What I Did Today!

March of the Penguins
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"I have often had the impression that, to penguins, man is just another penguin - different, less predictable, occasionally violent, but tolerable company when he sits still and minds his own business."
~ Bernard Stonehouse

I don't usually post what I do or accomplish each day. Personally, I think my day to day life is very boring right now. What I do is not earth shaking and at the end of the day, not very productive. If a small minute task gets done, I consider the day a success; actually, getting through the day in one piece seems a success. Therefore, unlike my daughter and her friends who have lives filled with lunches, work, Victoria's Secret, sunbathing on the beach, playing dominoes on the computer, talking on the cell phone, listening to music on i-pod and just the general banter back and forth with a girlfriend, I don't post about "What I Did Today". But today I make an exception.

What I Did Today!

• I got up. That in and of itself is success. Not only did I get up but, I got up early; not as early as I set the alarm for but I didn't push the snooze as much either.
• I showered and dressed in something other than scrubs or worn out jeans and work shirt. True, I pulled one of my usual "shirts to wear with jeans" out instead of a fancier dress shirt and put it on. Also true that I did not see this mistake until sitting in the office of the Kempsville Body Shop. But at least I had the same color of shoes on.
• Big thing here. We took Nyssa's car in to have the body repaired. (I wish there was a real body repair shop to take myself to for repairs.) She has had the car four years and except for the cracked windshield from a rock on the highway, she has not had any major dings. Well, at least not since her encounter with the mail box in Mississippi but that was over three years ago. In a space of three weeks someone has dented in her right back passenger door and her driver's side door, both front and back. This last dent looks like someone kicked it with a boot. At least it was obvious enough for her to see; park for work - no dent, four hours later - big dent. So we have a police report for that one. They should have it repaired by Friday so she can take it to college next week and start the denting process all over.
  
• Went to bank. Deposited check from cashing in a small IRA that has sat (checked grammar on this as it didn't sound right) idle for 13 years so I could write a check for the first semester of tuition, food, room and other college expense.
• Went back home. Got everybody else up and fixed them breakfast. Well, not everyone. Dad went somewhere. Whenever he goes somewhere, you never know how long he will be; especially if he goes to the grocery store. Mom thinks he loves to go there just to walk around and read all the boxes. He can be gone two hours just to get milk, bread and eggs. I try to go with him to keep things rolling along and so that he won't read every box of stuffing mix but just get the one on sale or the one that has the coupon for that week. Anyway, he came in half-way through breakfast and he had been at the grocery store.
• I make Nyssa's supper for work; a low carb wrap with Monterey Jack cheese, thin sliced smoked turkey, a tiny bit of mayo and a dollop of honey mustard, a serving of fresh broccoli and carrots with Ranch dressing and sliced peach mixed with sliced plum. Yes, throw in a diet Coke and she is good to go.
• Mom has to go to the doctor to get her Procrit shot. Today, Dad will take her.
• Nyssa and I are going to the movies, specifically to see The March of the Penguins. This is our third attempt to get there. I know I am going to cry. It doesn't take much. Fortunately, even though they show a seal grabbing one of the mama penguins and the penguin family dropping and cracking one of the eggs, and the baby chicks not surviving the cold blowing storm, and the older penguins that can't take the harsh cold and simply go to sleep forever, and a chicks that gets taken by the large bird; it is a G rated movie so they just let you know it happens without showing all the gore and violence and struggle for life that goes along with those events. It was a wonderful movie, some of the best parts coming with the credits and showing the humans also trying to fight the elements to make the movie. Highly recommended. Oh! This is also the inspiration behind the picture and quote of the day above. I did not take the picture. Have never been to Antarctica and really have no desire to ever be that cold.
• Get back to the house and make a small, light and very late lunch for Nyssa before she goes to work; macaroni and cheese.
• Take Nyssa to work because her car is now at the body shop and even though the insurance will pay for a rental car, I don't want her to have to get used to driving a strange car and I just don't trust the parking situation at the beach. Of course, there are thunderstorms in the area. It is raining....raining harder......raining cats and dogs, no visibility, water gathering on interstate......lane closed on highway and backup from opposite direction......slowing rubber neckers going our way....and usual beach traffic, but I get to the Forbes candy shop in one piece and drop her off by 5 pm.
• I am not going to take the interstate back. I will take Laskin Road to Virginia Beach Blvd and deal with the stop lights but a little less traffic, at least traffic not trying to go as fast and no long back-ups. Right. I never saw those signs on Laskin Road before; the ones that read "Caution: Road prone to flooding!". Sure enough, there are puddles on the road, lots of them. I try to go through slower but it still throws a large splash and I start hearing the squeal of a belt somewhere under my hood. It takes a full hour to drive the usual fifteen minute trip.
• I didn't have to fix supper tonight. Just leftovers.
• So here I sit. I need to sew up several items of clothing. I need to order pictures from my digital camera. I need to answer an e-mail asking if I have "fallen off the edge of the world". (I avoid answering because in a real sense I have) I need to get a list of things to do to get my "starter person" ready to go to school next week. I need to "shoo-shoo" the cats to their sunroom for the night. But I just don't want to move. I am living proof of the mechanics rule in physics: A body at rest stays at rest. So here I am.
• I do have one more major task for the evening. I have to drive back down to the beach to pick Nyssa up after work. She gets off at 11pm but probably won't be able to leave until 11:30 pm at the earliest. If the rain has stopped I may walk across to the boardwalk by the beach and see what I can see. Maybe take the camera. Who knows.

Wow! When I write it all out like this it looks like I really got a lot done! Maybe I should do this more often! Maybe it would make me feel better about my life! Yes, maybe I'll do it again tomorrow!

No....probably not. Nyssa doesn't have to work tomorrow and I may not make it very far past the first item on my list. Tomorrow my big accomplishment may be just getting up.