Lee's Adventures with her Golden Heart Entry

My Golden Heart entry is on its way! I handed it to the FedEx man this afternoon and he said that since it's supposed to snow tonight or tomorrow (I live in Canada and it does that sometimes), he just might take it to Texas himself. What a sweetie.

I'm not sure what it is about Golden Heart entry time, but things always get crazy for me. I was working for a government ministry yesterday (it’s Canada, remember? our government has ministries) and left to go to my American Sign Language study group. I’m hearing, but I’m learning ASL. I was waiting at the bus stop when a woman on a bicycle collided with a car--a moving one. So I called 911 from my cell phone and sat with the woman till the ambulance got there. The only other bystanders were men and for some reason, they all seemed to be more concerned about the male driver of the car than about the cyclist. Now I have to say, I'm pretty sure the accident was the cyclist's fault but come on, boys. Let's have a little compassion. Long story short, I missed my bus and my study group, and ended up going home to study alone for last night's exam.

Then my parents called last night, just before I left for class, to say they were coming into the city this morning for my father's eye treatment. He has macular degeneration. I told them sorry but I have to work all day on my GH entry and my ministry contract, so no time to visit. They stopped by at 7:40 this morning anyway and I felt as guilty as can be, but I had to send them on their way.

My daughter had the day off today and, bless her, she got up and decided the house was a pigsty and she was going to clean it. Too bad she hadn't cleaned before her grandparents got here, but oh well. And the whole thing about it being a pigsty is a gross understatement, but that's not the point. I've been working like crazy, she has two jobs, and after teaching all week, my husband spends half his weekends marking papers. Who has time to clean?

Okay, so she's busy cleaning. I have both computers running, lights are on, she's simultaneously running the washer, dryer, vacuum cleaner and probably a half dozen appliances I don't know about. I finish burning the CD. Print a letter to go with my entries, which are already printed, copied, and binder clipped, thank goodness. And the power goes out. My UPSs are beeping like crazy so I shut down my computers and then discover that the power didn't go out. Something tripped the breaker and only part of the house--my part!--is without power. Oh well. I no longer need power. I need a courier. I haven't called FedEx for a pickup because I didn't know what time the package would be ready, but everything is now ready so,--if I only slow down for stop signs--I have time to get my Golden Heart entry to the FedEx depot.

And I do. With ten minutes to spare. After coming to a full stop at all stop signs. All is well, except for the snarky woman at the depot who tells me I might too late because the driver will be there any minute. And I have ten, so what's your point? I didn't say that. I just told her that as long as she let me talk to the driver, he'd wait. I got no snark that time, just an evil wait-and-see glare.

Sure enough the driver shows up a minute later. While he's scanning the other packages, I casually mention that I have one more for him. Then I say, "So this will be in Houston tomorrow?" And he replies, "By 10:30 am." And I say, "Wow. I LOVE you guys." Which leads to the conversation about the weather and the possible snow and how he thinks he just might take it there himself. Then he has his arms full of packages and I hold the door open for him and away we go. But I can't resist a glance back at the snarky woman. Listen and learn, lady. You've just seen a professional at work.

So thats how the last day and a bit have unfolded, except I left out the part about me panicking because I thought I dropped my wallet at the drive-through teller this afternoon and drove away, and the part about me spending half an hour yesterday morning in one of the women's washrooms in the government minstry building, moistening paper towel and using it to seal 369 envelopes because the snarky secretary refused to let me use her little spongy envelope-sealer thingy, after somebody took ours out of our supply box. Still, contractors are supposed to provide their own materials, dontchaknow. Now half the women who work on the 7th floor think I'm a total raving lunatic, but what's new? Besides, I'm a writer. What better way to get revenge than to write about it?

Okay. This is me signing off, about to pour myself a glass of wine and marvel at how, despite the craziness, my GH entry manages to make its way out the door every year. And, thanks to my FedEx guy, it's going to be there tomorrow morning by 10:30, more than a whole day before the deadline.

Lee

posted by Lee McKenzie @ 9:13 PM