It's Friday right?

Today was a day that I would rather not repeat any time soon. It’s hard to believe how quickly it can down hill after you arrive at gainful employment. And the Friday before a long weekend is always an invitation to chaos….today did not disappoint on that front.

I stopped to pick up my mail at the front desk and was immediately (and against my will) a witness to a rant about the pros and cons of immunization, how unfair it was for an employer to insist on this, multiple questions about benefit and risk and broad declarations of anarchy regarding vaccination. I stated matter of factly that the vaccine was being offered to all employees and headed up to my office. It is a testament to the insanity of the day to state that I didn’t even get to reach inside my briefcase, let alone unpack it until it was time (actually after time) to head home again, taking a good bit of the contents as homework with me.

The phone rang off the desk, bunches of employees swarmed to my door (apparently immunization is a female group activity much like going to the washroom when out for the evening) and the emails just kept coming. Every time I left the office to head to the photocopier or run a short errand to another department where someone was having a crisis only I could solve, there would be that evil flashing red light signifying (another) voice mail message. I ate my lunch in front of the computer having a phone meeting with my boss to explain my actions of the morning - support was given - but by this point I swear it would have been a kindness to release me from my misery and kick my butt out on the street. Just after lunch, I received a call from the lab with results that put the final icing on the cake. The lab tech says to me “you’re always so cheerful when you answer the phone” to which I replied “I’m not always that cheerful when I’m hanging up after talking to you though”. This news necessitated a major amount of organization, documentation, phone calls and planning. It would have been easy to just sit down and weep but…no time for that. I poured, but never drank a cup of tea, and only remembered I’d left it on the cup warmer AFTER I’d arrived home - this necessitated a frantic call to the boiler operator to access the office and shut it off as over a long weekend it would become a fire hazard.

When I arrived home I picked the mail out of the mailbox and opened the door to a sour smell much like an Emergency Room on a Saturday night (when the bars have closed and the wounded head to the hospital to get patched up) as if a bunch of drunks had barfed in the mud room. Now I like to drink the occasional glass of wine and the man of the house is a pretty mean vintner but the first few days after a batch of wine is put on can be a bit….odiferous. I sure wouldn’t want to be having folks over this weekend while the fermenting action is taking place. I continued on to the kitchen where I found the dishwasher needed unloading, a full sink of dirty dishes to reload it with and all the desserts in the fridge had been eaten - a sure sign of teenagers in the house alone. The king of the castle was slouched on the couch in front of the TV (where he’d been since mid afternoon) looking really surprised when I asked “what’s for supper?” If you live alone in your place of residence and complain of feeling lonely - reach around and give yourself a slap up back of the head - just know it‘s from me.

The foul mood was nothing a dog walk and exercise routine couldn’t work out. In the meantime I returned a call to the travel mate who couldn’t remember if I’d given her a CD of our trip photos. Yes, I did on the first day back when I went to pick up my luggage the airline delivered. Now this is a woman who lives alone (well with two cats) travels frequently and is not at the moment gainfully employed and SHE can’t remember something?? We had a good belly laugh when she told me that she had that disease where you can’t remember anything but she couldn’t remember what it was called! There is no hope for me with the abuse this poor brain is taking lately. Probably a blessing as there many things I’d really rather not remember.

The Aeroplan card didn’t resurface (it’s gone to the land of lost socks I guess) even when I got a new one. So I activated the card - let the mile saving begin - and ordered a replacement for the one I lost when my purse was stolen a couple of years ago. With the promise of some travel plans I just might need to plug that puppy into a kiosk in an airport. Now the weather forecast is rotten for the weekend so my goal is to get some scrapbook pages laid out. I’m thinking I could get the cruise scrapbook at least planned out and blocked together. Got to keep those fun memories alive somehow.