At first I worried it might be the frustrating kind of day off, the kind of day where we tried to accomplish things, but only find ourselves thwarted. My spouse, who has 2 graduate degrees, is taking music classes at the local community college. But he hasn't been able to register, because the school still showed that it needed high school transcripts. I had called in mid-July, and they told me as long as they had his undergrad transcripts, they would waive the need for high school. I said, "Even though you have his graduate school transcripts you need undergrad transcripts?" Yes.
I work at a college, so I understand how arcane these rules can be. We had his undergrad transcripts sent. Yesterday, I called again. The computer showed his undergrad transcripts had been received but were still being processed. But he still had a hold, and couldn't register, because of the need for high school transcripts.
I talked to several people and patiently explained the situation. Finally, I reached the one who could help--click, click, the hold was removed. And she didn't even need to speak to my spouse, the student.
I know, you're asking why he wasn't the one making the call. Well, I have more patience with phone calls, so I did it, while he worked on cleaning the pool. I don't have the patience to clean the pool. It seemed like a fair distribution of labor.
He still couldn't register. The classes he wants require departmental approval, and he had to go to campus to get that approval. It couldn't be granted over the phone. So, off we went. The campus is between semesters, so was fairly deserted--thus, an easy errand.
Then we made a Wal-Mart run. I know, I know--I am deeply cognizant of all the reasons why we shouldn't shop at Wal-Mart. But I suspect that most of the big box stores are ethically problematic. And more important, they sell the only eye lid wipes that help my left eye, which crusts over at night. We picked up some filet mignon rounds and came home to grill--yummmmm.
We had several times in the pool, and for the most part, our day was relaxed. It felt like a lovely time away from time.
In the late afternoon, we bought a chainsaw at Home Depot. When we came home, my spouse worked on cutting down the pesky ficus trees that must be taken down, while I worked on a writing project--bliss!
I know our way of celebrating our anniversary doesn't sound like something as fun as a trip, a romantic get away to celebrate our marriage, but having a Wednesday off was really neat. It felt like stolen time, and the day didn't zoom by, the way that week-end days do.
Plus, we spent the whole day with just the company of each other (if you don't count all the strangers in Wal-Mart)--no work colleagues, no friends, no fellow gym rats. In that way, it was the perfect way to spend an anniversary.
And soon it will be Friday and the week-end!
Our public school kids start on Monday. Hard to believe that summer is over--not in terms of weather, certainly, but in terms of not driving through school zones, not seeing groups of kids waiting for the bus, and all the ways that life changes when school is in session, even for those of us who don't have kids in school.
I bought a watermelon at Wal-Mart--one last attempt to hang onto summer!
1 comment:
I think it was a wonderful way to spend your day off. Hope it was a great anniversary.
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