Friday Wrap Up
It was another Fabulous Friday off from work. I started out by Getting Things Done. Mulder and I dropped the car off to get its smog test so we can register it, and while they were working on that, we walked over to the post office to mail my gift for San’s Secret Santa Mug Swap. I had been worried, because I found what I HOPED would be the perfect mug, but I ordered it online, and communication was poor. However, the mug came in plenty of time, and off it went. There was a big sign saying no dogs in the post office, and I didn’t want to be one of THOSE people, so while I did use the self-serve kiosk to mail my package, I did not buy the holiday stamps I wanted for my Christmas cards, or get my flat rate boxes for mailing gifts. So we walked back, picked up the car, and then drove back to the post office, where I left Mulder in the car and bought my stamps. The woman who helped me at the post office was SO nice, I should have gotten her name.
As an aside, I will tell you that around here, if you need to get a smog test, do your research and see if there is a coupon. The price for the test was $78, but with the coupon (I just had to show it to them on my phone), it was $38. That’s a big savings.
Anyway, at this point it’s just a bit after 9am, and I have nowhere to be until my daughter’s Christmas party at 2. So we went to the park, which is where I took Mulder’s picture, above. He didn’t seem to be feeling great today, he has his chemo on Tuesdays, and Thursdays and Fridays can be his worst days. He seemed to be having a good time sniffing, though, so we explored a bit. Thankfully, my ankle was just a little sore this morning, and an ibuprofen took care of that, so I was able to walk all over. My eye is another story, and looks much worse today. I’m giving up on vanity, and showing you how it looked this morning. If possible, it looks a little worse this evening.
We walked around for downtown for awhile, then stopped at the Capital One Cafe to use the bathroom, and they gave Mulder a dog biscuit and some whipped cream. I really like this place. It’s two stories. Downstairs is a coffee bar and a couple of seats, an ATM, and some people who are there to maybe help you do some banking if you are so inclined, but you don’t need to have a Capital One card to access and use the facilities. Upstairs are several small meeting rooms, and an open area with tables and couches. I see mostly people sitting there working on their computers, and today for the first time (we were there a little later than usual) there were people using some of the meeting rooms. I’m not sure what the business model is. How do they make money? Maybe they don’t, maybe it’s just being in a kind of ritzy shopping area, PR stuff.
We wandered back to the park where we had parked the car, and got home at about 11:00. I read a blog or two, and then I went to get ready for the two company parties. I curled my hair, and of course the curls did not last because they never do. I put a ton of concealer on my eye to cover the black eye. I went to Maya’s company holiday party, which was nice. It was a small party, maybe 30 people, late lunch. I know her boss, but didn’t know anyone else, so it was nice to meet some people that I had heard of but not met before. By the time we got home, though, my makeup had worn off and I looked like a crash victim again. Maya helped me, using a different concealer, and all of her tricks. Funny how a 26 year old with perfect skin has so many tricks, and the 56 year old with wrinkles and uneven skin tone knows nothing. She fixed it, I looked almost normal, and once Ted came home, we went to his company party. His party was an evening party, it was fun and nice to meet the people he has been telling me about over these last few months.
Bonus photo of Mulder with weird local art. I hope you had a wonderful Friday.
BTW, if you are following #whamageddon, I’m out. Thanks company party DJ, not necessary.
18 Comments
Ally Bean
What happened to your eye? Oh my. Also what is a smog test? You live an interesting life and bring out the curiosity in me.
J
Ally, see my prior post, ‘Ouch!’ About how I fell and banged up my face early Thursday morning. I feel fine, but it’s ugly.
In California, when you register your vehicle, you have to have a test done every couple of years to ensure the emissions are within acceptable levels. It’s part of how California has worked to clean up our air.
Ally Bean
We used to do those tests here and they were called emissions tests. They proved to be a scam, but I don’t remember in what way, so the state ended them. The biggest boost to clean air around here was the pandemic. No one drove to work, the air got clean. Go figure, huh?
J
Oh yeah, the air here was noticeably cleaner during the stay at home phase of the pandemic! Interesting about it being a scam for the emissions tests! That’s crazy.
Margaret
I used to have to get those emissions tests but not any more. I wonder why. The eye is very colorful indeed. I wouldn’t know where to start at concealing it! Your dog is so beautiful.
J
Margaret, same car? That’s strange! Thank you, he is a beautiful boy. ??
nance
Yikes. You really hit hard. You’re lucky that you didn’t do some orbital damage or worse. Poor J!
There’s nothing like having a fall to make us feel old and embarrassed, is there? How well I know. I still get a lot of flak about my two big falls.
It’s so nice to see Mulder, and I’m glad he gets the Star Treatment at the cafe. And that statue is outstanding. I wish we had cool stuff like that around here.
J
Thanks Nance! Yes, I made a hole in th door with my head/face. No wonder Ted and Maya treat me like I’m old sometimes. Annoying.
Elisabeth
Your poor eye! I’m glad it’s feeling better. The first thing I thought when I saw the picture was – the colour matches her scarf perfectly. Hope your ankle continues to feel better, too. I’m sure it will be tender for a while.
As always, Mulder looks like such an agreeable and handsome companion <3
J
Thanks Elisabeth, the scarf is indeed perfect with the eye, right? Ha!
San
Oh my, J – you really hit your eye hard (but I was thinking the same thing – it’s even color-matching your scarf!). I hope it heals quickly. I am really glad you hear that your ankle is as good as new and that you were able to walk with Mulder (love him – he’s so cute!).
And I’ll be on the lookout for the Secret Santa Package I guess 🙂 so glad to hear shipping from the company where you ordered was so quick! It’s always nice to be positively surprised! Have a lovely weekend.
J
San, thank you, handy that my bruise is the same color as my scarf, right? Enjoy your weekend!
Jenny
That eye looks PAINFUL. i had to go back and read your previous post to see what happened. I also would have no idea how to use makeup successfully to cover that up- I kind of wish we could see the “after” picture! I’m glad you’re okay- I hope everything heals up soon.
J
It doesn’t hurt, except a little tender if I touch up by my eyebrow. And you’re right, I should have taken a picture with my makeup on, so you could see what a great job she did on my makeup.
NGS
Oh, no! I hope it looks worse than it feels! I sometimes get these horrific looking bruises, but they don’t hurt, so I just go on with my life.
Mulder is SO adorable and chill. I would probably have been one of those people and just brought him in to the post office and just pretend ignorance (I didn’t see the sign!) if someone called me out. I’m debating with myself if that makes me a bad person or not. (One time I was with some friends who were hosting a huge gathering. When they got the receipt for their huge amount of food at a local big store deli, they had been undercharged. They went to the customer service desk to fix the mistake. I personally would not have gone to the customer service desk at that moment. I would have gone back on a different day when I didn’t have a million things to do because I was hosting a big event. I still think about that and whether or not that makes me a bad/immoral person.)
J
Mulder can be a bit of a butt head if he gets excited, so I didn’t want to deal with that. Also, I see people with dogs at the Farmer’s Market all of the time, when county regulations clearly say no dogs, and it annoys me. And the sign was pretty big.
Regarding your friend’s situation, I’m not sure I would have done anything but enjoy the free food. I mean, if it were a little mom and pop store, sure, but a Safeway or a Costco? Probably not. So I’m a bad person sometimes.
Meike
Does it make you feel a little better when I tell you my son managed to give me a black eye worse than yours when he was ~1? He must have knocked his head against mine in his sleep and in the morning I first thought I had a mosquito bite on my eyebrow because it was a little tender. A couple of hours later my colleague asked me if I was OK ? I swear there was nothing to see in the morning but by nighttime it all turned black and I had to walk around with it for the rest of the day.
J
Yeah, this bruise was similar…didn’t seem that bad first thing, then got worse as the day went on. It’s just starting to fade, but still looks pretty awful.