A Not So Terrible Day

December 3, 2014 – A Not So Terrible Day

This seemed to be one of those days when everything goes wrong.  I didn’t get a good night’s sleep last night, for some unknown reason, and I struggled to emerge from my warm cocoon of a bed this morning.  My brain was in a fog all through breakfast.  At least I had my weekly Wednesday morning Zumba class to look forward to.  That usually puts me in a good frame of mind.  Except that when I got to the gym, I found that today’s class was cancelled because the exercise room was being painted. 

All right, I thought.  I won’t get stressed out.  I’ll just drive home, pick up my Kindle, drive right back to the gym, read Big Little Lies while I do a half-hour run on the elliptical machine, take a quick shower, and drive down to Greenspring to meet with my mother’s doctor at 12. 

All went well for the next hour.  I even made it down to Greenspring by 11:45 a.m. and got a terrific parking place.  While I waited for the doctor to arrive, I straightened up my mother’s room, arranging her arts and crafts projects, her Bingo Bucks, and her packages of candy – Raisinets and Milk Duds (prizes for games).  Then I waited, and waited, and waited.  A little after 12, I checked with the nursing station.  The nurse looked puzzled.  He didn’t know anything about a doctor’s appointment.  And no, the doctor was busy with patients at the medical center and couldn’t see me today.  Clearly there had been some miscommunication. 

Take a deep breath, I reminded myself, and get back into the car and listen to some nice music.  Sure I was hungry, but I’d be sitting down for lunch in half an hour.  However, I didn’t anticipate the major traffic backup on Braddock Road due to some kind of roadwork that had one of the two lanes closed.  Finally, I got home, determined not to let the earlier events spoil the remainder of my day. 

First of all, I laughingly told Elliott about everything that had gone wrong.  Right away, the gloom started to lift.  And I couldn’t help smiling as I showed him some recent photos of Katie taken at the Dancing with the Stars event at her assisted living facility.  No surprise that she was the winner!  After lunch, I brought out cups of Trader Joe’s Winter Blend coffee (subtly spiced with cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns) and the last slices of Teri’s wonderful banana bread, lightly toasted.  What’s more, I have time to relax this afternoon before going into DC with my friend Kathy for dinner and a Shakespeare play.  Maybe this isn’t such a terrible day after all.