One Ambitious Day

I have a post brewing about what I am calling Ordinary Time, or, this era I am in after spending the last four years writing two novels. They are in very different states: one is at Draft 10 and under consideration at indie presses. One is a sloppy first draft.

I am going a little stir crazy, truth be told! I’m not sure what I’m working on next (besides a ton of edits to that shitty first draft.)

I do try to appreciate where I am. And I have many other creative projects I have totally neglected because time is a precious resource.

One thing that is happening during Ordinary Time is finally setting up the toddler’s bedroom.

I took a Thursday off and filled it with many wonderful things:

Daycare drop-off as usual.

Then, it was my profound honor to be a witness on a marriage license for an Epp Kid. I was a witness for my sister’s marriage license as well. Almost a full set!

It was a surprisingly quick process. But I still needed a lil treat.

THEN. Moving truck rental, from a … deli? A deli with a Penske counter, and several food counters, and a place to ring up hookahs and lotto tickets.

It took almost an hour to actually get the keys, so I don’t know if this model works? It was certainly interesting to watch the only employee on site take breaks from giving me digital pads to sign because a delivery driver arrived or someone ordered a fried chicken sandwich.

But I haven’t rented a moving van like this since 2020 so this is not a regular occurrence! It was fun to have some unexpected … flavor.

And then, to a sweet little beach town and a beloved thrift shop run by Vincentian volunteers. Furniture-only, and intake for donations is very picky. Pieces are inspected and researched online before they are accepted.

I used to volunteer here, when I lived at the beach. This shop helped me learn the difference between wicker and rattan, and the ways to care for furniture to make it last.

I’d reserved the dresser and end table online. In person, I saw that the dresser includes a mirror!

We needed to call reinforcements to help load up the truck. While waiting, I shared that I was volunteer here for two years, about a decade ago. And I was asked if it was because I was a high school student at the parish Catholic high school. THANK YOU, boy is that nice to hear, but one decade ago I was 30!

Some volunteers expressed concern that the pieces, while high-quality Thomasville brand (R.I.P.), wasn’t in the best shape. I said I planned to wash it with Murphy Oil and expected that to do the trick. The reply is that this is what most things really need!

The volunteers told me that the shop’s volunteer base is high school students who need service hours for college apps, and senior women who have lost their husbands. One woman explaining this to me was in the latter camp: she said she wanted to move on and didn’t want her adult children to feel that this was their responsibility.

I was so impressed by her—by the entire endeavor. I will never forget that when I was a volunteer, I attended the Thank You Luncheon where we were all presented with the stats for the shop. All the income from the store buys people food and keeps their utility bills paid.

It’s a special place and the volunteer coordinator did remember me from way back when and gave me a hug! I promised to share photos of the kiddo’s room when it is finally set up.

When we bought our house in 2020, we purchased an armchair as well as a dining table and chairs from this spot. All that furniture is still in use. Businesses like, and shoppers at, Temu and Shein break my heart with the poor quality, disposability, and waste. There is so much junk in the world, we are choking on it! So keeping well-made things in use feels like a small act of resistance.

Phew! I had a mirror I did not expect in the back of the truck, so I had to be mindful whenever braking on my way home. 

But first I got to return to my favorite restaurant in the area! I didn’t get to each lunch until after 2 p.m. so I wolfed down my entree.

The staffer there was very sweet and talked about hunting for an apartment in Asbury after a breakup and the market is unbelievably expensive compared to when I lived there. I wish that human so so so so much luck!!

Back on the road! I dearly wanted to look at the ocean first, but it was raining and we were under a tornado watch. I got to see the bay at least.

Pulled into the driveway of my home the moment my spouse logged off work, and we unloaded the moving van.

I was too ambitious and thought I could also do daycare pickup that day, but realized it couldn’t happen. Little One had a lovely surprise of grandparent pickup!

He saw the empty truck in our driveway just as I was about to drive it to return it. He squealed in delight and kept patting the big yellow truck while saying “Beep beep.”

He had to be inside before I could drive it away, because that sight would bring on many many tears.

Someday soon I am determined to take a day off to chill/rot/stay still. But this day felt magical and brought me to so many interesting and kind people!