Today! In a million words or fewer.
I spent a good portion of the morning worrying. Worry and me are funny. I don’t worry much about things I can control; I rather figure out what has to be done and do it. The things I can’t control may be bothersome, but I mostly let them reside in the realm of irritation rather than worry. They’re easily dismissed, and time and forward motion take care of almost anything. So the things I worry about are the unresolved, the unknown, and the to-be-determined. There are some people who would rather not know than hear bad news, but I am not one of them. Anything can be confronted as long as it is understood. This afternoon brought good news, and all is well! We couldn’t be more relieved. Over lunch, I did my erranding, and one of my stops was Walgreens for hair dye. Every time I go there (which would be every six weeks), the same guy is always working the front register. There’s something very off about him, but I can’t pin it down. He strikes me as a repressed spaz or a guy with huge anger issues or maybe a serial killer in his off-hours? I dunno. All I know is that there is a very tiny group of people in the world with whom I’m unable to make eye contact under any circumstances, and he is one of them. Anyway. I brought my dye to the register. He said, “That’s $11.52.” I pushed the green button on the debit machine. He handed me a pen, and said in the exact same tone, “grrrOWL“. I did nothing but sign and leave as quickly as possible, never to return. In the safety of my car, I wondered what the hell that was all about, and laughed my way back to work. I’m sorry, I just realized that almost this entire post is about my errands today. Um, hello. OK! After work, I had to go to the giant UPS mothership thing up on Broadway to get yet another package from Amazon. I’m not sure if it’s something to do with the fact I’m in an apartment now or what, but lately almost all my packages from Amazon are coming UPS, and requiring a signature. Of course, I’m never here to sign, so I have to go to their website and ask them to hold it for pickup. It’s kind of inconvenient, because they can just as easily deliver it via the postal service, in which case it ends up resting against the wall above my mailbox. Now, one thing about UPS: they have unbelievably excellent customer service. You can go to their website the second you get the notice on your door, and tell them to deliver it to you elsewhere, to hold it for pickup, and sometimes even ask them to open the box and tell you what’s inside, so you know if it’s worth the trip or not. You do this online, and they call you to make arrangements. And they’re always nice. UPS rocks, and therefore driving up to the mothership doesn’t bother me so much. So, the thing requiring the trip was a thermometer. Yes indeedy. One of those ones you use when you’re trying to get knocked up, even. But in my case, it’s because of a long story involving my lack of health insurance and my hormones, and you’ve heard most of it before. Long story shorter, I quit the pill a while back. I was afraid of hormone backlash, having been on it for 10 years now. I was concerned that maybe my body forgot how to handle its own hormones, and I’d have one of those months-long episodes again with the Jekyll-Hyde routine. But no!! It’s been awesome, and I am now 100% organic. I intend to use that method that is not the rhythm method, which I just have to clarify because I’ve already been lectured about it several times. I have complete faith in this system, and believe that absolute vigilance is key. This is my forte. Also, in an unexpected turn of events, Scotty already happens to know everything there is to know this method, and isn’t the slightest bit put off by the term ‘cervical mucous’. Most girls should be so lucky. So I got this highly-recommended book. When I went back to Amazon today, my usual recommendations for knitting manuals, novels, indie dvds, and music had been hijacked by books with titles like ‘The Fastest Way to Get Pregnant Naturally’ and ‘The Mother of All Pregnancy Books’. Yikes. After UPS, I ran to the store for my grain meat and a suncake, and was assisted by the co-op gangsta. Seriously, I wish I could take a picture of this guy for you, because I cannot possibly express how he is the most intimidating-looking badass in Linden Hills (granted, until he arrived, I was the most intimidating-looking badass in Linden Hills), and is the friendliest, most polite co-op cashier you’ve ever met. It kills me. I went to the yarn store, then realized I had a $15 card for the other yarn store, so I went there instead and emerged with yarn for the Flames sweater for mah baby. One of these days, I’ll remember to take pictures of the superfabulous cabled hoodie I knit a whole lot of on the airplane, too. I had a little time before my haircut appointment, so I ran across the street to ROBOTlove to pick up Rollergirls tickets. I got drawn in by the clothes, because they have a new Obey section. I stayed there talking to the girl too long, and had to play Frogger crossing Lyndale Avenue during rush hour. I ran into Moxie and first saw Kristin, so I begged her to please go back to cutting hair because I missed her. She said soon! She washed my hair so we could talk, and then I had my hair cut by Mahogany, who it turns out is the color-commentator for the rollergirls, and used to be one of them before she broke a few too many bones. I learned the entire history of the roller derby, the rules, the four teams, the talents and personalities of several of the girls, and the story of the questionable gender of the rollergirl who works at Home Depot. Then I heard about the plans for Sunday, which is their first big event of the season. At the moment, she’s trying to get the participation of the Minneapolis Police, because she’s in good from her days at Bob’s Java Hut. She said, “Cops like me for some reason. They used to pull up out front and shout at me over the bullhorn.” They even came in and arrested her once for violation of the fire code: excessive hotness. I was laughing so hard she was having trouble cutting my hair. Then I remembered I did know her from Bob’s, and knew that she was the girl a friend of mine had the hots for. There’s something about that little block on Lyndale Avenue that holds a lot of small-worldness for me. It’s awesome. Also, I cannot wait to go to Cheap Skate in Coon Rapids on Sunday. Yeah, I totally said that.Jenni