Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts
By Alyce Wilson
December 1, 2004 - Working Vacation
Friday of the Thanksgiving vacation wasn't terribly exciting for me, because I had not only a full schedule of assignments but had taken a few extra things, as well. I usually do this when I can, because it brings in more money, and I wanted to make up for a lighter day on Thursday.
But I did have some time in the morning to get some coffee and enjoy breakfast with people.
Then I went downstairs to work at the computer in my sister's former office, from where she used to run a massage therapy business.
I had a break at 3 p.m., at which point The Gryphon and I ran some errands. The number one priority was to find a wrist pad for the edge of the desk. Because of the way the keyboard sits, my left edge had been resting on the edge of the desk, and though it didn't leave any marks, I had enduring pain even hours afterwards.
We went to Staples (thank goodness Una didn't hear us say that: for some reason, she hates the word "Staples) and got a nice foam wrist pad for the edge of the desk. Then we hit the drug store for a couple things.
Last, it was to the Laundromat, for The Gryphon to watch his jeans, or rather, to get the dish soap out of them, which I'd mistakenly used the day before to remove sweet potato juice. We'd brought some books to read, but when we first got there, people were on all the available chairs.
After we put his jeans in the wash — without any soap, natch — we sat in my car with the heat on, listening to music and reading. Somebody eventually left, and we could take a seat inside.
Even though it was only one pair of jeans, it took quite awhile, especially the dryer. The pants weren't getting dry, but we had to leave. We'd told Mom that we'd all gather at Dad's place at 5 p.m. to have leftovers. I told The Gryphon he could hang the jeans over the radiator and they should dry by tomorrow. He agreed.
Back at the apartment, Una was bored.
But she soon find a way to amuse herself.
The dinner was a lot more relaxed than the night before. Being just family, we were relaxed and cracking more jokes, the sort you wouldn't make in front of a pastor's family. It was a lot of fun.
My brother's wife listened, with a smile on her face, to all our silly speculation about what the baby might be thinking about what he could experience from inside the womb. We asked if he was enjoying the Thanksgiving dinner, and she said that he'd just woken up and so probably was.
After socializing for a brief while, it was back to work. Normally, with my regular assignments, I would have been done by about 11:30. But on this particular day, I not only had an extra assignment or two, but I ended up mistakenly doing the wrong one and then having to go back and do the right one. So I wasn't done until almost 1 a.m.
My sister and her fiancé waited patiently to get into the room, in which they'd spread a mattress on the floor and were sleeping. But I got done as fast as I could and turned the room over.
The Gryphon and I were the only ones awake when I got back upstairs. I fell asleep reading a book I'm reviewing for Wild Violet.
More from
Thanksgiving weekend:
November 29, 2004 - Meet the Wilsons
Moral:
Even busy days are fun around family.
Copyright
2004 by Alyce Wilson
What
do you think? Share your thoughts
at Alyce's message board (left button):
