Silver Lining Kind of Day...

Last night as I walked into work, I stepped in a pile of tomato sauce on the floor that no one had thought to mop up. Gross, but whatever. Then I noticed that absolutely nothing had been done or moved, including the food on the roller grill, since I had left that morning almost 17 hours prior. After a few minutes or hours of complaining to my girlfriend, I cleaned the place up and did the jobs that no one else was going to do. Things started to get better.

Then, later last night, someone that I have no desire to have contact with popped up out of no where. Why? I have no idea. It made me feel weird and very uncomfortable. Luckily Sof came to the rescue, as always. I got off work this morning and was feeling better about life. 

After sleeping for a few hours and getting home from my meeting, I was determined to have a good evening before coming back to work. Rocko hadn't really been outside a lot, so I took him on a walk. It was such a nice night and I was enjoying the stroll until I literally thought I was going to have to shit on the lawn by Rocko. I practically ran home and didn't leave the bathroom for an hour...the rest is history.

After a failed attempt at a nap, I took Calv out in the backyard to brush him because he is shedding like a mad man. After a few minutes, I felt someone watching me. I discovered my, probably really nice, old, creepy neighbor staring at me. As I started to get up to go inside, he came over to start another awkward conversation. In the last two weeks or so, we have had our first meeting/conversations and we have both lived there for two years. I'm not sure why he's creepin' now, but it's weird. More weird that he's probably seen me naked, but whatever. Gag. 

Back in bed for another attempt at sleep before work. Fairly successful and I even slept longer than planned. Sof saved my ass again and called to wake me up. I rushed to the bathroom to shower and you'll never believe what happened....the light flicked on and then off. Sweet. I showered in the dark and then dug in the closet for some light bulbs. As I was looking, I realized that in the two years I've lived in this apartment I have never had to change that light bulb. I guess that's the silver lining? But mostly that I made it to work in time and even put on a clean shirt.

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, I had a creeper at work. I'm used to the creepy truckers who think I want to date them. I'm used to the drunk/high/whatever dudes that come in the middle of the night and think I want to sleep with them. That's old news. It's just the non-truckers that really freak me out. They have no reason to be here and yet, they are and they are gross. After politely telling him I didn't want to date him or have a threesome with him, he left and I called Sof. 

This day seems like a nightmare that came true. I know that just one of these events in a singular day would be nothing more than a good laugh, but all of them in one day just seems too much to even be real. I checked the moon to see if that's why it was creep day but it's not full. Not even a little bit. 

So, as I sit here at the truck stop wishing I was home in bed I just have to laugh. I know I'm being dramatic and that I probably just need sleep, but man...life is funny sometimes. Right now I'm grateful that I have a job, even if it really sucks big time right now. I'm grateful that I don't have to keep people from my past in my life and that I'm happier than I ever thought I could be without them. I'm really grateful for indoor plumbing and for Imodium. I am definitely grateful for blinds (even though I need curtains- coming soon). I'm grateful for electricity and light bulbs, even though my shower in the dark was quite nice. I'm grateful that I'm not a lot lizard at the truck stop and that I don't have to flirt with the creepy peeps in here. 

Mostly, I'm just grateful that I didn't forget to wear pants to work today. Seems like that's the only thing else that could have gone wrong. I wonder what tomorrow holds...

some yarn flowers and a little paper

I met some really wonderful people today at the Thanksgiving dinner. Although I won't share all their stories, this one really hit home for me.

The most touching part of my day was at the end a guy that I had met while play cards came up and asked if he could take part of the paper tablecloth home (we had markers and people all wrote what they were grateful for on them). I said "yes, of course....". He got tears in his eyes and showed it to me. He had written a little message for his daughter who was killed in a car accident that he caused by driving drunk. When he told me I instantly wanted to just hug the shit out of him. I thought about all the times I drove drunk and about my DUI. I am so grateful that I never hurt anyone and that I don't have to do that anymore. I can't imagine what pain he must have gone through and I can imagine, still goes through everyday. He is sober now and I am just so impressed. He is the coolest guy and would be an awesome dad! He was great with all of the little kids at the dinner. I don't know if he'll ever get the chance to be a dad again, but I hope so.


After we talked for a while I asked him if he wanted to take the yarn flowers we had made for the centerpieces to put by her grave. He looked surprised and asked if I would really give them to him. He picked out 4 or 5 fake yarn flowers and took them with him. He kept thanking me and acting like I gave him a million dollars--in reality, he got a piece of paper that he had written on and about 5 cents worth of yarn hooked to a twig. It really made me think about what I have to be grateful for and the meaning behind the things I place value in. It's crazy how something so seemingly simple can mean so much to someone.