And 50 centavos

I had a pretty productive day yesterday. I had an appointment to get my hair cut and colored at 11:00, and it usually takes an hour and a half. I also needed to go pick up my new glasses, and I wanted to get some change turned into bills at the bank. But the bank lobby closes at noon on Saturday, and the optometrist's office (which is on the other side of town) closes at 1:00, so I couldn't count on being able to do either of those things after the haircut, and I couldn't realistically expect to be up and out of the house in time to do both before the haircut appointment, either.

So I figured I wouldn't get either one done. I'm taking Thursday off to pack and do everything I need to do before we leave at the crack of dawn on Friday (we're staying at a hotel by the airport on Thursday night), so I figured I'd just wait and pick up the glasses and go to the bank then.

But after I got up and got dressed and fixed Bob's lunch, and checked my email, it was just a little after 10:00, so I dashed off to the bank to get that task done.

We usually turn in our change for vacations; I know that both of us occasionally take a handful of quarters for the car wash, but other than that, I guess we've been throwing our change in the jar for about a year, since we haven't taken a vacation together since last February. I handed the incredibly heavy bag to the teller, and she went off to put it through the machine. When she came back, she said, "Want to guess how much?" I guessed $124. She said, "No, more." Figuring we could be there all day, I asked her how much it was. "$235.90, and 50 centavos."

I was surprised, and pleased -- that will help with vacation expenses! Even the 50 centavos.

Then I rushed off to the salon and spent a little over an hour relaxing and being taken care of. I get face-framing highlights every other time, but I did that last time, so this time was just touch-up color and cut, so it didn't take as long. I'm not sure how I've accompllished it, but I do manage to turn off all my stress there, and treat it as just sort of . . . I don't know. Time out of time. I can't rush it, it's scheduled on my calendar every six weeks rain or shine, and I just kind of turn off my brain, read People or a paperback, or knit, and enjoy talking to my hairdresser.

She's a knitter, too, so it's always nice to talk about our latest projects, and she has two sweet little dogs, and sometimes she has pictures of them to share. It's just a nice time.

Yesterday I was at a bad spot in my current sock knitting--the middle of the heel flap, and that takes more concentration--so I took a book (Firestorm, by Rachel Caine). And flipped through most of an issue of People, too. I never read it except at the beauty salon and when I travel, which is my short attention span time.

Anyway, when I got out of the salon it was about ten after twelve, so I thought I'd try getting to the optometrist's office, and just see if I could get my glasses. I figured I could get there by 1:00, but didn't know how busy they would be. It turned out that they were very busy, but I waited, and got them. I think they could maybe stand being tightened up a little, but the technician really didn't have time to spend on fine-tuning, so I may take them back and see about it later.

So then, it was still fairly early in the day, and Bob was working until 7:30, so I decided to get my oil changed. I took it to the full service car wash place, where, if you get an oil change, you get a discounted car wash, which I also really needed. And that's also kind of "time out of time;" you can't rush it, you just have to wait. Oh, on the way there I stopped at the library to pick up a book that I had on hold (You Suck, by Christopher Moore), in case I finished my current one waiting for the oil change, which I did. Foreward thinking! Then I went to Jason's to get a salad for lunch, and read some more there, then went to the bookstore and bought books for vacation (a couple of Jodi Picoult novels-- Vanishing Acts and Salem Falls), and went to the office supply store to buy printer paper, and Target for groceries, and Blockbuster to get a couple of movies with a Christmas gift card that had been burning a hole in my pocket (The Devil Wears Prada and Firewall).

And then I didn't even watch them.

I came home and did some freelance web work, and when Bob got home I decided to go up and take a bath and try to relax. After a long, hot bath I went in the bedroom, got dressed in sweat pants and a t-shirt and a sweater, and, still feeling stressed out, I laid down "just for a few minutes," and of course fell asleep and, apart from getting up and getting out of the sweatpants and under the covers, basically slept all night, twelve hours more or less.

I think I needed it.

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