I posted this entry on my profile at the www.29gifts.org website. If you wanna friend me or join me on what will prove to be an incredible journey, please check it out at: www.29gifts.org/profile/davidkav ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Today was my day off from everything. However, it was, by No means, unproductive. I woke up around 2:30pm. This was after going to sleep around 6:00am. I couldn't sleep. This was after I put Beth Ann to bed and held her for, at least, 30 minutes after she fell asleep. So, I stayed up, listened to tunes (including some tunes off of the new Van Halen album: Not yet finished with it but mixed feelings about it. It's not bad, though,) and so forth. I put on a pot of coffee and started "Morning" Pages about 2:50pm. I had a little bit of time with Beth Ann before she went to work. We looked at more condo prospects. Then, she said, "Hey, you wanna walk me to work...?" "Umm....I...." "And then," she goes on in her cute voice, "and then, and then... You can walk over from work...and get the ink for the printer..." I sighed to myself. I knew that I had to jump on this opportunity. I had promised that I would replace the ink in the printer that has been sitting on our desk (from place to place) for Over a year. I also suggested that I would pay for the ink this next paycheck regardless as to whether or not I thought that I had the money. It was the least that I could do considering that I promised that I would do so for a very long time. "Ok. Are you ready?" She nods in her very cute way. "Ok. Let me get dressed and we'll go." We walk along in the brisk air - rejoicing a bit in the fact that it's not as cold as it was yesterday evening. The sun was shining. It truly was a beautiful February day. I was a bit overwhelmed and bummed that I had a Lot to do on my day off. "I can't relax," I groaned. "Yes, you can..." "No, I can't. I have a LOT waiting for me when I get home. I have to get the ink. Then, I HAVE to tackle that mound of laundry that's in our bedroom." (Guys, this mound was threatening to eat the monsters under our bed. It was THAT bad.) "This is unacceptable..." "...ok..." "No, I'm serious. We've both been saying, 'ok ok. I'll do it later.' No more. We're getting 'down to the wire.' I also have to get another song written. Since I'm off, today's the perfect day to do so. There's a mound of dishes piling up in the sink. So, I'm sorry. I just feel like a failure." "Why?" "I always do when I get overwhelmed. I know that I'm not one. I just get this way when I let my tasks overtake me. I know that I'll get them done." "Hey, David..." "what?" "Guess what?" "What?" "I love you." Beth Ann is saying her stuff in her cutesy voice. I, on the other hand, am moaning in the "yeah-yeah" tone. "I love you, too." "Hey, David," It's starting to work. "What?" "Guess what?" "What?" "I'm not for sale," (Beth Ann is referring to the fact that I always walk on the outside near the curb. I was told, by an ex-girlfriend of mine, that if a gentleman let the lady walk on the outside back in the day, it was signaling that the woman that he was walking with was "for sale." This had stuck with me ever since. Every time I walk with Beth Ann [or any woman in that matter,] I always try to walk on the outside.) "No," I laugh and hold her hand. "No, you're not." We get to her work at Water Tower Place. As I walk her up the escalator, I gasp, "Aaah! I forgot the Black Forest you asked for." She did ask me to get her a coffee drink on the first floor of her building at L'Appetite. "It's ok." "No, no. I'll get it. Really. What size did you want?" "Large. Large Black Forest, please." "Yes, dear." "Hey, listen. If ya want, I can come by when you're done here and pick you up so we can walk home together." Her eyes light up, "really?" "Yep." To myself, I ring true with, "and That's today's gift." "That'd be nice." She smiles all cute-like (notice a pattern here? I hope so.) :) In my aforementioned gloom and doom woe as described earlier in this blog, I knew from past experiences AND from the screaming voice in today's installment from Morning Pages: We MUST get to work to combat this depressive state. We WILL make this a productive day off. So, in the theme of self-love this month, I had decided that my gift today is Productivity at home. Yep: Taking care of business. Besides, it goes along with the adage: Charity begins at home. Indeed. As I'm on my way to pick up Beth Ann's beverage, I realized that I never heard from my colleague, Steve. I heard that he was working today in my place since I had the day off. I immediately call my job. It was quite busy over there considering that it was Saturday afternoon. So, I waited patiently for Steve to get on the line. "Thank you for holding. This is Steve. How can I help you?" "Hey, Steve. It's David." "What's up, man?" "I'm good. I'm good. I didn't catch you at a bad time, did I?" "No, no. I was just taking a $1000 payment from a guest." "Ah, fun times," I joke. "Heh, yeah. Hey, listen. I haven't had a chance to respond to your email. I did get it and, yeah, I have a group project that day at 3pm." Steve, like Beth Ann, is studying American Sign Language. I've had this common thread as of late with both Steve and Beth Ann by proxy - well, when I see the former since he is Very Part Time because of his studies and rightly so. "No worries," I told him. "I just need to know either way so that I know how to proceed." "Yeah, if it was any other day, I'd totally do it. But, that group project. Sorry." "No worries. It's my mess. So, I'll take care of it. I'll work out a drug deal with Rachel or something." "Ok, man." "Well, thanks for letting me know." "No problem. Have a good one." "You too." I hang up the phone. "Back to square one," I thought. "But, not really. At least I now know." I go in to pick up Beth Ann's Black Forest and drop it off for her with her colleague at work. I run over to Best Buy (since there's one on the first floor of the John Hancock Center.) When I plugged in the printer this afternoon, I noticed that ALL of the ink cartridges had expired. I swear to you all, the Universe and everything that is Holy: I had NO idea that ink cartridges could expire....until today. You learn something new everyday, huh? So, upon walking in, I knew that I had to pick up a new Set of ink cartridges for the photo printer. It's a REALLY nice one (printer/scanner/copier.) Only bad thing about it is if one cartridge is bad, there comes a point when you have to replace that one color. Otherwise, it'll stop working altogether until you do so. Yep. So, it's been sitting in limbo between three moves waiting for me to take care of it. Today was going to be the day. Upon arriving at the printer/ink aisle, I was baffled immediately. I was looking at the right kind of cartridges. One 5 pack (NOT including the huge black ink cartridge) was around $54 before tax. There were two packs next to it with 6 ink cartridges INCLUDING black for $36 before tax. I call over a sales representive. "Excuse me, miss?" "Yes?" "Why on God's Green Earth is this 5-pack almost $20 more than this 6-pack that it seeming to be the same thing? I mean, it looks as if they're the same kind in both packs. However, I'm wondering if I'm missing something here." She grabs the 6-pack sale item. "Let me go check." "Thanks." She comes back within moments and says, "It looks as if though this is merely a sale item." "Huh," I say while flipping it over. I failed to mention that on top of the 6 cartridges, it also came with 150 sheets of photo paper for printing photos. Hence, the further confusion. "I guess I just lucked out." "Yeah," she laughs. "Well, if there's any problems, you can always return it." "Indeed. Thanks so much!" I make my purchase and hurry home to the tasks at hand. I walk in, eat a quick lunch since I was a bit famished. I install the printer ink, adjust the time, work out the wireless option to print from both my laptop and Beth Ann's (the wireless works on mine but doesn't like Beth Ann's for some reason.) "I'll come back to this later," I say to myself. "At least she can print from her computer IF she plugs it in. That's what matters." I put my dishes away and tackle the load in the sink. I am determined to get these chores finished. Bam! Done! Next, the laundry monster awaits. So, I tackle it. Guys, I'm serious. I'm talking LOADS! At least 7 total! I had 5 dry during Beth Ann's work shift. By the time I go to pick Beth Ann (which I barely made it before she got downstairs,) I had 2 more in the drier. I walk to Beth Ann's work. I wait about 15 minutes for her to close up shop. She walks out with two colleagues. I recognize Sean. I don't recognize the other one. Some shock, but no big deal. "Hey, hon? We're walking Sean to the Red Line and we'll walk home from there. That ok?" "Yeah, sure." We walk while Beth Ann catches up and wraps up her day with the District Managers in store (I don't envy them at all.) We say our goodbyes to Sean and I suggest something to Beth Ann, "So, before we get any further, I'll give you a choice..." "ok." "So, I must preface them by saying, there's a shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhit ton of clothes on the bed that have yet to be folded. BUT - I know that we're both hungry. So, I was going to take you to Tempo Cafe [one of our favorite places, for the record.] My treat. Or, we can go home. 'Cause I'm famished and I KNOW you've got to be hungry." "Umm, if we go, I'm gonna have French Toast. 'Cause I'm not into eggs right now." "That's totally fine. But, I'll have to get cash." Tempo only takes cash. "Ok. You sure? I can cover it." "No, I want to." (I had decided that dinner was going to be a part of the gift as well.) "Ok." I ran and got the cash. I had also received another call from Rachel. I had asked her to call me earlier to figure out my work conflict. The result? She is willing to help me BUT we'd have to talk to our managers to see if they'll approve. Since she lives so far away and would have to work the next morning (i.e. 8 hours later,) she would need a hotel room since she lives so far away. I, at this point, am willing to pay for the room. This is what I am proposing to Rachel, to my bosses, and to the Universe. We shall see if this will comply. However, after the phone call and retrieving my money for the meal, I am happy that I am closer to a solution for next weekend. I get back to Beth Ann. We have the most amazing meals. She gets her French Toast with strawberries, syrup and bacon. I get the Greek Omelette (Feta Cheese, Tomatoes, and Onion,) with Turkey Sausage and English Muffin. At 10:30pm, it only made sense to get Decaf. ;) We get home: Beth Ann sets out to do a great deal of her homework that is due for Monday's class where in as I fold the Humongous pile of laundry in our bedroom. Beth Ann stated that she needed to take a shower. Upon her saying that, so did I. She tries to talk herself out of it. I, on the other hand, state and convince her that by doing so tonight, she'll be good for tomorrow since she has to work from 12pm to 6pm. So, she complies. I follow after her in suit. I come out of the bathroom. Beth Ann is on the couch reading her book for class. At this point, it is 3:13AM. She is now sound asleep. I go to wake her up. "No, no. We're watching 'Raymond.' I'm just...resting my eyes." I swear to you all - she's just like a kid at times...which I absolutely adore and have a soft spot in my heart about it. Or rather, if you will, she's like the little puppy in the original "101 Dalmatians" cartoon movie that always refused he was tired and would say, with a yawn, "I'm not a bit [yawn] sleepy." How can you Not love that? "Beth Ann, let's put you to bed." "Maybe you're right. What time is it?" "It's 3am. If you're falling asleep on the couch, and you have to work tomorrow, we should just call it a night. I've just got to finish up my blog, ok?" "Ok. I'm sorry." "It's not your fault. The day just got away, ya know?" With that being said, I'll close out my Blog Post for today. I will state this: I find that the more you give, the easier the giving becomes. Also, the gratitude flows much more as well. I'll even go further to say that even in those moments when you're down in the mouth about yourself, you find that it's easier and easier to turn it around. I wish the same for EVERYONE who reads this. That ability, in itself, is truly a gift. And for that, I am thankful.