Just a Normal Day

Some days, most days, are completely uneventful. You wake up, you might get a tantrum or two from your toddler, a little squirreliness from your dogs, but otherwise things go off as planned. I usually don't mind these days but sometimes I just wish for a little excitement, ya know.

Today was just a normal Friday that started just like every other day. We got dressed, grabbed his stuffed Bolt puppy for Friday Show and Tell and headed out. I dropped Hudson off at daycare and went to work. No big surprise here. I get to work and, as planned, it was a slow day. I had one home visit which was fine, actually turned out just as I had predicted and some other little things here and there to do.

Afternoon rolls around and I head to my car to put away a Holiday gift I had rec'd that day. On the way back from my car, I head to the restroom on the lower level of our building and head into the large handicapped stall (no one ever uses that bathroom and the stalls are tiny, don't judge me.) and the second I step foot in there I gasp, there is a wad of cash on the floor. Not just like a $20 bill but a wad.of.cash. I pick it up, look around for like Punk'd Cameras or for Chris Hansen to pop out, shove the money in my jeans pocket, pee as planned, pull the wad out and count it ($245!) wash my hands and stand in the hallway. I think for a split second about keeping it and then I immediately start to sweat and feel shaky. I then think about some poor child who won't get a Christmas because I wanted to be selfish and add to our Hawaii vacation fund. I head down the hall with the cash in my pocket intent on giving it to our security guys but they must be out doing rounds because the office door is locked. I head back upstairs and I sit at my desk. I text my friends and ask what they think I should do since I can't reach security. As I'm texting my friends, and gchatting with them, a co-worker pops into my cube to talk about a client. I die. I absolutely flinch 10 feet from my chair and whip around to look at her. The money is burning a hole in my pocket and I'm feeling very uneasy. We chat quickly about our mutual client and discuss his care plan, all the while I'm thinking 'get.rid.of.the.cash.' We finish our conversation and I check into the office of our administrator thinking I can pass it to her and make it her problem, she surely can email building management and they can spread the word? Her office is empty. I think of the next in line but her office is empty too. My GOSH I couldn't seem to get rid of that money fast enough. I find a supervisor and ask her if she knows where building management is and luckily, she is able to direct me. I return the cash to building management and they are very grateful and surprised that I was so honest. After the cash was out of my hands I sat down and began thinking.

What if no one claimed it? Damn. I'd never see that money again, Merry Christmas Building Management. Then I thought, what if that cash belongs to some Thug who just sold some pot or crack cocaine or meth or something and I just returned their shady drug money. Shit. Then I told myself that it belonged to a single mom who worked several jobs to save up enough money to get her kids' gifts out of K-Mart layaway and she'd be very very thankful to have the money back.

The money fiasco took about an hour and before I knew it, it was time to go. I picked up Hudson and we headed home.

I'm home, relaxing in my bedroom w/Hudson watching Polar Express on tv and ordering Chinese for dinner (Cody was working late.) I looked over on my night stand and noticed that one of my diamond solitaire earrings was missing. I had traded them out that morning for a different pair and left them on my night stand with my watch near my jewelry holder. Hudson had been playing over there and been up and down/in and out of my bed while I used the computer to order our dinner. I promptly grabbed  Hudson's bed-side flashlight and drop to the floor. I frantically search my night stand nooks and crannies, drawers, the floor, under the bed, all over the room. I check where I think it could be, check it again, and check it a third time. I'm losing my mind. I start yelling at Hudson and telling him to stop touching my things. I feel my ears getting hot and my blood pressure rising. This goes on for a good 30 + minutes and just as I'm about to break a sweat, I stop and think, maybe I should ask Hudson if he knows where my earring is.

Sure enough, the kid walks to the other side of our king sized bed, lifts up his stuffed Rajah Tiger, and says 'Here Mommy! I found it!'

Thank. God.

Dinner arrives just as Diamond Gate 2013 ends and I think I've had enough excitement for the day. Hudson and I eat and wait for Cody to get home. Cody comes home, eats dinner, and plays with Hudson while I do some things around the house and prepare for the painters to come back for day three on the job tomorrow. Cody is getting Hudson ready for bed aka playing with him and being silly when I hear him kind of panic. I head into Hudson's room and there is blood everywhere. Blood GUSHING out of Hudson's nose, he's smearing it all over his face with the back of his hand then grabbing me and wiping it on me. I grab some tissues and pinch his nose and have him hold is head back. He's wiggling too bad and there is already way to much blood everywhere so I decide to take him into the bath tub, strip him, sit him in the tub and fill it up w/warm water while I pinch his nose and get the bloody nose under control. Crisis averted. We are fine and bathed.

The day ended with a ginormous cookie tin, a huge box of chocolates, a large bag of Peanut M&M's, diamond solitaire earrings safely clasped in my ears, no surprise cash in my wallet, blood everywhere, and Amber Portwood on Dr. Phil on the DVR.

I will never, ever take for granted a normal, uneventful day again. I will also not feel guilty about the gorgeous pair of Frye boots Cody bought me for Christmas, I'm considering them my 'Good Samaritan' gift for the good deed I performed today.

As far as the money goes, I'm going to keep telling myself that it was the lay-away money and not the drug money. I guess I'll never know.

Grandma's Red Blazer

We are hosting an ugly Xmas sweater/attire party here on Friday. Cody and I ventured off to Goodwill to see what we could find. We arrived and it was jam.packed. I wondered what was going on and noticed it was 50% off day. Jackpot. We parked across the street and crunched through the snow across the street to the store. It was busy, and to my dismay there wasn't a rack of ugly xmas sweaters with their built in bulbs twinkling or their ugly crochet patterns staring me in the face. I had to actually search through the racks and be creative. I wondered over to the women's sweaters and found my size. I started looking and noticed something that looked familiar. Yup, that was my sweater I donated a few weeks ago. It's so weird to see it hanging there anonymously, storyless, waiting to be taken home again. Then I found three lovely red options that weren't sweaters, but they were going to be perfect. I wondered over to Cody and helped him choose an ugly sweater that wasn't Christmas themed, but we could work with it. We wait in line at the check-out, pay for our stuff, and head out to run the rest of our errands.

A few hours later when we got home I decided to try my Goodwill gear on to make sure it fits and to show my mom what we'd purchased. I slip into the most perfect red blazer with huge shoulder pads and feel right at home. This bad boy was MADE for me. Other than the sleeves being a tad short it fit like a glove. I'm talking with my mom and Cody about the possibilities for this gem when I slip my hands in the pockets and feel slightly alarmed. I feel  in the perfectly placed front pockets, balled up, wadded tissues. I'm praying they're unused. I bring myself to wrap my hand around the entire contents of the pocket and slowly pull it out. I'm holding in my right hand a wad of those off white tissues (apparently never used), a cough drop, and a vitamin c drop. Then out of the other pocket I wrap my left hand around similar contents. More off white tissues, a peppermint, and a Ricola cough drop. I immediately start cracking up and then dread fills me. I'm all of a sudden positive this gorgeous red blazer with shoulder pads for days belongs to someone's deceased grandma.. I never gave it much thought before when I happily made my purchase but now seeing the contents of the pockets I felt a little bad. I felt kind of bad for mocking someone's dead granny who probably happily wore that blazer to Church every Sunday or out shopping or to the beauty shop to get her hair done. The grandma who always had a runny nose, and without fail, passed out peppermint candies.

Here's to Ugly Xmas sweater parties, red blazers, and honoring the poor granny (rest her soul) who allowed me to be on point for my paryt next weekend.