Scenes From a Day Off

Short but sweet

Several months ago I scheduled my yearly physical. My doctor is always scheduling that far out, and still there aren’t that many selections for times available. I decided that I would just use a sick day — now that the kids are older, I have a lot more available — and schedule other human things that have to be done during the work day. I’ve been looking forward to this day for a while, even with the specter of the speculum looming at the end of it. Yikes!

I woke to my usual alarm at 5:30am, and happily set it again for an hour later. This time when I woke, I heard Billy come crashing out of his room. “Billy, what’s up?” I called. “I have lift,” he said, as he zoomed into my room for a hug and a kiss before zooming back to the hallway and out the front door. He was headed to Team Lift, weightlifting with the football team, which they do a couple of times a week before school. They won their section quarterfinal game on Tuesday, so they’re gearing up for semis on Saturday.

I lazed around for a bit, as the cat and dog forced me into an extended morning neck-scratching session (good thing I have two hands!). I played my games for the day, then realized I was going to be late for my coffee date and hustled into the shower.

Tucked into a booth at my favorite local coffee shop, Brewed Awakenings, I sipped at my hot café breve and chatted with Charlie, a stay-at-home dad who was kind enough to come out and spend some of my stolen day with me. It felt like playing hooky in the best way, sitting there and laughing over each others’ stories while my daily alarms kept going off: “Take attendance now!” “So-and-so to math group” and so on. I didn’t dare turn them off in fear that I would forget to turn them back on tomorrow, and nobody would be where they needed to be.

After Charlie, I wandered over to True North Salon, where my friend Holly was waiting to exclaim over how long and curly my hair was. We got a great talk in while she trimmed my locks to bouncy perfection, and then gave me a scalp massage that had me melting into a puddle in the salon chair. With a big hug and a promise to get dinner soon, I was out the door.

Next was perhaps the part I was looking forward to the most: three straight hours alone in my house. I watched two episodes of Psych and played solitaire on my phone and DID NOTHING ELSE.

Ope, I did check my work email once. I’m not perfect.

The doctor appointment was next, and it was fine. My favorite nurse loves Billy, so I told her some stories to make her happy. I told my doctor I had started taking Magnesium and L-Theanine without asking her, because I heard from a doctor on TikTok that they would help mitigate my perimenopause symptoms. She laughed and thought it was just fine, and we commiserated over middle age.

After I was done with that plastic, duck-lipped torture device, it was time to head to my school. Yep, I sure did take the day off and then go to work to help spread the word about the operating referendum we are trying to pass in November. It was pumpkin-carving night, and kids and families were swarming the cafeteria, scooping out pumpkin guts and cutting out scary faces. A Ghost Face approached me at a gallop, and I heard, “Loeffler! Loeffler! I’m wearing my costume. You were gone today. You got a haircut. Love you Loeffler! I love you!”

I called, “Love you, too!” to the Ghost Face as he ran out the door, and thought that it was a pretty good day.

Thanks for reading.

Love, Susie