It's been a helluva week, and man, am I exhausted. I began coming down with a cold about eight days ago, and I ended up not just staying home from work Thursday and Friday but also lying on my sickbed doing nothing through most of the weekend. I mean, sick days are great, but being sick over a weekend sucks.
I did get out Saturday evening to see Spamalot with a huge crowd of good folks, including █████, bobhowe, and steelbrassnwood, and I laughed so much my stomach hurt, but by the end of the evening I was swaying on my feet and had to beg off on a round of drinks.
I was still coughing and exhausted Monday morning, and I ended up working only the afternoon. I met █████ and Ella at the vet in Astoria after work, where we learned that Ella's constant chewing at her front left paw was likely because of a yeast infection between the pads. On the walk home, we stopped at Brick Cafe for a drink at the sidewalk tables, where Ella can sit with us. I had a beer, █████ a martini. Later that evening when tipsy █████ went to throw her arms around me, she missed and broke my glasses.
So large chunks of Tuesday were lost to trying to get the glasses repaired. Still waiting to hear if the break in the fram is fixable. (Don't worry — I forgave █████ almost immediately, though I'm not sure she's forgiven herself yet.)
Wednesday morning before work, █████ and I had a quick discussion about the back door. See, since moving into our place four years ago, we have never had a key to the back door's knob lock, though we do of course have a key to the deadbolt. Consequently, we never lock the knob. However, Ella of late has taken to jumping up against the back door and accidentally turning the latch in the knob, thus locking it against us utterly. We decided we'd soon have to do something about that.
I was in a meeting around two that afternoon when my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, so I hit "silence" and forgot about it. Then at almost five when I visited the men's room and, er, pulled out my cell phone for a leisurely round of backgammon, I was reminded that I had a voice message.
It was Dan, our dogwalker. He had accidentally turned the knob latch before taking Ella out for her walk, and they were locked out of the house.
I left work early and rushed home, picking up a new knob at the hardware store of the way. Ella had ended up accompanying Dan on the rest of his rounds, and they were waiting in the back yard when I got there. Dan and I apologized profusely to each other, he refused extra payment, and I replaced the door knob. Then Ella and I both fell down exhausted and panted on the floor.
Today I still don't feel so hot, but it's going to be my first full day in the office for over a week.
