practice pronoia

My husband and I are trying to improve our credit by taking care of old debts so we will be prepared to buy a house when the time is right. I had an old bill from almost 5 years ago which had been turned in for collection, which we thought was around $800. I called to try and work out a payment arrangement, to find out it is only around $500! We’ll pay it off tomorrow, and up will go my credit rating, slowly, but surely!

Woohoo, great day, Universe! And it’s 65 degrees and sunny in January!! Wow!

So I’m cheating on my diet by going to Taco Bell for comfort food. (Give me a break, I’ve been ill!) Picture it: Taco Bell located practically in the center of the university campus, lunch rush. The line was wound completely around the little maze in front of the register and veering off to the side. I was finally the next person to order, when my purse rings. Just an hour earlier, I spent about 15 minutes on the phone fixing the glitch with my cell phone which had been annoying me for days. I checked the ID & it said “Unavailable”. I hesitated. Something told me to answer it. I stepped out of my place in line (aaaargh!) to move to a quieter place to answer the call. As luck would have it, it was a call to set up an interview for a part time position which I applied for in November! I will be working with children at a Mental Health facility during the evenings, if I am hired. I’m very confident I will get the position.

Just learned all the full time employees at my current job will be receiving raises!

Found a dollar in the side pocket of my purse!!

Hooray! A Three-fer!

When my husband was released from INS custody, he was in Chicago. He had only the clothes on his back & the letters I had written him for the past month. No money, hadn’t eaten since the night before, and in a strange city. There was a bus ticket waiting for him at the Greyhound station which would take him to St. Louis where I would pick him up and make a 4 hour drive home to Springfield. But where was it and how was he going to get there? My husband just started walking.

As luck would have it, he happened upon a college library where he was able to use the computers to print a map of where he needed to go. It was quite far, 15 miles or so, If I recall correctly. He started walking again, with only a general idea of which direction to go. He was in the heart of the city, surrounded by a maze of roads & overpasses. A stranger in a strange land. He decided to take a chance and started approaching strangers to ask if they could help him find his way. He got mostly uncomfortable brush offs.

In the mean time, I was waiting at home, praying constantly that he would be safe, and that he would find his way to the bus station in time. I had no way to reach him, and didn’t know if he would be able to reach me. He had to reach the station by 5:30pm to make the trip.

My husband knew if he was going to make it he was going to have to take the train, but he had no money. Again, he looked to strangers for help. He came upon a shopping strip with a matress store, a hot dog shop, and a gas station. He struck up a conversation with an employee at the matress store & told his story. The gentleman must have seen the desperation in his eyes, because he gave my husband enough money to buy a snack and a ticket for the train. My husband took the man’s card, and made it to the station on time.

Months later we had to travel to Chicago for more INS business. My husband instinctively remembered the location of the furniture store. We decided to pay the kind stranger a visit and let him know how much his kind gesture meant to us. When we arrived, we learned that the man no longer worked there, and there was no way for us to find him.

That Guardian Angel will never know that his gift of a few dollars touched us forever.

P.S. The hot dogs at that shop were awesome!

My husband’s boss gave him a $20 gift certificate to a fancy schmancy New York style Italian restaurant. That would just about pay for a single dinner. Well, we’re pretty broke, so since they have Sunday brunch at much lower prices, so we decided to go this morning.
After we were seated, we were virtually ignored for about ten minutes. The place wasn’t very busy, so there was really no reason for it. My husband and I aren’t complainers, so we sat patiently as the tip for whomever was supposed to serve us began to shrink in my mind. A waitress finally came and said “Has noone helped you yet?” She was very apologetic & took our order right away. A few minutes later she came by and apologized again, asking if we’d like to choose an appetizer or a dessert at no charge. By this time, our food was nearly ready, so we took our time deciding. The owner came to our table and apologized also. Our food came shortly and it was delicious. We opted for dessert, choosing Chocolate Tiger Cake: layers of chocolate & white cake with white chocolate and milk chocolate in between. It was awesome. Free meal and dessert & we even had $3 left from the gift certificate to use towards her tip. It totally made up for the initially poor service. We just might have to go back again sometime.

First, I found a dollar bill folded up in the bottom of my purse.

Then, I spent all day shopping with girlfriends, (mostly along for the ride). When I got to the checkout, I realized I was out of checks. I was $2 short on cash (inspite of the afore mentioned dollar). Luckily my friends helped me out with the two bucks. I still owed thirteen cents. I went to get it from my wallet, and remembered I had given all of my change to my friend’s 4-year old son to put into the Salvation Army bucket last night. I was about to ask my friends if they had change, and the cashier sweetly told me not to worry about it. I had felt like such a loser, but that made my day!

I’d lost touch with a close friend of mine. She was my daughter’s first babysitter. I served cake at her wedding. Somewhere down the road we drifted apart & our lives became separate. There were some embarassing incidences with an ex boyfriend making rude comments to her husband about her. I never had the courage to talk to her about it or even apologize. I hoped time would heal it.

She has a son who’s nearly a year old. He’s been attending the infant building of the childcare center I worked at since he was 8 weeks old. I never got to bond with him as she did with my daughter when she was a baby. Then I left. I always had intentions of visiting her, but didn’t know how she would react to me. She’s never even met my husband, and we’ve been married for a year and a half. I still consider her one of my dearest friends. My daughter still attends the same child care center, and there have been a number of times when I’ve pulled into the parking lot, I’ve seen my friend leaving the building from picking up her son or pulling out of the driveway. I’d kick myself, thinking I had just lost an opportunity to talk to her.

Friday, I had this opportunity again. As I pulled in to the drive way, I saw her walk into the building. I parked and went in after her. She greeted me with open arms and gave me a huge hug. We chatted about things that were going on in our lives and I asked about her husband. Just a few weeks ago, she told me, he opened up a business with indoor batting cages. I always wanted to introduce him to my husband so I decided to pay him a visit, too.

He also greeted me warmly. I congratulated him on his new business, then I had an idea. I asked him how he’d like some publicity for his new business. He said he’d love it. I talked to him about the silent auction my company was having, and he thought it would be a great idea. He agreed to donate some gift certificates for batting time, and said I should also go down the shopping strip to the “doggy daycare” which plans on opening next week. He told me one of the owners is also the owner of a popular restarant chain in town, too. He knew they would love the opportunity. This was a blessing for someone not comfortable with the whole “soliciting” aspect of collecting donations. I’m like Phoebe tryng to sell toner.

Sure enough, the owners of the doggy day care and restaurants were more than happy to help, realizing the potential for publicity for their businesses. I went away from my little friendly visit with 3 potential donations for my company’s cause, and a bit of spackle for one of my most cherished friendships.

I’ve been struggling with this goal, but I don’t know why. I can be optimistic to a fault at times, but have not been able to come up with something to write about. I just have a little story to share this time. Last night I had two things to purchase at Wal-Mart. Razors, so I wouldn’t offend my husband any longer, and air time for my pre-paid phone card. I had exactly $35. I knew the airtime would be around $29 plus tax, and I figured I could scrimp on the razors this time, so I opted for the 97 cent pack of five. When I got to the check out, my total was $35.37. I handed over the $35 and started to get the change, only to remember I had put all my change in my desk drawer at work for the soda machine. The clerk sensed my embarassement and said not to worry about it. It’s the little things, isn’t it?