Perfect Moment Monday: Lockout

Since Lori is going on hiatus for a while with Perfect Moment Mondays…

My perfect moment? Locking my keys in my car!

I’d gone to the bank in a neighboring town for one of many visits in which I’ve been trying, unsuccessfully, to close my mother’s accounts. You know what’s more troubling than closing your dead mother’s bank accounts? Being unable to close your dead mother’s bank accounts, over and over.

Anyway, a few doors down from the bank is a brunch restaurant that I enjoy but rarely get to visit. I put in my lunch order then headed to the bank. I quickly learned that this visit would once again not prove successful. This realization occurred so quickly that my food was not yet ready. So, I decided to clean out the car. It is very satisfying to clean out literally hundreds of fallen Cheerios, along with receipts, used tissues, and all of the other debris that collects in the car. Then I went into the restaurant to pick up my order.

When I got back to the car, I realized that in the process of cleaning out the car, I’d locked my keys inside.

I instantly realized that I was having another cupcake moment.

Instead of heading right back to the office so that I could gobble my lunch hunched over my keyboard, I had to wait 45 minutes for AAA to arrive. So, I sat on a bench in ideal weather, lilacs in bloom, listening to Radiohead, savoring my delicious lunch.

Maybe I should lock my keys in my car more often.

Head over to Write Mind Open Heart for the last Perfect Moment Monday for a few months.

Thoughtful Thursday: Sandal Weather

Sandal weather is suddenly upon us. I’ve worn socks and shoes, or usually socks and boots, every day for a loooong time. My feet are not ready for sandals, as I am in desperate need of a pedicure — or at least a DIY painting.

Why have I let it go so long? Not because it’s been not-sandal weather, as usually my toes are red regardless of the weather. Not even because of Burrito and Tamale, though free time for grooming is shorter than it used to be.

It’s because my last pedicure was in December, with my mother getting a pedicure in the chair next to me.

I haven’t been able to bear to take the polish from that pedicure off, no matter how overdue it has been.

I’ve sort of been waiting it out, knowing that it would grow out/chip off eventually. I’m not sure what I think will happen once that polish is totally gone. I’m also not sure what I think will happen if I take the polish off myself.

It’s irrational and pointless, and I know it, and I hold on anyway.

Are you holding on to anything that serves no purpose, that you don’t even understand?

Thoughtful Thursday: Knickknacks

I’m out of town right now, and have stayed in two houses with two very different styles of decor. They both share a common attribute, though: knickknacks everywhere. Everywhere. I was always aware of them, but having two curious toddlers makes me notice each of the hundreds (yes, literally hundreds, in both houses) of items in a new way.

One house has reasonably nice items, most of them not things I would choose, but high quality and mostly tasteful. Far too many of them, but nice enough, and fairly cohesive. A high percentage of ceramic and glass, and therefore asking for trouble with Burrito and Tamale’s grabby hands. For the record, in 5 days in that house, Burrito and Tamale did not break a single thing, but the adults who moved some of the items out of harm’s way broke two (one quite valuable).

The other house has horrific items, not a single thing I would let into my house. Most of them were purchased at garage sales; whatever she paid for each one ($5? $1? 50 cents?), it was too much. Not as many breakable items as the other house, but dodgy in different ways: potential for pokes and cuts, suspicious lead content, musty, etc. Individually, most are tacky. Collectively, it is a hot mess. Nothing goes with anything else: different styles, different subjects, different materials, different everything. Why is that Eskimo statue next to a painting of a Geisha? Why is the velvet painting of a Mexican bandito next to a faux Tiffany lamp? Who would put Quetzacoatl in front of wallpaper depicting turn-of-the-century Paris? Does anything go with life-sized busts of the Three Stooges?

Both of these people have come to my house and declared the decor to be too sparse. I have plenty of art on the walls (mostly fine art photography or family photos, plus a few watercolors and one pen and ink drawing), and no shortage of stuff tucked away, but very, very few knickknacks. I used to have more — nothing like either of these houses, but a couple dozen — but they were almost all banished years ago, primarily because it was too hard to keep them dusted properly! Having moved several times, it also makes you question the utility of each item when you have to wrap each one carefully in newsprint, keep track of what is in each box, unwrap each one, and find a new place to put them all. I now really enjoy my minimalist, tasteful decor, and it allows a proper focus on the few special pieces that are displayed (like a certain statue I bought in Spain, or a statue that DH’s late grandfather carved). Added bonus: Fewer things for toddlers to break.

How many knickknacks do you have displayed? Are you happy with that?

Mothers’ Day

From my birth until 2001, I only thought of Mothers’ Day from the perspective of a daughter.

From 2002-2008, Mothers’ Day primarily called attention to my status as a non-mother.

In 2009, I was a hopeful almost-mother, toward the end of my first trimester with Burrito and Tamale.

Last year, I celebrated the day with my babies, and I sent the appropriate greetings to my mother, grandmother, MILs, grand-MILs, et al.

This year, I celebrated the day with my toddlers, and only almost burst out crying once when I thought of my own mother being gone.

At the time, I had no idea that 2010 would be the only Mothers’ Day of my life that I’d both be a mother and have a mother.

At least it happened once.

Thoughtful Thursday: Jekyll and Hyde

Bienvenidos a la Intelligentsia de mayo, la gente que comentó respecto a cada poste de Thoughtful Thursday post en abril.

#19: Elana from Elana’s Musings
#18: Lost In Translation from We Say IVF, They Say FIV
#16: A from Are You Kidding Me?
#14: Jill from All Aboard the Pity Boat
#11: Strongblonde from Strong Blonde
#3: Tara from Turkey In My Oven

And “new” member St. Elsewhere.

I just got my hair trimmed. I’ve been to that hairdresser once before. In fact, she was recommended by my acupuncturist; she’s another longtime infertile. Aside from the IF kindred spirit thing, she’s wonderfully warm and sweet — when you’re in the shop. When you call to make or change an appointment, it’s another story. In each of the phone calls I’ve ever had with her, she’s been impatient and verging on rude. After I made this most recent appointment, I decided that I wouldn’t go back to her again; then I saw her in person and totally she won me over. If I didn’t have to call to make the appointments, I’d gladly have her cut my hair forever.

She’s not the only person I know with dual personalities in different media. I used to work very closely with a guy who is a delight. Funny, fascinating, kind — when you’re in the office with him. On email, he’s brusque, cold, and humorless. Too bad that most of our contact now occurs via email.

Not all Jekyll and Hyde types are better in person. My old boss is awkward, closed off, and borderline robotic. In email, she’s effusive and occasionally over-the-top. “YEAHHHH!!!!”

Personally I think I mostly am who I am, except that I probably come across best in writing and worst on the phone. It’s no coincidence that if I’m not talking to someone face to face, I communicate via writing most of the time and almost never talk on the phone.

In your life, are there any Jekyll and Hyde characters based on the medium? Are you a totally different person depending on the medium?