This evening I conked out on my bed, only I wasn’t in my jammies and it was definitely not bedtime. I took a little nap after I got home from work. I woke a short time ago at bed time, which it now is. When I looked in the bathroom mirror a few minutes ago the striped pattern from my study pillow that I’d lain against was etched into the contours of my face–it looked kind of cool. As I’d predicted, I hadn’t gotten to sleep until a bit after midnight last night and woke around 5:45 this morning. I am whipped and likely soon to reattach myself to my pillow and take my rest. I am grateful for how this day unfolded start to finish, though parts of it didn’t exactly go according to the script I’d written out for myself for the day.
I woke with the alarm, rather than before it and after writing in my journal, set about my morning ablutions while my coffee (set to turn on at 6:30) started brewing. By around 7:00 or so I was outside with Honor walking her to do her business. My plan was to leave my house by about 7:30. According to Google maps, my commute was going to take about 45 minutes and my goal was to arrive around 8:30. It all sounded pretty good except that my beloved canine companion seemed very disinclined to take care of her business. I walked her around the yard for nearly as long as my commute was going to take me and she would not–well, do what she needed to do. If she didn’t she was in for a very long and uncomfortable day at the house. At one point I yelled at her in frustration, which only served to make her even less inclined to want to do anything at all, and so in disgust I took her back into the house not having cajoled her into doing anything. There are probably some dogs who will “go” on command; mine is not one of them. Finally I took her back outside and got her to go. In the end I left the house at 7:55, nearly a half hour later than I’d planned to leave. The ride in was quick and easy, thank goodness, and I found myself at my office only a few minutes later than I’d planned to be there. Tomorrow I’ll see if I can make it at my desired arrival time.
Tonight I am exhausted and nodding off at the keyboard and will soon retire. I am grateful for having had a good first day at work. My trekking around the yard with Honor for 40 minutes meant that I’d had no time for breakfast nor to prepare a lunch. It was all I could do to grab my backpack and a couple of boxes of books before hopping in my car and taking off. I spent most of the day with the office manager as she showed me around the building, introducing me to a dozen people whose names I’ve forgotten if I managed to catch them in the first place. She showed me parts of the campus and bought me lunch, during which time she filled me in on a variety of pieces of background information, history of the past two years in the office, and her perspective on a wide range of subjects. I received many warm greetings and welcomes from members of the staff and other folks with whom I’ll be working. It was a fine day. The commute home was not pretty, but even that was manageable. I talked to my sister for part of the way and the older of my two brothers surprised me by calling to hear how I was doing. Between those calls and my audiobook, I managed the commute and arrived home in good spirits.
I am grateful for the day just past. I am exhausted and will be happy to put my head to my pillow and rest, but will do so smiling. Tomorrow, as the stating-the-obvious Scarlett O’Hara observed, is another day. I am looking forward to meeting it fully as I did today. Now if I can just get Honor to go on command…
