I got to bed a bit after ten last night. I forgot to take melatonin, but I fell asleep just fine. Had some very interesting dreams. I woke up a bit after 6 for good. Earlier than I wanted to be awake, but late enough. I felt a lot less exhausted after the sleep at least.
I ate breakfast and got my Move U exercises done. And then I went to the Restore for my final community service shift. After spending 9 hours at the store for the last 4 Saturdays, I only had to work 4 hours today to get to my full 40. I started out with the big sweeper, going up and down the aisles to get the center swept, and checking out what was new, studying. There were several other volunteers there (including one who had brought a big black poodle wearing a diaper), so I didn’t take the carts out to stock. I went right into doing a wipe down of the furniture and appliances.
In the prior stints, I’d skipped doing a morning snack, but I had one today since I didn’t bring a lunch. I’d made tentative plans with my friend to have a celebratory lunch after I finished, and as the morning went on, I solidified those plans. I thought to myself as I wiped down that I had less than 4 hours. Less than 3 hours. Then snack. Then I started sweeping with the broom and dustpan. The big sweeper can’t get the edges or under anything, so going through with the broom after helps. And when I found things in the wrong place, I put them back.
The time went by pretty quickly. Until the last hour. I was trying not to pay attention to the time, but a customer stated the time at 12:36 because she and her man were trying to figure out what they had time to do to meet a 6 pm obligation. I felt excitement at the same time that I tried to be patient. At 1 pm, my alarm went off with celebration music. It was over. I was finished.
I got my paperwork completed. They had to add two rows, because someone had forgotten to put down my hours from the 15th on my sheet. They confirmed that I had indeed signed in on the 15th and added it. Then they made a copy, and I was all done. I did get a contact from one of the permanent employees, because I had really enjoyed talking with her over the 40 hours. And then I went to the library right next door and scanned in my document to send to my lawyer.
Then I drove to Island Sushi for my celebration lunch. I had a lunch special plus a pair of eel sushi. It was delicious. The wasabi cleared out my sinuses. And my friend treated me, which I thought was super sweet.
After that was the long drive home. I left around 2:30 pm, hoping I could get home by 4:30. If I got home by 4:30, I’d just have time to bring my trash to the transfer station. I haven’t been to the transfer station since the first weekend in March, and I had a collection of stinky trash in my outdoor bin. It could wait another two weeks until I got back from South Carolina, but it wouldn’t smell any better for the wait.
I did end up making it in time, with a nice smooth drive from Boise to Cambridge. I rushed to empty my trashcans and my bladder, and then headed back out to the transfer station. I made it in plenty of time, waited in line, and got it done. Then I stopped at the grocery store in Cambridge on the way home to get some juice. I also picked up some soup and a can of Spaghetti-O’s with meatballs for dinner. I wanted simple comfort food, and that fit the bill.
Once I got home again, I took a walk to the mailbox and back, which allowed me to meet my goal of walking 10 miles and 14 times this week. I’ve been relaxing ever since. I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow to prepare for travel next week. I’m dithering about whether or not to check a bag. I might want to bring things back, which would be tough if I only have carry-ons. And checked bags are still free on Southwest for now, so I might as well take advantage, right?
Tomorrow, I need to do at least 90 minutes of work, preferably 120 minutes, to make up for my Tuesday class time. I have a family zoom to attend, which should be fun since it is the first of the month and more of my relatives are invited. I’m eager to hear about how the protests went. I have to get most, if not all, of my packing done. I’m going to pack a Boise travel bag for the stuff I’ll wear to sleep at my friend’s house, and I’ll be leaving that either at the house or in my car. Then I’ll have possibly a suitcase, and definitely my Cotopaxi pack. The packing includes finding photos of Ambrose to bring. I don’t have a lot of printed photos of him, but I’ll bring what I have. And I need to pack up some ashes to bring. If I have time, I’d love to stop by the hot springs.
I can’t believe I got through this breakneck schedule I set myself. I know that Ambrose is proud of me for getting it done. Proud of me for finding a way to volunteer that allowed me to help people and learn new things. I sold a mirror today after talking with some customers. I saw some other people buy things that I’d cleaned earlier. The state of cleanliness may or may not have influenced the purchasing decision, but I felt good about it.
I don’t know how long it will be until I can be off of supervision. I’m going to bug my lawyer until I get a clear answer on that. I got a reply that the attachment didn’t come through, but I could clearly see that the document was attached, so I hope I can make this work as soon as possible. I did the work. I deserve to be off of supervision. I have earned this with incredible effort. I put my mourning on hold to get this done. It’s kind of good that I’m headed to celebrate Ambrose soon. I can restart and immerse myself in my memories of Ambrose. And when I get home again, I can start hiking on the weekends instead of driving to Boise.
