Thursday, May 29, 2008

An Ordinary Day

Wednesday should have been an ordinary day, but it didn't start out very well for me. From the moment I arose in the morning, it was Tuesday in my mind since we'd celebrated Memorial Day on Monday and that was a "lost" day to me. I planned how my day should go, poured myself a bowl of cereal, and contemplated which to do first - start laundry or begin cat care. I wasn't in any particular hurry to get the day started until I heard the sanitation truck coming down my street. It was only then I realized it was WEDNESDAY, not Tuesday, and I was supposed to have been with the church women's sewing group at 9:30am to work on lap robes for nursing home residents. It was already 10am and very unsettling to know I was expected to be somewhere but wasn't anywhere near ready to go. There was no one to call because the women would have already gathered at the church. I hurriedly dressed, threw some food to the cats, brought the dog in from outside, grabbed my sewing supplies, and flew out the door.
I've not always been the most prompt person, but I enjoy being with the women and making items I know will be used in nursing homes, so I'm (almost) always on time for our weekly sewing sessions. This day, two women greeted me at the door as I arrived, and asked if I'd had a problem remembering which day it was. They laughed and said they were glad I'd decided to come, but my lack of awareness tainted the whole day for me and nothing went as well as I'd hoped. I was able to get some sewing done however, and after we put away our projects around noon, the other women left to get some lunch. I stayed behind to prepare music for Sunday and file last week's sheets of music our contemporary music group had used. I also put away microphone stands, drums, sound monitors, and music stands - all items we use during our contemporary service but which have to be moved out of the way for another music group that rehearses on Wednesday evenings. Our group would have put those things away Tuesday night after our rehearsal, but that practice had been cancelled. I was at the church all afternoon - much longer than I'd expected to be there. I was drained and a bit exasperated at losing my whole afternoon simply because I'm a "pleaser" and felt the need to make sure things were done for Sunday. Those things weren't even my responsibility, but since I was there, it seemed only right that I do them in order to prevent someone else from making a special trip to the church.
When I finally arrived home, the dog needed to go back outside, the cats needed attention, and the laundry in the washer needed to be placed into the dryer. I'd just completed those tasks when the phone rang. I had a conversation with a good friend and then looked at the clock. Hubby was due home and it was time to think of something to prepare for dinner. Whew!
Some might not consider that to be a hectic day, but since I'd been a day behind before I'd even begun, it seemed like a very busy day to me. I was talking on the cell phone with my hubby when I heard him coming in the driveway. He'd stopped to get some milk and was a bit later than usual arriving home. He asked if I wanted to go out for supper and since I was tired, I declined, but that was a very sweet offer and I now wish I'd accepted.
My hubby walked in with a big smile on his face and handed me a beautiful bouquet of flowers. "Happy Anniversary!", he said. I was stunned. I knew it was the anniversary of the first time we met, but I surely didn't expect HIM to remember it. He had never acknowledged that date in all our years of marriage, but that didn't matter. What a wonderful surprise! We'd met 40 years ago on a blind date and here we are, all those years later. It has not been a road without bumps here and there, but what a sweet thing to know my hubby remembered the day we met and the circumstances of our first date. I decided it hadn't been such a bad day afterall. Romance lives!

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