🤔

"Is she going to make the pepperoni heart-shaped, too?" joked Heidi's brother when she was telling him about our traditional Valentine's Day dinner. 

We laughed, but...

That wasn't a bad idea!

Extra Extra

Our neighbor somehow received three half-gallons of butter pecan ice cream in her grocery order, so after being reimbursed for the error, she's giving some of it away. The grocery store's loss is our gain! I haven't had butter pecan in a while, but I do like it. 

A similar situation happened to me this week, too. I ordered two pounds of coffee late last month, which was supposed to be delivered right as the big snowstorm hit. We had enough coffee to make it through, but we were getting down to the wire a few days ago when I finally contacted the roaster about the no-show package. Customer service was excellent; they shipped my new order right away and contacted the delivery service as well.

A package arrived yesterday, and we were all set for coffee. And then another package arrived today, so now? We have double the beans. I guess I can offer some to my neighbor in exchange for the ice cream-- they will make a delicious pair!

Starting Early

By far my favorite part of my consultant/coach gig is spending time in first-grade classrooms. This morning, I pulled out a tiny chair and sat back to observe a focus group lesson with five squirmy kids. The teacher is good, and she had planned an engaging activity, so it wasn't long before most of the students were listening to stretched-out words pronounced in a choppy "alien" voice so that they could blend them back together into fluent earthling English. 

Except that one little boy! Every time I visit that class, his clothespin is either on "warning" or "lose extra recess," and I'm usually there before 9, so he must get started on his mischief early. Today, he couldn't fully participate in segmenting words with his hand because he was first fidgeting with his pencil. Then? He was reaching under the table for something. When his teacher asked what he had down there, he shrugged innocently, but when she held out her hand, he produced a piece of paper he had hidden in his shoe.

She shook her head and set it aside, but not before I saw what it was. He was hiding the worksheet that the other kids were doing. The teacher had given the assignment directions to the whole class before pulling his group to the table, and he clearly preferred that task. 

"At least he wanted to do work," I laughed when we talked about it on the coaching call later. "Just not the right work."

His teacher looked unconvinced, but then she nodded. "This is why it's good to have another perspective," she agreed.

On Tip Top Toes

I had an unexpected opening in my day today when one of the teachers I'm coaching had to postpone our observation because of testing that was rescheduled after all the snow days. When I got home from my other observation, I changed my clothes and went to the nail salon for a pedicure, since it was finally warm enough to wear slides to and from the car. 

Maybe I was channeling my dental hygienist and his observation about this being a week of self-care; I also had an acupuncture appointment this afternoon. Or maybe, after 2 sessions of PT and with the upcoming acupuncture, I was just tired of people looking at my snaggly feet. 

Either way? My toes look great!

Final Confirmation

Heidi's mom is turning 80 in March, and as a surprise, we are flying her grandson, Kyle, in from Nashville for the party. I spent part of Sunday texting him, researching, and finally booking his flight. There was a little confusion on the airline website; booking and paying for a passenger other than me was not as intuitive as it could have been. When it was all set, I texted his itinerary and confirmation number, and we exchanged our glee at the upcoming surprise. 

But when I woke up this morning, I had an email from the airline that I had canceled my flight, and when I logged on, the website confirmed that I had no upcoming trips. I checked my credit card and saw two holds on the airline charges, which was confusing, but I went ahead and rebooked the flight. Then I sent Kyle a message with the new confirmation number. 

This afternoon, I got an email from the airline asking whether I needed a hotel for my trip to Buffalo, but the confirmation number in the message was not the one I had sent this morning. This time, when I logged onto the website, I realized that, of course, I don't have any upcoming trips. Kyle does! And when I checked, I saw he had 2 identical trips: one booked this morning and the other on Sunday. 

Fortunately, the reservation I made earlier today was within the penalty-free cancellation window, so I canceled it. But then I sent Kyle a message that we were back to the old confirmation number. Except, we weren't. 

I think what happened was that when I was messing around with the passenger and payment info on Sunday, the website autofilled me as the passenger. When I changed it before finalizing the trip, it must have canceled my reservation and confirmation number and booked a new one with a new number. 

That's the notification I got today: my momentary reservation was canceled, but that's the number I originally sent to Kyle, so I had to send yet another text. 🙄

You Could Call it That

"So, what are your plans for the rest of the day?" My dental hygienist removed the spray and suction from my mouth so I could answer.

I swallowed. "Well, after this, I'm going to P.T.," I replied, and gave a thumbnail of my plantar fasciitis saga.

"It's a day of self-care, then?" he said as he resumed hydrosonically scaling my teeth.

All I could do was shrug.

Two Dogs Passing in the Afternoon

The sidewalk was narrowly shoveled, and it would have been impossible for Lucy and me and the guy coming toward us with his golden retriever to pass comfortably. Likewise, the snow banks on either side were substantial and icy, so it was equally impossible to step aside. From his distance of 10 yards or so, the man nodded in acknowledgment, backed up, and stepped into the parking lot he had just passed. As we approached, a look of relief washed over his face, and he smiled and loosened his grip on the leash. "They know each other, I think," he said.

It was then that I took a closer look at the guy under the hat and behind the scarf and his frisky golden. "Oh!" I said to Lucy, "It's Leo!"

Of course, the dogs had known all along, which may have contributed to Leo's owner's caution. Leo's excitement may have been read as agitation; he does have a bit of an unfriendly reputation. And the truth is, Leo and Lucy usually walk together with Heidi and Adrian, Leo's other person. As it is, Andy and I barely know each other at all, although I did attend his wedding last June.

The dogs greeted each other, and then were ready to move on, as dogs so often are. "Nice to see you," Andy mumbled as we walked past.

"Take it easy, Andy," I answered.