Down
and up the basement stairs, heavy boxes along for the ride, flipping
switches with the back of my hand to turn on lights along the
way. It’s a process.
There
I am, halfway to three-quarters of the way back up the stairs
when I notice it. A light is still on. And back down I go.
Not
exactly a model of efficiency.
But
it’s hardly the only time I do something and find out I’m an absent-minded
fool. It’s not even the only time today.
Earlier
I was working on some laundry and I got around to a load of towels.
Tossed them in the machine, got it started, and went out to handle
some other stuff. Roughly fifteen minutes later, I was washing
my hands in the kitchen, reached for a dishtowel and realized
I should have switched it out when I started the laundry. That,
in turn, reminded me that the towels in the bathrooms could be
changed as well.
Tomorrow
is trash day. So, later on I’ll be packing things up and getting
ready to bring stuff out to the end of the driveway. Hopefully,
I’ll have that in mind when there’s time to empty some of the
baskets around the house. Meaning, doing it now instead of it
being bedtime, when I’m really just too tired to be thinking about
walking around the house emptying them and just want to move the
cans I’d forgotten about all day before calling it a night and
turning in.
There
are all sorts of things around the house that I forget (or simply
don’t want to do). And then, of course, somehow it comes back
to bite me. Heck, even right now, I just reminded myself a few
seconds ago that I need to move some towels to the dryer.
A
few days ago, I got a phone call. I normally have something playing
in the house… television, music, something… even if just background
noise. Phone rang, mute pressed, and a delightful conversation
started. A friend of mine and I spent about an hour catching up,
with the joys of a cell phone allowing for me to roam a bit from
room to room and even outside while we did. Great to hear from
him. Been way too long. We hung up, and I spent a few minutes
bringing Terry up to speed on his activities. It was about three
hours after that when I walked past the television set, still
on but with the sound off.
Yes,
I’m that aware of my surroundings at all times.
Another
friend makes fun of me because of a confession I made involving
alcohol. I had actually been driving home one day and made two
stops. I was craving a Malibu and pineapple. Simple drink. Even
if you count ice as an ingredient, there’s only three. And to
paraphrase my thoughts on a different drink, if it doesn’t taste
right the solution is always very simply to add more Malibu.
The
two stops were at a liquor store for the Malibu and a grocery
store for the pineapple juice. (Any of you that have ever set
foot in a liquor store understands that I am not paying several
times the going rate for pineapple juice for the sake of convenience,
when the bonus for paying the extra money is a liquor store can
that has probably been on that shelf for at least nine to eleven
years.) When I got home, I grabbed a bottle of water. I was literally
overwhelmed by the degree of difficulty and effort it would take
to get some ice, never mind the idea of finding a can opener.
The
solution, usually, is more focus than anything else. I tend to
be the person that will begin one project, then stumble across
three others, ultimately winding up several rooms away from where
I had started. Paint the frame around the front door? Ok…
Let
me go get the paint, a brush, and a few drop clothes. Oh look,
there’s the wheelbarrow I needed to help clear out the garden.
Since I’m here, let me move that now. Oh. The car. Wrong side
of the driveway, I won’t get the lawn mower out later if I leave
it there blocking the garage. Need to move it.
And
so on… until I wind up not painting the door frame, a wheelbarrow
in the middle of my driveway, a ladder against the side of the
house where the gutters needed to be cleared, and me driving back
from the grocery store where I forgot to pick up the pineapple
juice that was the main reason I had gone out to begin with.
But
the day is done, and most of those are now tomorrow’s problems.
At least I remembered to turn off the lights and lock the front
door. I think. Didn’t I? (Crap…)