First off, Belle was no where around when I stepped out for our morning walk. Max lay in his bed on the porch, but didn't get up like he normally would, excited at the prospect of a walk. And when I mentioned it, he just kind of whimpered.
I remembered a lot of barking last night; they must have run amok through the woods during the night, chasing a deer or an armadillo or something. That never fails to aggravate Max's elbow dysplasia. You'd think he would have learned by now, but I guess to him, it's worth the pain the next day. (I can sympathize...I've had nights like that, only mine involved dancing and red wine.)
So instead of walking, I brushed him. He enjoyed it, and I enjoyed spending time with him - there's nothing like making someone else happy to take a few pounds off of your heart - but I still missed my morning walk...my quiet time, my prayer time.
Belle eventually showed up (I think Max sent her off to play with Haley, knowing he wouldn't be up for the walk...what a sweet dog!) but by then it was too late. I had to get ready for work.
Fast forward several uneventful hours. Just before the end of my work day, I published a new Jobs4Autism post and noticed that the one I had published the week before was missing. Poof! All I could find was the initial draft...just a few tidbits of information and a link. If I didn't see the link published on our Facebook page, it would have been easy to believe I never published it at all!
I had worked on that post for several hours...and now it was mysteriously gone. Hours of work...vanished! So discouraging...all that time wasted...
And then later this evening, while balancing my checkbook, I notice that one of my online payments to a credit card never went through. Well, that can't be right. It's in my checkbook and I have the printed verification in my file!
I signed on to the account and those dreaded words popped out: ACCOUNT PAST DUE! You know what happens when accounts are past due, don't you? The gates of Hell open up!! Late charges, skyrocketing interest rates...whatever they want to do to you is fair game. No rules apply anymore.
But I knew I paid it, so I snatched up the phone, ready to argue, while I dug out the printed confirmation notice and checked the email folder where the confirmation message will be. Only the paper I printed didn't have a confirmation number...and there was no confirmation email.
Gulp. Ah, man.
It probably happened during one of those late night bill-paying sessions and I was in a too much of a hurry to pay the next one so I could get to bed or work on my book, so I didn't notice the payment didn't fully process. Thank goodness I have a record for paying on time, over the minimum...the representative took my payment, waived the payment-by-phone charge and the late fee and assured me my interest rates hadn't been raised (yet - I could hear that silent word, but ignored it for now.)
Just a reminder that I need to pay attention... I need to stay in the moment, not let my brain go skipping off to play in the next room before it finishes the task at hand, like an errant child.
And the same for posts that I publish; no matter how rushed I am or how late it is, I need to remember to regularly save a copy of it somewhere else. For goodness sake, my computer swallowed a year's worth of my children's book one time - you'd think that would have taught me my lesson, wouldn't you? Sigh. I can be so dense sometimes.
Poor Max. I'm already doing all I can for his elbow. The rest is his lesson to learn (just like mine with the dancing and wine...)
The good news is, even with these potential potholes in my path today, I didn't trip up, didn't fall SPLAT into a Bad Attitude. Maybe it's still Mother Teresa's words in my head...maybe it's the proximity to Thanksgiving...maybe the combination has just made me more aware of my many blessings, and the negativity these little blips could burp out don't stand a chance against my current Good Attitude.
What a great feeling! I'll enjoy it while it lasts...
Here are some more words from Mother Teresa to help me keep it going... "What we need is to love without getting tired. How does a lamp burn? Through the continuous input of small drops of oil. What are those drops of oil in our lamps? They are the small things of daily life: faithfulness, small words of kindness, a thought for others, our way of being silent, of looking, of speaking, and of acting...."
I hope you were able to avoid going SPLAT! today, too!
Guess what? This was my contribution to Jillsy's (currently hosted by Sally G.) One Word Wednesday Challenge and Blog Hop...technically the word is "Splatter" but hey, I think "Splat" is close enough and fit my day better than "Splatter", right?
Check out the other contributions below (and add yours if you want to play!)
