It's been 9 months since Charlotte witnessed a sweet little stray dachshund get hit by a car. Many, many generous people donated money for his surgery and therapy. He then went to live with a wonderful family in Moncure, North Carolina.
i've been totally remiss in posting this. many apologies to those of you who were waiting on the edge of your seats.
cornwallis has a new home in moncure, north carolina. he is happy and doing well. you can read charlotte's final post here.
so yes, it has been a very giving week. i've been up late most nights, dealing with dog stuff (tuesday night i was writing thank you notes until 2am). i was also asked to care for a friend's cat last-minute when she had to leave town. oh, and i'm chauffeuring a co-worker to the station every day for the next week while her casted arm heals. (a big sacrifice, actually, since i treasure that time in my little automobile cocoon.) a bunch of other stuff, too, has accumulated and sucked up every single bit of "me time" this week.
so last night i snapped. i'm not cut out to be so generous, i guess, because when i was asked to do a favor for someone last night i just lost it. i got pissy and pouty and ended up forcing myself into solitude just to get a grip. i watched possibly the saddest two episodes of "six feet under" ever created and sat on the couch and cried.
6 hours later i woke up with a headache and puffy eyes, still feeling pretty down. add to that the fact i've stupidly slipped back into listening to NPR in the mornings, and you can understand why i almost bit ray's head off when i discovered a glaring lack of coffee in the house. argh!
i decided to drive to ooh la latte to get a giant bucket of espresso, and when i stepped outside i was greeted by the most amazing weather. god, what weather! a surprising crispness in the air that made me wonder if, in fact, i had slept for 2 months and woken up in october. i drove with the windows open, my love-affair with A/C taking a (surely temporary) back seat.
1 vanilla latte and 25 miles of a wind-in-our-hair-commute later i feel a bit better. i'm still yawning every 3 minutes, unsure of whether i'll make it to 5 o'clock, but i'm not feeling like i'm going to dissolve into a puddle of tears anymore.
on a geekier note, does anyone know anything about bittorrent? i'm downloading the 3rd season of "six feet under" (jesus, there's no way i can wait until the DVDs come out next spring) and it looks like it's working, but i have no idea what kind of file i'll have when it's done (which will be 4 days from now!). i barely have the patience for this... i am tempted to just bid on bootlegged DVDs. this show has an unbelievable grip on me.
cornwallis is doing well. it's staggering the number of people who have stepped forward to help. i don't have the final figures yet, but i suspect by the end of the night the corn dog's bills will have been covered. this may sound totally cheesy, but i feel like for the past 2 days i have been a part of something bigger than myself. it feels good.
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today, in between rushed errands and phone calls, i pulled through a convenient burger king drive-thru. as i was placing my order (when did they get those LCD screens?) a scraggly old homeless man approached my car. he kept a respectful distance but handed a small slip of white paper through my open window as i as completing my order. it was a coupon for one free whopper with a purchase of what i had just ordered. he gave it to me and smiled a gentle, hungry little smile. it was clear he was asking for my help.
i quickly spoke into the drive-thru speaker, "oh! can you add a whopper to that?? i have a coupon for a free whopper..." i saw it appear on the screen, then the 100% discount on the next line.
the old man said to me, "thank you, pretty lady," then turned around and walked behind the far side of the building. i drove ahead to the window, paid and waited for the food. as i sat there in my car i saw him amble up across the parking lot to where the burger king driveway meets the street. he stood there, 100 yards ahead of me, just looking around, watching traffic, patiently waiting for me to deliver the extra whopper. i realized the cashier hadn't asked for the coupon. i didn't offer it.
after the bag of food passed out of her window and through mine, i slowly drove up to the man. i got a better look at him... he was in his 50s, a gray ragged beard contrasting against his black face and dirty yellow shirt. i pulled his whopper out of the bag and handed it to him with the unused coupon. "looks like you can use this again," i said with a smile.
he bent down and looked through the passenger side window, smiled back at me and said, "thank you." then, "have a blessed day." i drove home with my dinner and saw him walk across the street with his.
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i have had this jade plant for close to 10 years. it goes through phases of being unhappy with its life and drops its leaves as it resigns itself to death. but it never fully gives up, and a few months ago i set it in a sunny kitchen window and began watering it with wild abandon.
it recently rewarded me with a tiny little new branch:
cornwallis is a stray dachshund that was hit by a car this weekend. he has a fractured pelvis that will need surgery. the vet bill is expected to top $2000.
can you spare a few dollars towards his care? if so, you can find more information here.
thank you...
