I got up EXTRA early (around 6:25
a.m.), so that I could be at the library by 7:30 a.m. for the "Breakfast
Buddies" program, a library program that works with third-grade children
at the elementary school. Selected
students who need a little extra coaching with reading skills come to the
library before school begins. They
receive a light breakfast and eat while the volunteer (me!!) reads a book to
the student on his or her reading level.
After the student finishes the breakfast, he or she then reads the book
back to the volunteer (still me!!). The
librarian makes a record of the book read.
The child later answers some questions about the book and then receives
credit for reading it. Like I mentioned
above, the program is early, BEFORE class begins.
I had not slept well the night before and was oh so very tired. I figured if I could get out of bed, it would
probably be my major accomplishment for the day. After hitting the snooze button for way too
many times, I stumbled down the hallway into the kitchen, plugged in and turned
on the coffeemaker, and then stumbled back down the hallway to the bedroom to
start getting dressed. Our dog then
decided she wanted to go outside to potty.
I opened the back door, let her out in the backyard, and waited for her
to return. She came back inside and did
a very pretty "sit" on the kitchen floor waiting for her usual treat. At the same time, as usual, four of the five
kitties lined up in the kitchen by the microwave waiting for their morning treaters. There were four sets of eyes, shining like little
peridots, staring up at me. I handed out
the treaters and gave the obligatory pats on each head which completed my
treater duties. Everyone was satisfied,
and I headed back to the bedroom to get dressed.
As I was dressing, something felt out
of place. I looked in the mirror and immediately
realized that my cotton pullover shirt was on backwards. (Problem #1.) Geez!!
I took it off, turned it around, put it back on, and finished getting
dressed. I went to the bathroom to put
on eye makeup for fear that I would make a horrible mess in the dim light of
the nightlight in my dressing area. My
husband was sleeping and I did not want to risk waking him by turning on the
overhead light. Eye makeup was
accomplished with no major mishap. Next
came the hair. I checked the time and
realized I was running late. I brushed
it quickly, twisted it up, and put the in the "mei fa" sticks –
immediately I had a doinger!! (For those
of you who are not familiar with "doingers," they are the ends of
hair that "doing" (pronounced doi-ing, one of those onomatopoeia
words) or pop out after they are tucked in a chignon.) After another attempt, success was had. All done.
I went to the kitchen to fill my
travel cup and Thermos with coffee. I
turned off the coffeemaker, unplugged it, and put the Thermos in my
briefcase. I put on my jacket (the
temperature overnight had been close to freezing), and grabbed my travel cup,
handbag, library bag, and briefcase. I
left the house in the dark because I did not want to leave the front porch
light on all day (Problem #2 leading to Mistake #1). We live in the country so there are no street
lights, no close neighbors, just total darkness. I stepped off the front porch, walked about
10 feet, and then it happened . . . I was attacked by the killer dead oak tree!! One of its dead branches reached down and stabbed
my head as I walked under it on the way to the car. (Mistake #1). Small twigs on the branch tangled in my hair. Now remember, my hair was in a chignon and
twisted tight. I was trapped like a
rat!! I could not move. By the pain, I could tell the twigs had
scraped my scalp and parts of it were stuck tight in my hair. My scalp felt moist. My hands were full. I could not get loose from the branch. No one was around, so yelling would have done
no good. I tried to stoop to set my
handbag, library bag, and briefcase on the ground. No such luck.
Finally, after I tugged on the branch and tried to pull away, the twig
broke off the branch. It was still stuck
in my hair, but I was free at last!! Now
I was REALLY running late. I made it to
the passenger side of the Jeep, unlocked the door, and put my things on the
seat. As I was getting settled in the
driver's seat, I put on my seat belt and looked up to the front windshield as I
started the Jeep. All I could see was
WHITE. Yep, there had been frost
overnight and there was a layer of ice all over the windshield. Dang!!
My car engine was cold, so there is no way the defroster was going to
work for a while. Now I had to get out
of the car, scrape the windshield, and THEN possibly be on my way. Okay, all done, and back in the Jeep.
I was FINALLY on the way to the
library. I was going to be late, but not
too bad. A few miles down the road traffic
started really slowing down and finally stopped. Ahead, I could see that a big truck carrying
utility poles was totally blocking the roadway. (Problem #3.) I could tell it was going to be a while
before the roadway was cleared. Good
grief!! Okay, now take a deep
breath. This situation was TOTALLY out
of my control. It was time to sit back,
relax, and have a few sips of coffee . . . ah, Sumatra . . . with just the
right amount of half-and-half. Life is
good. All will be right with the
world. Now, I can face the day!!
