Is it a drabble if it's about real life?
Nov. 10th, 2006 01:00 pm500 words about my week:
- The Natural World
Even though my deck overlooks a big backyard (it’s lovely, if you’re into abandoned forests), I rarely use it. It’s oldish and rickety and teeters a story off the ground, and its picnic table’s splintery and uncomfortable.
Because I don’t use it much, I’ve only just noticed that the picnic table has become completely unusable (the tabletop’s split and one edge dangles dispiritedly) and that a bird family has built a nest into its interstices. So my table must sit there, slowly disintegrating, until that bird family moves on.
I should probably be more embarrassed by this than I am. - Money Management for Grownups
My boss is getting remarried tomorrow, and because he’s egregiously spoiled by his office staff – to the point that it’s part of my job description to handle his personal finances – we are handling most of the arrangements. It’s been a busy week.
The office manager suggested recently to the newlyweds-to-be that they might start tracking their own money post-wedding. No dice – for adults, they’re unforgivably helpless – and so now, instead of organizing the finances of one man, I’ll be doing it for a five-person family. I find it astonishing that they would even want me, a near-stranger, to do this. - TMI
In between the unscheduled calls to the insurance company about my boss’s gastrointestinal issues, calls to schedule blood tests, and calls to caterers and liquor stores, I had a most hellish HR week. I fixed so many things I did wrongly that I even managed to "fix" a couple of things that were right in the first place, and had to fix them back again.
Thanks to the distracted performance and the fact that I now know more about my boss’s personal life than I do about my parents’ (and possibly my own), I’m glad this week is nearly over. - The Man-Made World
The visual pleasures of central Georgia autumns are undramatic, but the weather makes up for the drab colors by being spectacular. It’s crisp in the mornings and warm enough during the day that you drive with your windows open and every day you pass that used car dealership and eye the not-too-expensive slate-blue BMW convertible sitting right at the edge of the lot with wistful longing, and think to yourself, Sure, I know money’s still tight after the summer, but that convertible would be an Investment in My Future Happiness.
In other words, I am craving a convertible this week. - Overheard: A short play
(N.B. On Fridays, several members of the office staff either go to lunch together or eat a shared meal together in the kitchen upstairs.)
L: (hands R a box of frozen dessert) Here you go.
R: What’s this?
L: You asked me to bring brownies for lunch, right?
R: (doubtfully) Yeah, but I wanted homemade.
L: I don’t cook -- you know that. These are good, and I’ll put ‘em in the oven so they’ll be hot when we eat.
R: I was looking forward to dessert made with tender loving care.
L: This is as tender as I get.