One of my favorite books from growing up was Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. In it, from the moment Alexander wakes up with gum in his hair, things just don't go his way. From everything to not finding a prize in his cereal box at breakfast (while, of course, his two brothers do) to his teacher not liking his picture of the invisible castle (which is actually just a blank sheet of paper) to his friend, Paul, deserting him for his third best friend to finding out he has a cavity at the dentist to having lima beans for dinner (which he hates) to there being kissing on TV (which he also hates) to having to wear his railroad train pajamas to bed (yeah, you guess it, he hates his railroad train pajamas). This just isn't Alexander's day. So much so that at the end of the day, he just wishes he could move to Australia. That is, until his mom reminds him that everyone, even people in Australia, have bad days.
Yesterday just wasn't my day. Yesterday? Yesterday was just the pits.
From the moment I got out of bed. Scratch that. From the moment I was asleep, nothing, I mean nothing, went my way. It all started when, for the 3rd night in a row, I just could not get any useful sleep. I tossed. I turned. I checked the clock. I checked it again. I tried to shut off my mind. But it just wasn't any use. Sleep was a reality in bits and pieces. Rest, on the other hand, was not.
Luckily, I had a doctor's appointment at 9:30, so at least I got to sleep in a bit and still get my work-out in. However, the doctor had directed that I fast from 8pm the night before so by the time I was done with my work-out I was starving, but not able to do anything about it. I got ready, looked out the window and realized it was raining. Lovely. Especially when I realized that I had left my umbrella in my rental car. Guess I'd be toting my huge golf umbrella around today. Fantastic.
So I, and my grandpa umbrella, made it to the doctor's office on time and then proceeded to wait. And wait. And wait. Ugh. Not to mention, the doctor's office was a complete dead zone for my cell phone so as I waited, I just knew I was falling further and further behind. And then, just when I thought I was about ready to leave the office, the doctor let me know that she wanted me to get some blood work. Of which I waited for another 20 minutes. And when I finally did get into the lab? Well, the technician couldn't seem to find a vein (good thing I'm not a crack fein, eh?) and proceeded to poke around my inner elbow for a bit before she finally just poked the needle in and, I'm convinced, hoped for the best. Ouch. But at least I was making progress.
Finally, I was checked out of the office and on my way. When about 5 minutes away from the office, just as all of my emails, voicemails and text messages were pouring in, I realized I left my only remaining umbrella at the doctor's office. Bummer. Especially when the afternoon forecast calls for 70% showers. Perfect.
Of course, as luck would have it, one of those voicemails was from the president of my company, wondering if I could head out to our clients for an 11am meeting with the president of cheese (yes, that's an actual title). It was 10:52 when I received the voicemail. And our clients are 35 minutes away. On a good day. This is never going to happen. What's worse, I had asked about this particular meeting on Monday I was told by my boss that there wouldn't be an issue and if anyone was going to go from our agency, she would. Glad we got that covered.
So, I'm rushing back into the office in a fit because I'm letting down my president and missing out on an opportunity for face time with a really prestigious client. Double whammy. I rush to make it across the street before the light turns red when I nearly get hit by a car only to jump and lose some of the contents of my purse. I, glad to still have my life, decide against dodging back into traffic for my favorite pen and my Carmex. Rats.
I make it back to work only to find out I have to cover a 12:30 call and I'm not going to be able to grab anything for lunch until around 2. I'm sweating from my rush into the office. My stomach is growling at me. I'm flushed trying to catch up on everything I missed while in the cell phone-hating doctor's office. And when my creative director comes up to talk about prepping for our 3 o'clock client meeting, I turn into a huge monster. I'm rude. I'm short. I'm all hot and bothered. I'm probably the worst version of myself.
Ugh. Double ugh.
The afternoon included a fight with the color printer 15 minutes before the meeting. My computer freezing during a client presentation. My hitting my knee 3 times on the conference room table. And me finally getting out of the office around 7:30.
It just wasn't my day.
Luckily, despite the late Friday night and the evening downpour, I made it to drinks and dinner with Abby and Julie. There's nothing like a perfect night with good friends to erase even the most terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
So, maybe I won't pick up and move to Australia after all either.
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