It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times...

Today has not gone as planned. This is partially a good thing, and partially a bad thing.

The original plan for the day was to go to work with Roger Mexico this afternoon, to get a look-see at what he does all day. After that we were supposed to attend a department cookout, where I would meet more of his co-workers.

Roger Mexico called this morning to inform me that he was going to have to work through his lunch and he wouldn't be able to pick me up for the sightseeing and the cookout. He was having an extremely bad day, and was going to be spending the majority of the afternoon running cable in the Arts Center.

I was a little bummed, but decided to spend the day having Girl Time and just relaxing. I'd take a long shower, let my hair dry naturally instead of subjecting my follicles to the hair dryer, paint my toenails. (I've just discovered the joys of painting my toenails. It always seemed like such a frivolous and girly thing to do, but then I realized that was the point and now I'm hooked. I'm so glad I remembered to pack nail polish.)

And so I spent the entire afternoon doing nothing of any consequences. I took said shower, painted my nails blue, made a baked potato and herbal iced tea for lunch, hit the internet, listened to the Beastie Boys, watched some guilty pleasure TV (The PowerPuff Girls, Animaniacs, the end of Adventures in Babysitting, Emergency Vets - I love this show except when they can't save an animal; then I have to change the channel), read a little Harry Potter (by the way...Zappagirl? If you're looking for your copy of Sorcerers' Stone...I forgot to tell you I borrowed it.). Later I made some popcorn and a pot of Mocha Java and watched the end of I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. I didn't guilt myself that I should be out walking or touring historical sites or doing anything productive. It was absolutely relaxing and wonderful.

(Except for the fact that the 3-week old English mastiff puppy on Emergency Vets had to be euthanized. I cried. She was so cute.)

Roger Mexico was worried that the change in plans would ruin my day. I tried to make him understand that this is exactly what I needed on my vacation; a chance to unwind. Not that I wouldn't have minded spending the day at the university with him, but this wasn't a bad contingency plan.

Roger Mexico called later in the afternoon with yet another change in plans; he had to go out after work with some departmental bigwigs, and even though it was a semi-social meeting, it would still be official businesslike and it would be best if he went sans guest. Again I explained to him that it wasn't a big deal, and we could go get a beer after he got back. Plans weren't cancelled; they were just postponed a little.

After reassuring him, "Yes, it's alright. No, I'm not upset. Yes, I'm having a good vacation day," about a billion times, I went off to clean up the kitchen.

I feel awful for him. I'm having one of the best weeks of my life, and Life dealt him a junk hand of a day. It's obviously frustrating him, and he's upset and worried and there's not a damn thing I can do to help. He's always been there for me when I've had these kinds of days, and I'm trying to return the favor.

It's difficult to accept that the best I can do for him is lend a compassionate and caring ear while he vents. I want to do more for him, something nice to make his day better, but given the fact that they roll up the streets in his neighborhood at 5 pm and I have no transportation, my choices are kinda limited. If I had more money, I'd run across the street and buy him a good bottle of merlot from the wine shop.

And yes, I know that alcohol is no solution to a problem, but sometimes dulling the pain of day-to-day living by getting tipsy is not a bad thing. (See, if he was a girl, I'd recommend a bottle of red wine and a viewing of Bring It On. It's worked for me recently.)

We've always said that only one of us was allowed to go crazy or get depressed at a time. Guess my ride on the emotional rollercoaster is over for the moment, and he's waiting in the turnstiles for my seat.

And watching from the observation deck on this ride is no fun.

Oh well. We'll go get a couple of beers tonight at the pub across the street, and we'll talk out whatever he feels the need to share. And tomorrow morning we leave for New York City, so we'll hopefully have a good weekend. My vacation is almost over, and we're going to have fun if it kills me. This good time's got to last us a while.

So, until he gets back, I'm going back to Girl Time. I think there's some fettucini Alfredo in the freezer, and I bet Jeopardy! is on somewhere.