It’s been a few months since I published the highs and lows of life, so here’s a catcher-upper.
Highs
–Took a 4 day road trip to visit my son in grad school and his wife. We had a nice dinner out. Left the next morning to visit my friend Joy who moved last year and is starting a farm with her husband a couple hours from there. We had a great time hiking around the farm, gathering chicken eggs and feeding the animals (goats, chickens and pheasants), sitting in the hot tub and looking at the stars and more. She also took me for a hair-raising ride up and down the hills on their property in a go-cart that was as big as a Volkswagen Beetle. (Think she enjoyed seeing me clutch the bars and scream.)
The second day she took me to an outlet mall. Now, she and I were the thrift store queens for years when she lived here — but the stores had a lot of 70% off and back-to-school bargains that day — plus, it was a tax-free weekend — so we both bought stuff at real stores. What a treat!
–Got to (try to) milk a goat at the farm! It wasn’t as easy as you’d think…
–Out of the blue, a rep from a movie/TV company wrote and asked to use five of my Hurricane Hugo photos from my blog post about it as part of a montage in a TV show they’re making about restorations in Charleston after the hurricane. And they paid me, too! (Will have to find a friend with a better cable plan than mine to see it when the program airs.)
–Volunteered to co-chair the annual fundraising drive at work and set up a bunch of fun fundraising events again. This year I got the idea to delegate some and ask members of a few work-related special-interest groups to sponsor an event. And they’re going to do it!
Just Plain Awkward
–My hair stylist works in a very small cubicle-sized shop in a building with a lot of other independent hair stylists. When I went for a haircut recently, there was another woman in the tiny room with her, as well as two men and a big dog!
Did you ever get your hair washed, slicked-back and styled with two men standing within 3 feet? Not good.
On top of that, I’d gone on an online-first-date with one of the man — who turned out to be her boyfriend now. Was hoping he didn’t remember me. The whole appointment was very, very awkward!
Lows
–Tripped in the middle of the night over a suitcase I’d left on the bedroom floor and rammed it so hard, I flew head-first on the bed next to it. Realized the next day that I broke my toe.
–My bank LOST my night deposit made 3 weeks ago; it contained a check with nearly a month’s pays. Luckily, I was teleworking one day, got the mail and happened to open the statement and noticed I only had $52 in checking. The bank found the envelope I deposited, but thinks the deposit slip and checks got shredded.
–The smoke detector kept going off. On my telework day, it blasted “Low battery” at about 85 decibels even after I climbed on a ladder and changed the battery 10 times. It’s hardwired in the wall, so I finally put in ear plugs and called the fire department for help. Ended up getting new detectors.
The upside to it all: The bank took care of expenses incurred in the deposit incident, and it was a blessing that I was home, looked at the statement and was able to go to the bank during the day to get the problem fixed. If I’d waited a day longer, checks would’ve bounced since my overdraft protection was all used.
And although the smoke alarm was annoying and kept going off randomly for days afterwards, was able to find someone at work who moonlights doing electrical work and he came to my house and fixed everything at 7:30 a.m. Saturday (the only time I wasn’t busy) – for half the price quoted to me from another electrician.
It’s all good.
Wow!
That farm sounds amazing. You will have to spend more time there. I volunteer at a small urban farm once a week, and I love the change. It’s hard, though!
That story about the hairdresser is hilarious!