Every once in a while I make the 90 minute journey down to Olympia to take care of some errands in my old haunt. I didn't want to find a new doctor, dentist, or hair stylist up here so I try to strategically plan visits with friends, and stops at some of my favorite shops, in conjunction with the appointments.
Yesterday I had quite the list of things I wanted to accomplish while down there: Dutch Bros., pharmacy, drop off a Christmas gift for my renters, find a birthday gift for a friend, swing by Costco for two bouquets of flowers, head downtown to Archibald Sisters for lotion, stop by the meat shop for Matt's favorite salsa, meet the friends at 5pm and grab a Dutch Bros coffee on the way out of town. Now that I type it out like that it really seems ridiculous to try to accomplish all of that in a short amount of time. I didn't even start the trek down there until 2pm!
Things started off just fine, I got the coffee, had my prescription filled and swung by my house to drop off the gift for the renters, but then the birthday gift hunt went terribly wrong, I somehow lost $20, I didn't have time to make it to the lotion shop before dinner.
I started stressing over the $20, the horrible wrap job on my lame birthday gift, and the fact that I wouldn't be able to get the lotion in time for the gift I had planned on giving to another friend. I was so frustrated, disappointed and already trying to figure out how I was going to resolve some of the issues.
With 5 minutes left before our dinner date I queried the family to see if anyone re-allocated my $20, no luck, but I was able to quickly grab Matts salsa and call the lotion shop to find out they would be open late and would have my order ready for pick up.
With 5 minutes left before our dinner date I queried the family to see if anyone re-allocated my $20, no luck, but I was able to quickly grab Matts salsa and call the lotion shop to find out they would be open late and would have my order ready for pick up.
I arrived at dinner like a tornado.
Really, I think the people at Red Robin were wondering what in the world was up wth the crazy woman who flew in the door with gifts springing out from her winter coat.
I sat down and delivered the birthday gifts, laughed about my horrible wrapping skills and then enjoyed a lovely time catching up with two good friends.
I drove downtown and made it there just in time to wander through some of the shops down there that also stayed open late for holiday hours.
With my to-do list nearly complete I stopped by Dutch Bros on the way out of town. I just love those people. Unfortunately, one of the girls in the hut remembered me from earlier and I immediately felt shame. Yes I rolled through DB twice in a period of 5 hours. This is a new record for me. Not one I'm proud of. As I was trying to justify my double stop at Dutch Bros I had a fun conversation with a few of the people working there. I'm confident we all brightened each other's day through the conversation and encouraging words exchanged.
As I was driving home I was feeling so much joy. Then it occurred to me that had everything gone right, I wouldn't have felt such victory about things turning out well in the end.
The past month has been crazy. Between going out of town, having house guests, deaths, funerals and tooth-breaking, we've struggled with the boys on different issues, Matt's been working late, I have a laundry pile that could rival Mt Everest, and things just aren't feeling very Christmasy.
My usual self would probably be pretty frustrated and depressed about now, but for some reason that isn't how I'm feeling at all. Somehow the fact that I can smile at the end of the day makes getting there even better.
It is cliche and downright annoying, but the difficult journey makes the arrival so much sweeter.
I sat down and delivered the birthday gifts, laughed about my horrible wrapping skills and then enjoyed a lovely time catching up with two good friends.
I drove downtown and made it there just in time to wander through some of the shops down there that also stayed open late for holiday hours.
With my to-do list nearly complete I stopped by Dutch Bros on the way out of town. I just love those people. Unfortunately, one of the girls in the hut remembered me from earlier and I immediately felt shame. Yes I rolled through DB twice in a period of 5 hours. This is a new record for me. Not one I'm proud of. As I was trying to justify my double stop at Dutch Bros I had a fun conversation with a few of the people working there. I'm confident we all brightened each other's day through the conversation and encouraging words exchanged.
As I was driving home I was feeling so much joy. Then it occurred to me that had everything gone right, I wouldn't have felt such victory about things turning out well in the end.
The past month has been crazy. Between going out of town, having house guests, deaths, funerals and tooth-breaking, we've struggled with the boys on different issues, Matt's been working late, I have a laundry pile that could rival Mt Everest, and things just aren't feeling very Christmasy.
My usual self would probably be pretty frustrated and depressed about now, but for some reason that isn't how I'm feeling at all. Somehow the fact that I can smile at the end of the day makes getting there even better.
It is cliche and downright annoying, but the difficult journey makes the arrival so much sweeter.
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