One Of Them Days

Yesterday, I had one of them days.

It wasn't a really bad day. I mean, it could have been much worse. But, there were a whole lotta little things that were just bad enough to be really irritating.

It started just after 6:00 a.m. as I headed out to work. I need to make sure I'm more awake before getting behind the wheel of my car. Right now, I am working right in the midst of downtown. That means I take the freeway straight from here to there. I started out on the right freeway. Suddenly, I guess my car had a mind of its own and before I knew what happened, I was fixin' to get on the turnpike. Bad, very bad.

Luckily, before I went through the booth to grab my ticket, I was able to do a U-turn and head back north to the freeway. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Ok, little brain fart, I can overcome.

A few minutes later, I am back on the freeway and headed for downtown. Next on the list comes the parking garage.

I find me a good parking spot in the parking garage. Now work with me here. I walk to the elevator, take elevator downstairs, exit garage, through building, outside into the cold, walk through the courtyard, passed a panhandler, across the street, into another panhandler, into my building . . . only to discover . . . I left my badge to get into the building in my car. Grrr. Again, nothing really bad, just really inconvenient.

So, past the panhandler, across the street, another panhandler, through the courtyard, into and through the building, into the parking garage, up the elevator, to my car. Got my badge. All was good with my world.

Let's skip ahead to lunchtime. This was one of the few days I didn't pack my lunch. That shouldn't have been a big deal. Eating downtown can be a little pricey, but there are a lot of places to eat within walking distance.

My boss and I usually have lunch together. He chose to forego the sandwich he brought for lunch opting for lunch out as well. We decided to head to the Galleria. The Galleria does have a couple of restaurants, but more importantly, it has a food court. Gotta love a food court! Something for everyone.

We bundled up against the cold and headed out. Once we walked into the Galleria, what do I see between me and the food court? Dogs. Lots and lots of dogs. Some were sort of penned inside of portable two-foot high fences. Some were on leashes, and I'm not all that sure that some weren't just running loose. Those of you that know me, know that dogs terrify me probably more than spiders do. To say that I wanted to cry and bolt out of there is an understatement. I started to shake and seriously my life past before my eyes. Here, they were having some sort of pet adoption thing happening at the Galleria. Had I known, I'd have skipped lunch.

So as to show as little weakness as possible to the boss so as not to give him ammunition to use against me at a later time, I took the long way around and got past the dogs. I still just wanted to hide and cry, but I made it by them. I grabbed a sandwich, and made sure I sat with my back to the pooches. I figured what I couldn't see couldn't kill me! It was all good until it was time to go. Again, some fancy footwork kept as much space and as many people between me and the dogs. I lived through the experience.

Now we move to my drive home. I got on the right freeway and headed home! Closer to home, the freeway goes from three lanes down to two lanes. It was in the two lane part, at the exit just before my exit. This is a very busy exit and entrance. There always seems to be a steady stream of cars entering the freeway here, so I like to try to get in the left lane to give traffic room to merge onto the freeway. Again, it's only two lanes here. Well, there seemed to be more cars than usual getting on here. I kept looking for a hole to move back into the right lane. I foolishly passed a couple of holes I could have made, looking at a big one up ahead. Just as I was reaching this hole, the car in front of me stepped on the brakes and slowed waaaay down. He chose to move over into my hole! The way he slowed down and the time he took moving over, the hole closed. No room for me and my Honda. Dang it! I get so angry when someone cuts me off, I can't do it knowingly to other people. So, since I waited too long, now I missed my exit.

I blurted out a few expletives at myself and kept going to the next exit and doubled back to the house.

Now, it's been kinda a bad day. Nothing terrible, but just really, really irritating. Ron, being the great guy he is, said he'd take me out to dinner since I had such a poopy day. WOO HOO! Things are looking up!

I decided I had a hankering for Ponderosa. And, being difficult, I wanted the Ponderosa in the next town. That one seems to be to be much nicer, cleaner, food is better and the service is tops! It's worth the extra 10 minutes to get there.

We pulled into Ponderosa and saw the sign. Santa Claus was at Ponderosa last night, and kids got a free picture with Santa! Hey, I may not technically be a kid, but I had enough kid in me. I didn't want to hurt the guy by sitting on his lap, but I did want to go over and say howdy!

Santa shook my hand and I said "hey Santa! I've been a very good girl this year, so I'm expecting good things from you!"

With the signature twinkle in his eye, he replied "Who are you kidding? Remember, I have a list and I've checked it twice. You have a week to clean up your act or nothing from Santa!"

HELLO???? Dissed by Santa??? Oh the horror!

The guy had me laughing, but c'mon. What a way to end my day. Dissed by Santa. And only a week to clean up my act? I better not even think of leaving the house and I may have a chance. Wish me luck!