I had an...interesting weekend. It ended up being fairly productive, though not at all in the way I had planned. Why do I even bother to plan? I don't know.
Friday night I planted a few zinnias my boss gave me in the pots on my porch. Pretty! Now I just needed to do some work on the main flower bed. I planned to do that on Saturday. After my planting, I...exercised. I know, crazy, right?
Something's gotten into me. I don't know what it is, but I hope it stays a while. Thursday evening I suddenly decided to start exercising, a decision which was way, way overdue. I'm sure it was due in part to the fact that I am now finished for good with the play I was working on for what seems like forever, and suddenly find myself without my next creative endeavor in sight. The summer shows I might have been interested in have already been cast, so...I guess I'm taking a little break. Little breaks are okay, but little breaks that turn into bigger breaks often leave me feeling a bit depressed and out of sorts, so I decided to try and head that off by seeing if I could channel some of my old obsessive tendencies towards exercise. I pulled out some old workout tapes (yes, tapes, not DVDs, that's how long it's been) and popped one in. And it didn't kill me! (It's pretty low impact, so there probably wasn't any real danger of that, anyway. Hee.) It actually felt...kind of good. I did it again Friday night, and then again Saturday morning, after I cleaned the house. And Saturday evening, when there wasn't anything good on TV and I started thinking about eating something bad for me...I did it again. I EXERCISED INSTEAD OF EATING. For all you gym-going healthy people, that may not seem like a big deal, but for me, it's huge. I "walked away the pounds" again on Sunday morning and then again on Sunday evening. Hopefully I can manage at least once a day for awhile. Wish me luck!
Aside from the completely out of character burst of exercise energy, the weekend was mostly about waiting. The "plan" was to take myself to lunch Saturday at my favorite restaurant, go grocery shopping and then pick up some bedding plants and go crazy in the flowerbed. It was a lovely, albeit quite windy, day. When I arrived at the restaurant, though, I realized I might need a change of plans. I've had a very slow-leaking tire for some time now, and had put off dealing with it, but the leak apparently had its own burst of energy, and the tire, which I had aired up only the night before, was now nearly completely flat. Okay. New plan. Just down the street from the restaurant is a Big Box Mart with a Tire and Lube Express. (Okay, I know Big Box Mart on a Saturday afternoon is very close to one of the inner circles of hell, but all the other tire places are closed, so I'm stuck.) I'll drop it there to have the tire fixed or replaced, do my shopping while I'm waiting, THEN stop for plants on the way home. Off we go.
"How long will it take, do you think?" I ask the pleasant attendant on duty. "Probably about 2.5 hours," she replies. (Yes, a she. There are lots and lots of girls working in the tire and lube express now. Good for them. Though personally, a job where my hands are constantly covered in grease and oil...omigod, I shudder just thinking about it.) Oh, that's just great. I guess I'll do my shopping in a leisurely manner. And pick up a book, just in case. (Not the greatest array of literary choices ever, in the Big Box Mart, though they do have the longest aisle of "Inspirational" books I've ever seen. I skipped that aisle. Not in the mood to be "inspired.") So I shopped, and shopped. I strolled. Oh look, those tank tops are cheap! Oh look, there' s a nice watch on clearance. What a cute little cactus. And hey, I've been needing some new mildreds.* I decided not to risk the produce or frozen food aisles, given my potentially long wait, but eventually I think I made it down nearly every other aisle in the store. I'll just go check on that car. "There are six cars ahead of you. Probably another 2.5 hours." "NOOOOOOOOOO! That's what they said when I got here, HOURS ago." "I don't know what to tell you. There are six cars ahead of you. There's a 'McRonalds' at the front of the store if you wanted to sit there for a while." Omigod--sitting INSIDE the McRonalds INSIDE the Big Box Mart on a Saturday afternoon? Are you fucking kidding me? Talk about your innermost circle of hell! Instead I borrowed back my keys, stashed my purchases in the trunk, and settled down with my book on a little plot of grass (a grassy knoll, if you will) at the edge of the parking lot, with an unobstructed view of my car, so I'd know when they pulled it into the bay, at least.
I passed the time by:
a. Reading.
b. Littering. I didn't mean to! I wanted to put on my cute new watch, and the gale force wind ripped the plastic bag right out of my hand. Before I could even stand up and turn around, it was already at least 100 feet away. Damn you, Big Box Mart--you made me litter!
c. "Chatting" with the attendant at the nearby recycling area. "You'll never get that bag back now!" Cackle, cackle. "Oh honey, don't worry about your hair in this wind." Cackle, cackle. "You waiting for your car, honey?" While Cackler is certainly to be commended for her commitment to the environment, she really should have paid attention at some point in her life to the admonition to use sunscreen. I have never in my life seen skin quite that...cured. She looked to be made of fine corinthian leather. It hurt just to look at her.
I was there for hours. No, make that years. At some point, I am convinced, time stopped passing at all, then flipped around and starting going in reverse. What convinced me of this? Well, when was the last time YOU saw a margarine-colored, wood-panelled station wagon actually being driven in public? Then, when I finally saw my car going in, and went inside to wait on the bench, I sat next to a fellow with a fine, 70's style afro and sideburns. My god, I've been here so long, "time" has lost all meaning!
The car was finally done, and home I went, completely out of the mood for gardening.
Sunday, in addition to the aforementioned exercise, I also did some more waiting...but I'm going to be cryptic and not talk about it, at least not right now. Let's just say I talked myself into doing something that will almost certainly not have the results I was hoping for, and if that's the case, I choose not to discuss it. Ever. (I know...mysterious. Hee.)
So that was my weekend. How was yours?
*Metalia's charming term for underwear, of course
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11 comments:
There's nothing worst than waiting for a while and be told again that you'll have to wait some more! I hate garages for that - they just can't estimate time! And like you, I do think that time went berserk this weekend, I had a few "flash-back" or so I thought... but now I'm not so sure anymore...huummm.
Keep it up with the training - good for you!
BTW, I need an address for you to send you my link, or email me, please.
My weekend was actually quite lovely. Very little waiting...I guess you had that covered.
I hope your waiting brings good results...if not, we will never speak of this again. ;)
I am highly sympathetic. I could share stories on almost every topic you touched on, but since that would totally be hijacking your blog with stories too long for a simple comment, I will just say this: Good for you! Good luck in keeping it up! Sorry about your long wait. And, you tease! You have to tell us what you did now!
Oh, my God! I feel your pain. At least you had a patch of grass to sit on -- imagine having been inside the place for 5 hours! *shudder*
Way to go with all the working out!
Wayyyy back when, I wrote a post about my experience in Big Box Mart. It involved a very interesting selection of Mildreds that they had in stock.
stinkypaw--you're right. It's not the wait I mind, it's that they can't give me an accurate estimate of said wait. If I'd known it was going to be that long, I'd have called someone to come get me.
3car, hee. Maybe someday I will be able to speak of it. But not right now. ;)
sparkling, I'm kind of enjoying being mysterious. It happens so rarely. But maybe I'll regale you all with the tale later. Or maybe not. She said mysteriously. Hee.
malia, yes, thank god for the half-hearted attempt at landscaping! I'd never have made it inside. I'd have gone running up and down the aisles screaming, and they'd have had to call security.
-r-, thanks! I just hope I can keep it up.
metalia, my mildred needs are pretty basic (just give me your basic cotton), so I didn't do too much poking around. But maybe I should have--might have made for more interesting blog fodder!
I love that I totally knew what you meant by "mildreds" without even reading the footnote. The blog neighborhood totally has its own lexicon of slang! :-) (Thanks to Metalia, mostly.)
Way to go on the working out. And don't worry; I still have tapes, too. Haven't bought any new ones since I got a DVD player. If you want some recommendations for good tapes, I could suggest a couple.
And could I say "totally" a couple more times there? Sheesh; who am I--Sarah Jessica Parker circa 1984?? Sorry.
stef, you could totally (hee) recommend tapes, as long as they're pretty low impact. (My knees, they are not so good.) I'm sure I'm going to get bored of the ones I have if I manage to keep at it.
Good for you! I can't wait until I find more time to exercise... I refuse to get up any earlier than I already do.
You already know how I spent my weekend (la la la LAAAA!).
Garages stink. Anytime the Farm Boy can do something on the car, I let him. I'd rather have him finish something on time and when he says he will be done than to pay someone else to waste my time and my money. Yeah.
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