibble on the top right hand side of the sun and ended with a nibble on the bottom left hand side of the sun. 

And then it was over. It felt like it happened all so quickly, but from start to finish it lasted a couple of hours. We all had a little post-eclipse let-down. At various times during our drive back to Shoshone, one of us would say something like, "Holy shit that was amazing" and the other two would agree and we'd talk about it for a couple of minutes then go back to silence.

Are you wondering how the traffic was? 

Coming out of Stanley was great. We didn't have any issues with traffic until we got back down to the Sun Valley area. There are three towns: Ketchum, Hailey and Bellevue. Ketchum is pretty tourist-y. We were backed up for five miles there. The backup in Hailey was three miles, and there was no discernible back up in Bellevue. The road to Shoshone was clear sailing. Kevin said traffic through the town had been steady.

We headed back to Utah around 5:00. Traffic through Idaho on I-84 was a non-issue. The absolute worst traffic was in Utah where I-84 merges onto I-15. There were a jillion cars coming back from eastern Idaho. I think many Utahns went to the Idaho Falls area or the Jackson Hole area to be in the Path of Totality and we all came home at the same time. I think we pulled into our driveway sometime between 9:30 and 10:00.  It was a super long day, but you know what? I would do it again tomorrow if I could see another total solar eclipse.

The next total solar eclipse that will be seen in the United States is in April 2024. Janet, MT and I have decided that we will figure out where to go to see that one. It comes up through Mexico and across the eastern states. Yahoo!!

#1872 snake wrangler

On Sunday I spent some time volunteering up at Red Butte Garden. I got to volunteer as a gate-keeper at a wedding, then I recorded blooms in the Children's Garden. To finish up my day, I decided to take a walk around the brand new Water Conservation Garden. It's only been open for a week and I was excited to see the finished result since I had watched construction on the project all of last year.

I was walking up some stairs to the second level of the Water Conservation Garden when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a magpie hopping up and down and pecking at something on the ground.

This is a magpie, if you've never seen one. They are pretty common around here, and there are definitely lots of them in Red Butte Garden. They are into scavenging, so I thought it was picking at a piece of paper or garbage that someone had dropped. That's when I noticed that what I thought was garbage was striking back at the bird. It wasn't garbage, it was a little snake, and not just any little snake - it was a baby rattlesnake.

I was not pleased with this scenario because having a rattlesnake on the main path where lots of people are walking is not ideal. Plus baby rattlesnakes are scary because they are fast and when they bite, they release all their venom. (Somebody told me that and I believe it.) Normally I will go find a gardener, a member of the horticultural staff, who will come to remove the snake and take it up to the natural area. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure that no one from "hort" was onsite because it was around 5:30 on Memorial Day weekend. Fortunately, though, there was a garden staff member with a radio very near me, Robin, the wedding planner lady. There was a wedding going on in the Fragrance Garden and Robin was at the entrance nearest me. I quietly told her about the snake and she got on the radio to find a gardener. That's when we both knew for sure there was no one from the horticultural group around.

Robin asked me if I would mind staying where I was and direct guests away from the snake. By that time, there was a bit of a crowd gathered around the magpie and the snake, so the magpie gave up and flew away. The snake coiled itself up against the wall and was very still. I thought that maybe it was dead because it wasn't moving. I stood about six feet away from the snake and asked people to walk on the opposite side of the walkway. Most people just scooted over without a question. Some people wanted to know why they should do that, and then I just pointed to the snake which caused most of them to stop a take a photo of it. Honestly, it was about the size of a medium dog's poo. It was pretty small, so I'm sure their photos weren't very great. I thought about trying to take a photo, but there was NO WAY I was getting any closer to the snake.

Robin the wedding planner decided that when the wedding ceremony was over, she would go get a bucket and a broom and we would capture the snake. I chose to think when she said "we" she meant that she would capture the snake and I would provide moral support.

Soon I heard cheers and applause from the Fragrance Garden, so the ceremony was over. When the bride and groom left, Robin took off to find the snake-catching gear. She came back pretty quickly with a cart, a garbage can with a lid, a broom and a snake stick.

Her idea was to put down the can and sweep the snake into it. The problem was that the lip of the can was bigger than the snake. I told her, from my vantage point six feet away, that she was probably going to have to use the snake stick to get the critter into the can. She couldn't see the snake (she was behind the can and it was one of those big 20 gallon plastic cans, like this one but with a lid).

From where I was, I could see the snake and the lip, so I sort of directed her and she was able to hook the snake with the snake stick (the sweeping idea did not work). When she had the snake, she made some whimpering noises and got it into the can. She very quickly set the can upright and put the lid on it securely. There is a bungee cord on the lids to make it extra safe. I cheered. She didn't know what to do with the snake now that it was secured. I suggested that the right thing to do would be to take it to the natural area and set it free. Robin thought that was a good idea and told me to get in the cart with her. She said I was there in case "something goes wrong then you can call 9-1-1."

Very slowly and carefully, Robin drove the cart up to the natural area, taking care not to knock the can over. We were both freaking out a little. We found a good spot. Robin is a total rock star. She took the can over to a grassy spot where we both fervently hoped another snake was NOT hanging out. She gingerly lifted off the lid, tipped over the can (away from herself, of course!) and kind of tipped it up so the snake could slide out, which it did. She got back in the cart in record time. We high-fived and congratulated each other on keeping the guests safe.

By that time, I had had about enough of Red Butte Garden and I decided to go home. I still haven't seen the whole Water Conservation Garden yet. I didn't even walk around the rest of the garden to see the waterfall and the ponds and the Rose Garden. I'll catch it all this weekend, hopefully. I had seen two snakes that day and I was done with nature.

I did get another wedding volunteer gig out of it and a fun story.

Happy June y'all! Talk to you tomorrow!

#1772 the work trip comes to an early end

Today was kind of like a day in three parts.

This morning I was distracted, trying to take care of some personal things that included making a few phone calls. Since I was in a conference room with no private space, I had to make the calls out in my rental car. It worked out.

This afternoon, the Blue Angels were flying directly over the office. They are going to be performing at the air show here in Sacramento on Saturday and the airfield where the show will be is right behind the plant. I was mightily distracted by the jets. I love the sound they make. During every break I was out watching them fly right over the plant area. They were flying so low you could see the numbers on their tails. Awesome!

The best part of the day was when I was done watching the Blue Angels during the afternoon break, I was excused from the rest of the meeting and I don't have to go back tomorrow! Bonus and unexpected! What makes it extra fun is that my sister is here, so we get to hang out a little bit.

Tonight, as we had already planned, we drove to Dixon to see our aunt and uncle. Mary and Dewey are my dad's brother and sister. Neither of them have ever been married. They grew up in the house in Dixon. Mary has always lived there; Dewey lived in Idaho near us until my grandpa passed away, then he moved home to live with his mom and his sister.

I have a lot of good memories of the old house. Not a lot has changed to the structure of the house itself, but the yard is a lot different than it was when I was a kid. It was nice to wander around the place with my aunt, uncle and sister. I was glad we went out and spent a little time with them. We don't see them very often and it was good to see them in their own environment. Usually we see them at my mom and dad's house.

Before we left town, we stopped by the cemetery to see our grandparents' graves. I have many happy memories of spending summers with my grandparents and my aunt Mary. I loved running around the house and the yard and over in my grandpa's orchard. I found out much later it wasn't actually his orchard, but he took care of it.  I'm pretty sure it was the first time I'd visited their graves since the graves were new.

Lizzie and I came back to Rancho Cordova and had dinner at a Mexican place near the hotel called Casa Ramos. The place was all decked out for Day of the Dead. The food wasn't too bad - not great, but good enough and plentiful.

Tomorrow Lizzie and I are going to the town of Locke. Our parent's used to take us there for a steak at Al's Place. I can't wait to go back and see if it lives up to my memories!

#1455 heard in the breakroom

The other day I was having my lunch in the breakroom at the office. I was nearly finished with my break when a couple of my co-workers, R and V, came in. They were laughing and chatting and I heard R say, "What's in a name anyway?"

V laughs.

R: What is that from? It's from a movie or something. What's in a name? It's famous.

me: Shakespeare! (but only in my head because I didn't really want to get involved in the conversation.)

V: I don't know. You're crazy.

R: No I'm not! I've heard it somewhere. Man, it's right on the tip of my tongue.

me: Romeo and Juliet! "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." or something like that. (again, all in my head).

R: GRRRR. Where did I hear that?

V: Forget about it and eat lunch.

R: I've got it!

me: Finally! Shakespeare! (in my head)

R: The Lion King!

V: Huh?

me: Shakespeare. And Disney. (in my head)

R: You know The Lion King! You've seen it!

V: Like 30 years ago. I don't remember.

R: Yeah when those two little guys find the lion and they sing that song. (She then fumbles through some humming and mumbles something that sounds like "maroona patata".)

V: (kinda of yelling) HAKUNA MATATA! It's Hakuna Matata, you nut.

At this point, I have to leave the breakroom because it is all I can do to not burst out laughing at these two, plus now the Hakuna Matata song was right in my head and mainly the part where Timon does indeed say, "What's in a name?"

Do you remember that part in the movie? It's when Pumbaa is feeling sad because of his gas that can "clear the savannah after every meal".

I'm a sensitive soul, though I seem thick-skinned

And it hurt that my friends never stood downwind

Oh! The shame!

   He was ashamed! (That's Timon)

Thought of changing my name!

   Oh what's in a name? (Timon sings)

And I got downhearted

Every time that I...

   Pumbaa! Not in front of the kids! (Timon again)

Oh sorry

#1419 MT does dinner and I get a peek at high school life

My plan was to get back to the gym tonight and go to a cycling class, but the plan was thwarted by a late night at work. I think I've mentioned that there is a new person doing the billings and she had a spot of trouble with it today. Sometimes that kind of thing happens. No big deal.

MT wasn't feeling well today and stayed home from work. Since I got home late, and he had been home all day, I asked him what was for dinner. That's fair, right? He provided for us by going down the street to the burger joint. Good enough.

I have been sitting on the couch, watching TV and reading since I got home. Talk about lazy. I am feeling better - a little bit better every day. It is definitely time to get back into the exercise habit. It's been a couple of weeks since I've been to the gym. Last week I didn't go at all because I was sick and then I was out of town. I've been four times this month. I have to get there four more times by the end of the month or my pass doesn't pay for itself.

Oh shoot. I was sitting here watching the Spurs and Clippers and thinking I should get ready for bed, but now I'll have to wait. T just got in the shower. It will be at least 20 minutes before he gets out of there.

That reminds me of a funny thing I witnessed today. I was at Subway getting a sandwich for lunch. There were three high school girls in front of me, talking amongst themselves. Suddenly, one of them stops talking and stares intently at the parking lot. "Oh great," she says. "There's Jeremiah with Amy." One of the other girls says, "Awkward."

The three of them pointedly look away as Jeremiah and Any walk in and get in line behind me. They are talking together, when Jeremiah quietly, "Oh boy. Look who's here." At that, the blond girl in front of me who noticed Jeremiah and Amy coming in looks over. Amy perkily says, "Hi Sadie!'

Sadie, the blond girl, says, "Oh, you changed your mind, huh?"

Amy: "No, actually. I was kidnapped."

Sadie: "You were kidnapped? How fun! Give me a hug!" The two girls hug. Sadie's two friends do not look amused. Jeremiah doesn't say anything. Sadie goes back to her friends and proceeds to talk really loudly while Jeremiah and Amy stand quietly behind me.

The three girls sat down to eat. Amy and Jeremiah got the hell out of there as soon as they could.

It was an interesting display of high school relationships. On the way back to the office I thought about the interactions I had seen and wondered about Sadie, Amy and Jeremiah. Certainly there was some history there between them.

Does seeing stuff like that make you wonder about people and what has happened between them?

T's still in the shower, or at least still in the bathroom, but I'm out of words tonight. Talk to you on Friday.

#1418 the virtual doctor appointment

After a week, I am still feeling crappy. Yes, I feel better than I did on Wednesday and Thursday, but I'm still no where near 100%. I think what started as an allergy turned into a cold and has now morphed into a sinus infection. The only cure for an infection is antibiotics and the only way to get those meds is to see a doctor, so that's what I did today.

Through the health insurance at my work, we have access to a program called Live Health Online.  There's an app, too. I downloaded the app, entered my info and selected a doctor from the list. A couple of minutes later, a lady came on my phone screen. We had a split screen so she could see me and I could see her. I told her what my problem was, she asked me some questions, I answered and then she prescribed some antibiotics for me. She sent the prescription right to the pharmacy where I go and within about 30 minutes, the pharmacy called to let me know my prescription was ready. My chat with the doctor lasted about five or six minutes, cost $49 and I was right back to work. If I had gone to my regular doctor, I would easily have been gone from the office at least 90 minutes and it would have cost closer to $85.

I was skeptical about the online doctor visit, but it worked well. The doctor was a family practitioner and seemed to know what she was doing. I would use the service again and recommend it to others.

Here's hoping the antibiotics clear up my sinuses and I start to feel better.

One more thing...

Tomorrow is my dad's 75th birthday. Given how sick he was when he turned 71, to see him doing so well and celebrating his 75th birthday makes me so happy and thankful! Happy birthday, Dad! Keep getting better, please! :) Love you!

#1320 ...when I'm feeling sad...

I'm sitting down to write tonight and I realized that I can't think of anything to say! I dipped into the BlogHer daily prompts for inspiration. I like the theme this month, JOY. Appropriate for the season and also lots of fun. I have a goal of finding some joy in every day, so it's a topic near to my heart. I'll probably be using some of these prompts throughout the month just because I think it's a great theme.

The prompt for December 4 is:

Who do you like to be with when you're feeling sad?

This may sound strange, but I prefer to be by myself when I feel sad. I don't think anyone needs to be around me when I'm unhappy because I pretty much just shut down and stop talking or being nice. Plus, I'm not a pretty cry-er. I should be alone when I'm crying. I'd just rather get the sadness out of my system and move on. Usually I lay on my bed for awhile and try to fall asleep. Everything seems better to me after a nap. I typically don't stay sad or mad for too long. I'm a Gemini and I really do have two sides to me.

I remember one time I was feeling kind of blue. We were in Spain and I don't remember what got to me, but I wasn't feeling very happy, so I went to a sidewalk bar that I liked and ordered a drink and just sat there watching the people go by. Pretty soon, I was chatting with the people at the table next to me and I was laughing and having fun and my sadness was forgotten. The lady I'd been talking to asked if I was a Gemini because she had watched my mood change. Weird. Isn't it funny how you remember random things sometimes?

We ordered pizza for dinner tonight and it's just been delivered! I'm going to go eat a slice or two while it's hot and delicious! Have a great night :)

#1318 the right place at the right time

This afternoon Linda and I went to the mall. She was looking for something specific (bareMinerals make-up) and I was just getting out of the house. After she bought some make-up, we were wandering around and decided to go into a store we both like, Christopher & Banks. The store was having a sale on everything, including 50% of all sweaters, so both Linda and I were trying on sweaters like crazy. I found a couple that I really liked and I paid for them with a big smile on my face.

While Linda was finishing up her purchasing, I was looking at some necklaces when a family walked up to me. There was a little kid, a mom and a dad. The mom handed me a gift card to the store and said, "Here's a gift card. There's $15 or $20 on it. I don't shop here, but I can see that you do, so here you go."

I said, "Are you being serious?"

She said, "Yep!"

Her husband said, "Merry Christmas!"

I said, "Oh my gosh! Merry Christmas to you guys! Thank you so much!"

They left the store and I stood there staring at them. Another guy who was in the store and who had seen the whole thing go down said, "Whoa. That's really cool!"

There was about $21 on the card, so I got myself a necklace!

Thank you again, kind stranger! I will think of you whenever I wear my adorable snowflake necklace :)