April 9, 2011
It was one of those serendipitous moments that you would have to be a fool not to take advantage of. But let me backtrack a little....things had been more than usually hectic lately. I had been taking a course on Saturdays about an hour away from home. I have to be on the road by noon to get there on time, and don't get home again until after 5. Sundays have been mostly eaten up by studying and homework, and trying (mostly in vain) to stay on top of housework and laundry. This has been my typical weekend since the beginning of January. I’m not complaining, I’m just saying, it’s been a little crazy.
As well, this only leaves me Saturday mornings to run any errands, grocery shop, etc., so I try to get everything I need to do crammed into a couple of hours. This Saturday started out pretty much the same, with the added task of having to go and renew my driver’s license and get a new plate sticker. I didn’t really have a choice in whether or not I accomplished this today as the next day was my birthday and I would no longer be legally able to drive after that!!
I know what you’re thinking. Why did I leave this until the last minute? Well, I didn’t really. When that form arrived in the mail about a month ago, I looked at it and thought, “oh ya, my birthday is coming up” and then put it down in a pile of papers to be dealt with later. I mean, hey, I had a month! A few days later my husband happened to notice the form and said if I wanted, he would go get my sticker on his day off. Awesome! One less thing I had to do. The problem was that neither of us noticed the other piece of paper saying I also had to renew my driver’s license. A week or so went by and I asked my husband if he was still going to get my sticker for me, and he said he’d forgotten, but yes, he would. This went on for another couple of weeks or so, with him assuring me it would happen before my birthday. Two days before my license was, unbeknownst to me, going to expire, I actually read both pages and then proceeded to go online in a panic to find a place that was open on Saturday so I could still get it done on time.
Luckily, there was one across town so I figured I was all set. Saturday morning I got up as usual around 6:30, showered, dressed and took Rascal for a walk. When I got back, I woke up my daughter and husband and made breakfast. My husband was going to work, as was my daughter and I was driving her. She didn’t start until 10:30 and the MTO office opened at 9 so I figured as long as we were there when they opened, I could get it done and still get her to work on time. At 8:45 we headed out.
About halfway there, while waiting to turn left at a busy intersection downtown, my car stalled and died. I’ve only had this car for a year. This was not supposed to happen! I waited a couple of minutes and tried to start it. Nothing. Another couple of minutes, and again, nothing. I told my daughter to call her father and ask him to come and get her so she could still get to work on time. As she was explaining to him what was happening, I was looking for the number for road side assistance. Next thing I knew, her cell phone was placed against my ear while my husband went on a rant about how many times he has told me NOT to go to that gas station by our house, and it serves me right that my car died in the intersection, and NO he could not come and get Kaitlin. After two minutes of this I finally yelled back...”This is not helping me right now” and Kaitlin took her phone back. I took what I hoped was a deep cleansing breath and decided to try to start the car one more time, saying a little prayer as I did so. It started. It coughed a little and jerked when I gave it gas, but it started. We got to the MTO service centre and naturally, the line was twisting out the door. I was not hopeful. I needed coffee. Kaitlin was starting to panic a little about being late for work, but I told her, one crisis at a time.
The line moved surprisingly quickly and we were actually done, sticker adhered to plate and temporary license in hand, with time to spare to get her to work. Miracle of miracles, my car started on the first try! Once I dropped Kaitlin off, I realized that despite the trials of the morning, I actually had an hour and a half before I had to leave for school. What to do? I could go home and do some laundry...um, no. I was waiting for the light to change and happened to look up to see a neon sign over a Nail Salon. Hmmm...it was the day before my birthday, surely I deserved a little treat? I went in and asked to get a pedicure. They could take me right away! I picked out a polish and they sat me in a massage chair and brought me a cup of coffee.
It was bliss. I never wanted to leave. When she started to massage the arch of my foot (tortured by high heels all week), I rapidly began turning into a puddle of jelly as I slid down even farther into the massage chair. At this point, they could have talked me into anything. She said, “You know what you need? A paraffin wax treatment”. “Hmmm..Sure”. I am not certain, but I may have been slurring my words at this point. The wax was very hot as she stuck each foot in it, but it felt good! I was so relaxed it was ridiculous. So I sat in the massage chair, sipping coffee, with my feet encased in warm wax and covered with towels. “You should get your fingernails done to match your toes”, the girl suggested. “Okay”.
Eventually though, like all good things, it had to come to an end and I was removed from the massage chair and put into a regular plastic chair with my toes and fingernails stuck under fans to dry the polish before I left. As I sat there, I stared at a poster on the wall offering eyebrow shaping. It consisted of various pairs of eyes and eyebrows and lips, but for some reason no noses. It looked a bit like a Picasso painting gone mad. Each pair of eyebrows had a caption. There were “Beauty” eyebrows, “Fortune” eyebrows, “Calm”, “Lovely” and then my personal favourite, “Heroic”. She must have noticed me reading the poster because she was beside me in flash to say, “Why don’t we clean up your brows while you’re waiting for your nails to dry?” I was about to say no, it was okay, but then I thought, when am I going to get another opportunity to have Heroic eyebrows? It was too much to resist.
As I finally drove away, miraculously still on schedule, I looked at my eyebrows in the rear-view mirror. They looked good, but I was not completely convinced about the heroic part. I think she gave me Fortune eyebrows by mistake.
It was one of those serendipitous moments that you would have to be a fool not to take advantage of. But let me backtrack a little....things had been more than usually hectic lately. I had been taking a course on Saturdays about an hour away from home. I have to be on the road by noon to get there on time, and don't get home again until after 5. Sundays have been mostly eaten up by studying and homework, and trying (mostly in vain) to stay on top of housework and laundry. This has been my typical weekend since the beginning of January. I’m not complaining, I’m just saying, it’s been a little crazy.
As well, this only leaves me Saturday mornings to run any errands, grocery shop, etc., so I try to get everything I need to do crammed into a couple of hours. This Saturday started out pretty much the same, with the added task of having to go and renew my driver’s license and get a new plate sticker. I didn’t really have a choice in whether or not I accomplished this today as the next day was my birthday and I would no longer be legally able to drive after that!!
I know what you’re thinking. Why did I leave this until the last minute? Well, I didn’t really. When that form arrived in the mail about a month ago, I looked at it and thought, “oh ya, my birthday is coming up” and then put it down in a pile of papers to be dealt with later. I mean, hey, I had a month! A few days later my husband happened to notice the form and said if I wanted, he would go get my sticker on his day off. Awesome! One less thing I had to do. The problem was that neither of us noticed the other piece of paper saying I also had to renew my driver’s license. A week or so went by and I asked my husband if he was still going to get my sticker for me, and he said he’d forgotten, but yes, he would. This went on for another couple of weeks or so, with him assuring me it would happen before my birthday. Two days before my license was, unbeknownst to me, going to expire, I actually read both pages and then proceeded to go online in a panic to find a place that was open on Saturday so I could still get it done on time.
Luckily, there was one across town so I figured I was all set. Saturday morning I got up as usual around 6:30, showered, dressed and took Rascal for a walk. When I got back, I woke up my daughter and husband and made breakfast. My husband was going to work, as was my daughter and I was driving her. She didn’t start until 10:30 and the MTO office opened at 9 so I figured as long as we were there when they opened, I could get it done and still get her to work on time. At 8:45 we headed out.
About halfway there, while waiting to turn left at a busy intersection downtown, my car stalled and died. I’ve only had this car for a year. This was not supposed to happen! I waited a couple of minutes and tried to start it. Nothing. Another couple of minutes, and again, nothing. I told my daughter to call her father and ask him to come and get her so she could still get to work on time. As she was explaining to him what was happening, I was looking for the number for road side assistance. Next thing I knew, her cell phone was placed against my ear while my husband went on a rant about how many times he has told me NOT to go to that gas station by our house, and it serves me right that my car died in the intersection, and NO he could not come and get Kaitlin. After two minutes of this I finally yelled back...”This is not helping me right now” and Kaitlin took her phone back. I took what I hoped was a deep cleansing breath and decided to try to start the car one more time, saying a little prayer as I did so. It started. It coughed a little and jerked when I gave it gas, but it started. We got to the MTO service centre and naturally, the line was twisting out the door. I was not hopeful. I needed coffee. Kaitlin was starting to panic a little about being late for work, but I told her, one crisis at a time.
The line moved surprisingly quickly and we were actually done, sticker adhered to plate and temporary license in hand, with time to spare to get her to work. Miracle of miracles, my car started on the first try! Once I dropped Kaitlin off, I realized that despite the trials of the morning, I actually had an hour and a half before I had to leave for school. What to do? I could go home and do some laundry...um, no. I was waiting for the light to change and happened to look up to see a neon sign over a Nail Salon. Hmmm...it was the day before my birthday, surely I deserved a little treat? I went in and asked to get a pedicure. They could take me right away! I picked out a polish and they sat me in a massage chair and brought me a cup of coffee.
It was bliss. I never wanted to leave. When she started to massage the arch of my foot (tortured by high heels all week), I rapidly began turning into a puddle of jelly as I slid down even farther into the massage chair. At this point, they could have talked me into anything. She said, “You know what you need? A paraffin wax treatment”. “Hmmm..Sure”. I am not certain, but I may have been slurring my words at this point. The wax was very hot as she stuck each foot in it, but it felt good! I was so relaxed it was ridiculous. So I sat in the massage chair, sipping coffee, with my feet encased in warm wax and covered with towels. “You should get your fingernails done to match your toes”, the girl suggested. “Okay”.
Eventually though, like all good things, it had to come to an end and I was removed from the massage chair and put into a regular plastic chair with my toes and fingernails stuck under fans to dry the polish before I left. As I sat there, I stared at a poster on the wall offering eyebrow shaping. It consisted of various pairs of eyes and eyebrows and lips, but for some reason no noses. It looked a bit like a Picasso painting gone mad. Each pair of eyebrows had a caption. There were “Beauty” eyebrows, “Fortune” eyebrows, “Calm”, “Lovely” and then my personal favourite, “Heroic”. She must have noticed me reading the poster because she was beside me in flash to say, “Why don’t we clean up your brows while you’re waiting for your nails to dry?” I was about to say no, it was okay, but then I thought, when am I going to get another opportunity to have Heroic eyebrows? It was too much to resist.
As I finally drove away, miraculously still on schedule, I looked at my eyebrows in the rear-view mirror. They looked good, but I was not completely convinced about the heroic part. I think she gave me Fortune eyebrows by mistake.
