A day in the life of Donna…..

My morning started out really well.  First of all, I slept for 6 hours last night.  This is BIG.  Thank you God, Thank you God… I jump in the shower, walk the dog, feed the animals.   Sort of nervous, sort of excited, today was going to be an adventure into a new part of Boston…Chinatown!    I’m going to become a patient at Tufts Dental School, doctorate program.   Fees are half the price of normal dentists and I need enough work that it will be worth my while.   It had been months since I’ve driven solo anywhere, especially Boston, but I had my iphone, the flyer then sent me, and I was ready.

A fairly uneventful trip down until I hit the MA Turnpike a couple miles out of Boston.  Where is my wallet?   Breathe, breathe, breathe…   Where is my wallet?    BREATH BREATH BREATH…..     “WHERE IS MY *&#&#*# WALLET?”    Why, it’s back home, where would you think it would be?   Oh no!   My phone rings, it’s my mother who has a hard time hearing me on my cell…I love my mother but trying to have a chat with her on the cell phone while driving in Boston is not on top of my To Do List.  Tunnel mom…..  Call you later.

I get to Copley Square… now what?  If I park I can’t pay for parking.   I had enough change to cover the first $1.25 toll, the second?  Do you know what happens if you don’t have money for a toll?  Well, they don’t drag you off to prison, they give you a ticket that you have to mail in.  How do I know this?  Experience AND not enough change for the second toll.     I call Tufts, explain that I am here, (Hey, made it an hour and a half early)…but I have no id, no money, and I have no money to park.   If you could help me with the parking (trust me, every medical facility in Boston has access to this), I will catch that up next visit, and I’m sure that I could call either one of my two best friends who would pay for the appointment over the phone, and I could paypal them the amount later…..   Well, they couldn’t help with parking.  The girl who did this left and no one knows how to get or use free parking token.   MGH is very good about validating your parking if your appointment was postponed, etc.    Now what?   I rescheduled for next Tuesday.   One strike out of two.  If you cancel earlier than 24 hours twice, you cannot be a patient.   I’m not even going to go there with you.    Too much involved in this.

Now what?  My friend Robyne is in Stoughton, Anne is in Marlborough, Wayne is in Westboro…  Okay, I’ll drive down to my friends in Attleboro to pick up samples and make the most of this day.     How do I get out of here?  I pick up my iphone and serenade Siri, and for some reason, maps was not working.   Of course not! It worked find on the way down.  I was so frustrated I swore at her.  She said “Donna, I don’t think that’s appropriate”.     Look for boulevards you know…  A half an hour later I find one, and kept praying for help.   Storrow Drive!  YES!   I know that!   That is where I left the front bumper of my jetta trying to get down to Dana Farber to see my sister!     I know how to get to the Govt center and hospital district, more important, I know how to get OUT….. but wait!   There’s a detour.   Of course there is!

I made it to my friends in Attleboro, visited for a bit, and they lent me money to get home.  Good god!   Thank God for friends.  I had enough gas, but they wanted me to have something in case I had to stop… VERY KIND PEOPLE.

The trip home was crazy, 4-5pm traffic outside Boston is always a blast… I know, I’m going to get off in Bolton and drive that stretch of road that happens to me one of, if not THE favorite of mine in New England.   I think that exit is coming up….   Why yup!  There it is!   There it GOES………………………………………………   Ugh.

My mother calls in the middle of this, she has my dog, hasn’t heard from me since this morning.   I yi yi.   I’m not really good at multitasking to begin with.    A  couple hours later I’m home.  Thank God.   Emotionally and physically exhausted, I cannot wait to get inside, throw off my shoes, clothes, sit in the air conditioning and relax.  Well, the air conditioner wasn’t on, but Lilly apparently was upset with me when I left her this morning.  The minute I opened the door the smell of poop hit me in the face.  Yup, right there, in my studio.

Now, the poop is gone, the paint brushes are out, and I’m sitting amongst piles of stuff that I had promised to put away before I dive into painting again…. it ain’t happening!    I am DONE FOR THE DAY!   This perdue has popped.   I sit down to write a blog, and there is an error message on my computer screen.  Why of course there is!    I had to walk through the troubleshooting several times, and after a half an hour it’s going again, but not without having to also walk through the mines of passwords which were lost in the “fix”.   OMG…    What a day!   I think it erred out from the smell of Lilly Poop it wallowed in all day without a/c.

But you know what?  As difficult as today was, I did it.  I survived it.   And I’m STILL having a better day than that Joyce Mitchell women in NY whose life (and sadly her families) is falling apart for all to see.  The woman who is accused of assisting the two convicted murderers with escape from prison, and today’s tid bit, an apparent plot to kill her husband and move on with her new felon friends.

What a world…  I have all I can do to walk through a day in my own life.  But I have to tell you, sometimes hearing all the crap that is going on in the world makes me feel pretty darn good about being me.  Ditzy, forgetful, chaotic me!  When I travel taught I would call my mother upon my arrival (a must do so she wouldn’t worry).  Every trip she would say “And what did you forget this time?”  It was always something.  One time my brushes, another my suitcase… Well, this time?  My wallet, mom!    Who needs one, anyway? Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go remind myself why Bose makes me happy…. perhaps the neighbors, too!