I was going to leave for my trip today, but we had a huge
storm roll through here. I didn’t feel like driving through dangerous winds and
blowing snow. It is an irrational fear, because I know my bike rack is sturdy
and fits tightly on my car. But, I am always terrified that it is going to fall
off. I decided my nerves would be better served by waiting the storm out and
then leaving. I will simply extend my trip by another day.
Instead, I started on my taxes. Another thing to be grateful
about living alone – paperwork is where I put it. My husband liked to get the
mail. He opened all the envelopes willy-nilly and left them around. Then, he
would blame me for unpaid bills I didn’t know had come. To be honest, some of
the unpaid bills were because I genuinely forgot (my bad), but most were his fault.
There wasn’t even any point in arguing, I just apologized. He would arbitrarily
throw stuff I needed for the taxes out because he didn’t think we needed it. Maybe
he thought they were solicitations or something, rather than receipts for
donations already made. I don’t know. Now, everything is organized and I got a
good start.
It has been a pretty productive week, really. I participated
in reverse thrift store Wednesday. In our town the day to go to the thrift
store is Wednesday – that is when they put out all of the new stuff. However,
this week I only went to the thrift store to drop stuff off. It was awesome. I
got rid of thirty pounds of slip covers and curtains alone. We always moved
around a lot. I needed a way to make different curtains and furniture work in
different rooms, so I had a unified color scheme and slip covers for the
government furniture. I hauled those things around for fifteen years. Somebody
else may want them and they aren’t weighing me down. I actually ended up taking
about 200 pounds of stuff over.
I had another story published locally. The publication doesn’t
pay for submissions, so I don’t send them the stuff I plan to sell. Still, it
is good to get feedback from a wide range of local readers. They pop into the
shop to tell me what they thought, which I think is cool. They could email me,
but this is a small town and they know where to find me. People value face to
face communication here.
My husband’s boss called me and told me that he didn’t want
me disrupting his staff retreat while I was in Sedona. I have to admit I was
pretty embarrassed. What must they think of me? They must think I am some kind
of crazy stalker coming down to follow my husband around and cause him trouble.
I don’t know what I have done to give them that impression. I give him a wide
berth and never ask anyone questions about him. The only things I know about
his life are the things people tell me in the shop without my asking, sometimes
because they think I still have some sort of influence over his more outlandish
behavior, which I don’t. The only reason I still have to cross paths with him
at all is because he didn’t have the common decency to leave town when he left
me. His girlfriend gave me an earful when she overheard me telling my friends I
was going to Sedona and would miss next week’s meeting. She always lurks around
the café and listens in during our writers’ group meetings. She is one of the
most childish people I know.
We were on TV last night. The town’s new tap room made the
news. They wanted to interview me, but I still have some lingering camera
shyness from all of those years in the service. I guess I am going to have to
get over that if I become a famous author.
I was running on the treadmill and watching Doctor Oz. He
said that to ensure good sleep, you need to keep your feet warmer than the rest
of you. Apparently, if your feet are cooler than the rest of your body, your
body works harder to warm them up, making you all sweaty and sleep deprived. I
have started wearing socks to bed and using just a light quilt. I still feel
warm enough and I sleep great.
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