Sallyacious

« I Am on VACATION!!!!! | Main | PhotoHunt: I Spy »

March 10, 2008

Gifts from the Universe

I've done nothing to deserve these, yet somehow, I've been delighted with a number of charming surprises over the last few weeks:

Boots
My friend Maaike dropped by my house on a Saturday morning with a load of boxes and bags. I was still in my pajamas. So was she. She had three pair of boots for me to try on (we wear the same size) that didn't work for her. I fell in love with the first pair she pulled out of a bag, and I've been wearing them ever since. I loooove my new cowboy boots. Looooove them. But you can understand why, can't you?

Jazz Festival and the Lunar Eclipse
As you know from earlier postings, I got to enjoy a lot more of both of these experiences than I expected to. Mostly thanks to living in this annoying little town. (It's not all bad here, just mostly.)

Chick Stuff
An evening with female friends, high hilarity in rehearsals, and an MFA thesis defense which consisted of, along with the scary question part, a reading of part of one short story that I now need to hear the end of and one entire short story about Jerry Seinfeld having an existential crisis at the Latah County Fair, which just about slayed me with the ridiculousness of it all.

Fortuitous Timing of a Newspaper Article
It was in the New York Times. It hit the press (and my consciousness) at exactly the right time to land in some very fertile soil (scroll down to Virgo). I'll write more about it later.

Time to Do Some Yard Work
I spent a Saturday weeding various beds in the front yard instead of doing anything else. It was time outside, it was time for myself, and it took some of the pressure off for this week, since those beds still look lovely. Now I don't have that hanging over me as well as the rest of my life.

A Lost Earring
Which doesn't sound like a good thing, really, especially when I get into which earring I lost, but bear with me.

Dave and I were in the mall on our first Valentine's Day here, and I mentioned something about needing some sparklies to make it a real Valentine's Day. He said, "okay." I figured that meant we'd be heading to Claire's, because that's what I meant. But he steered me instead to an actual jeweler. We visited every single one (there are four or five in the mall--which seems like two or three too many for a town this small, but then, we've got at least six realty companies here too, and an overabundance of Chinese restaurants as I've mentioned before). Eventually, he found what he was after, and I became the proud possessor of not one, but two pair of sapphire earrings (1/2c & 1/4c).

They're my favorites, of all the earrings he's bought for me since, partly because the screw backs on the diamonds do not hold them secure and I've almost lost the diamond studs several times. In fact, now, I have one screw back for the four diamond studs I possess. So I've been wearing the sapphires a lot.

I noticed one day last week that one of the larger studs was gone. I don't know how, I don't know when. It just wasn't in my ear any more. And I spent several days not wearing an earring in that ear because I just hadn't bothered to get out the remaining small earring and shift things around so that all three spots had posts again. It sucked because I loved those earrings. But it reminded me that I need to pay more attention to my own body, my own needs. I have to stop taking things for granted. And it could have been a more expensive reminder. It could have been a diamond.

No Rehearsal over Spring Break
Every time I looked at the rehearsal schedule, I saw the same thing, rehearsal Sunday through Friday. It wasn't until I was standing in the theatre on Friday night that I realized the reason the director kept saying things like "the Sunday after the break," and "when we come back from the break" was that we didn't have rehearsal this week.

I wouldn't have minded having rehearsal this week. I wouldn't have complained about it. It would have been good for me. But not having rehearsal means that I get to take an unexpected trip to Boise (and we found really cheap tickets so I don't have to drive through the still-wintry mountains--another gift) and see my family. But most of all, to see my Boy.

Getting the Grading Done Early
It all went by much faster than I expected. I got all of the arty freshman classes' work finished on Friday evening, and all of the thinky class done on Saturday (including a little slop over into Sunday morning). Some of those piles had been waiting for me for over a week, but they ended up being relatively painless and even interesting. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading their ideas. I just hate correcting their grammar and spelling and pointing out logical leaps and errors over and over and over again. But the grading was quick. Much more so than usual.

Having an Unexpected Day Off
As a result of that, I was able to write some exam questions and then spend yesterday however I chose. Which involved lounging around on the couch eating Chips Ahoy and reading the silly stuff that you can only find on the internet. Every time I thought, "I should be doing something," I countered with, "But I'm on vacation so I can do anything I want!"

Finding an Earring
In the bed. On the sheets. When I flipped everything off the bed to straighten things out. I must have been sleeping on it for days. But it's back in my ear now, with a new back. I need to see if I can find a supplier for gold & stainless post backs. What a glorious discovery that was.

As I said, gifts from the universe. How lucky am I? I've been in the middle of several weeks' worth now. I'm hoping my good fortune will continue for a while longer. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the time ahead of me by not taking my laptop to Boise. So I probably won't be posting again until Friday at the earliest. (But I am taking my camera, so when I do post again, I'll most likely have nephew pictures.)

Posted by sally at March 10, 2008 09:26 AM

Comments

Posted by: inlandempiregirl at March 10, 2008 09:48 PM

Posted by: fire4hairlady at March 13, 2008 07:40 PM

©2006 - All content copyright Sally Eames-Harlan unless otherwise noted