One of those days, complete with a flying television set

Today was definitely one of those days...the kind of day that you forget about because they're so few and far between, and just when one of those days has become a distant memory - BLAM - it's back!  I woke up to a stuffy nose (allergies) and the pinging of my iPhone letting me know that I had a message, and then another message, and another message. It seems that my son was having some financial problems (small) so I mapped out of plan for him, and thought I could get on with my day until I found out that the front wheel of the van was screeching.  The van went to the shop to be accessed, and then I started the laundry.  I had a moment to grab a bite to eat, and to enter some sweepstakes when hubby came home and said that he thought that he ran a red light and will be waiting to see if he gets something in the mail.

Hubby went back to work, (he's self-employed - so that means he's usually in and out a lot just so that he can bug me), and then while I'm in the garage attending to laundry I hear an earth shattering noise in the house.  What was strange was that when I went to open the door to find out what happened, the door didn't want to open.  When I finally got it opened, I find out why.  Our 100 pound dog was trying to get out to the garage where I was.  Puzzled, I looked around and saw the television set upside down on her dog bed.  I checked her out to make sure that she wasn't hurt, (she was fine) and then determined that she had somehow got wrapped up in the cord, and pulled the set off of the television stand.  While I consoled her, and scolded the television, I moved the stand, and set the TV back up -- which still works!

Then the mechanic called and said that the van was ready.  I did some more planning with my son, and got things worked out with him, and after giving the dog lots of pats and treats, I realized that the one good thing out of the day was that the dog wasn't hurt.  My son's problems will always exist, but he can learn how to manage them, cars will always need to be repaired, and television sets can be replaced, but pets can't be.  This is my lesson for today, focus on what's important, and let the small things go.

Why do Pork Chops like to make you wait?

After spending the morning entering my usual thousand (I'm exaggerating) sweepstakes, hoping for that 10 day trip to Thailand, or a new Mercedes, but realizing that I'd also be just as happy with a $10 gift card, or a bag of salad (organic would be a plus), and then spending two luscious hours with Johnny Depp (OK - well - I actually went to see "Alice In Wonderland,") which I thoroughly enjoyed -- "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" I returned home to address the dinner situation while regaling the rest of my family with scenes from the movie, of which they weren't really interested in because it was dinner time, and they actually were just nodding and wondering when they were going to get to eat.



Anyway, the large metal alter was lit with ceremonial splendor (we just dumped the coals in the grill and torched it) and then the pork chops were slapped on the grates while the natives circled. The side dishes were prepared, drinks were handed out, and then we...waited, and waited, and waited. We turned, and flipped, and turned, peering and poking, sniffing, and muttering, while the pork chops stubbornly just took their own sweet time cooking. A few natives wondered off to check out the television, one started waxing the car, one puttered in their flowers, and me, I just started munching on cookies...




It occurred to me that pork is sort of zen in that way -- it gives one time to reflect, get some chores done, catch up on the local news, commune with nature, and have a snack, and allows one to realize that there's more to life than just standing around waiting for dinner to be done. I hadn't really thought about this before, but I guess I'm kinda glad that I had the opportunity to learn today's lesson -- Johnny Depp is awesome, and pork chops are very crafty!