I felt a little slacky on my treadmill walk. Twenty of 60 minutes in, I questioned whether I was going too easy due to my knee. I like pushing myself but couldn’t because of pain. When a shorter and older-than-me man, with 50’s style slicked-back hair and the build of an Army Ranger, stepped onto the treadmill next door, I took notice of the all-black ensemble and bluish-aged tribal tattoo peeking out from his sleeve. His equally buffed-out wife pointed to the machine down the way, and before I knew it, we were walking step for step.
My cycle of texting my friend, reading my book, and looking up and out at the clouded sky where Mt. Rainier would be was fine, but still, was I doing enough kept nagging me.
Another twenty minutes of my text, read, look-up rotation led to a glance at the man’s machine. 3.6?! The competitor I am looked at my number. No way. A 3.8?! Come to think of it, I did feel an all-over body perspiration similar to a sunny lounge chair moment right before you run for shade. I was doing it, and something about doing it faster than the stranger of steel was a victory.
Other victories include getting refunded for a pair of pink pants and a dressy work shirt from Fred Meyer, and triggering a refund for the pair of black boots I bought from Thursday Boot Company. I’m usually wrong in anticipating the return process will be difficult. For example, I believed the customer service person would sniff the shirt’s armpits of the shirt and say, “Knowing that you could hide the tags and still return this, and thought we wouldn’t find out, did you wear this shirt to work last week?”
Guilty!
But no, he didn’t ask that, so yes, I got a full refund. If you’re looking for good societal etiquette, check out the “Miss Manners” blog not here.
As I type, my parents are in the Great Barrier Reef snorkeling. Picture after picture of fish and seascapes filled my phone, along with a FaceTime from the boat they are chartering. “Why is it light there and dark here?” Evelyn asked. Not having the bandwidth to break down our time system, I let Grandpa handle it, “Well, it’s Wednesday here and Tuesday there…” To which Dave and I had a chuckle to ourselves, Evelyn’s kid brain can’t comprehend the concept of us being on different days yet Papa!
My main takeaway from my work with clients today is to listen to one another. Don’t have an agenda or the need to be right or only have your viewpoint be heard. Work together toward understanding each other’s needs, then find solutions that work for both people. Whether in the parent-child relationship or the situationship, I can’t stress how off we can get when we’re not working together. End of mini-rant.
I’m scanning the room for other details to share. How about the fact that the paperwhite’s green shoots have finally straightened?! It’s an odd achievement, I know. Plant sitting is no joke. While on the windowsill their poor appendages had gone crooked, think of a bend at your elbow. Not knowing if they were too far crooked, I performed daily rotations to best set them up for success. Well, hardy har har, look who the plant whisperer is?! (Ok, ok, I’ll tell you, It’s me.)
Time to get all comfied up for bed. Hopefully, this will be the final night of being congested, even though waking up with all those hard boogers is fun to blow out in the morning.
Love ya! Jaclynn
Going On 40 