Part-time pain with a side of nuts, please.

Yesterday was a day of misgivings, disharmony and way too much dog poop. Pashka's senility continues at breakneck speed . . .so I found myself picking up after her in the house three times in one day--a record. Then Dave unwittingly e-mailed me a photo taken at his Christmas party this year. It was a group picture taken of his co-workers and spouses and me looking like I'd been given a pass from the 'home' for the evening.
I'm not photogenic, o.k.! And now it is apparent I've seen better days too.
I thought eating two York Peppermint Patties would help which only backfired because then I was able to use my rolls and chins as ammo against my already smarting self-respect. I tried filling my house with beautiful music, thus yesterday's poem and Cecilia Bartoli's voice-over. It worked--for awhile. Maybe my anti-depressant pills had expired or the moon was approaching full or it was just 'part-time pain.'

Leaving out the boring details of the rest of the day, suffice it to say that by bedtime I was feeling very much like the dog logs I'd picked up all day, only stepped on and needing a big stick to clean out the grooves in the soles of my shoes. Soles=soul and mine was grateful to just turn off the flippin' light on the nightstand and call it a day.

Eight hours later, I woke up to not one but two marks on my nose from my sleep apnea face mask. This is never a good sign. But my fingers flew to the keyboard to record what happened next so I wouldn't forget (see earlier paragraph about the 'home.')

Its difficult to rate these, so I'll just say that

a. My e-mail inbox showed I'd received a message from a dearly-loved and long-lost niece, Colette. She'd been given my blog address by my Erica and I was over-joyed to know she still cared for me and was happy to write to me.

b. When I checked out a few friends' blogs, I found that Julie had given me an award called 'You Make My Day.' So while I was writing my own obituary and stuffing my face to ease the pain, Julie had me in mind.

c. I stopped by Caribou Coffee and not only was there an empty chair by the fireplace (which usually doesn't happen) but the cute barrista gave me my coffee free. When I opened my mouth to say he'd not charged me enough, I got as far as 'Umm, I think you...' when he gave me a thumbs-up and said, 'I hope you'll make this a good day.' okey-dokey

d. Lastly, the washing machine in the laundry room gave me a free wash. I don't know. .

Notes to self:

While sipping my (free) coffee I overheard the mother of little Jackson tell her friend across the table the cutest thing Jackson had said yesterday. At first I rolled my eyes and then I heard her say: 'I was saying that I thought I was nuts. Jackson came up to me and said, 'Mom, you're not nuts, you just eat nuts, that's all.'

Whew! we're both safe.