a forty dollar mistake

It was such a full day. And I knew it would be: meetings, appointments, more meetings. Reading. Tons of reading. Weekly grocery shopping.

But after breakfast...





...when I step out to take the car to work (yes, car; I cannot do weekly grocery shopping on rosie), I see that I've let things slide in the flower beds. There has been no rain for a long time. The earth is parched, the plants are drooping.

No. I cannot lose them now. Some are putting up a good front -- here are the stars of today:





















...but they all need water. So I throw down my papers, glance nervously at my watch and take to the hose.

I don't water everything, but I water the essentials.

And so my work day starts an hour behind schedule. And from there, I'll spare you the details, but I take a parking chance and end up being zapped with a $40 ticket.

How I hate to have made a bad call! Like the person who takes a chance to save a buck and then loses a fortune, I feel defeated.

On the upside (and there is always an upside), sitting down now to write a brief post, I note that it is a beautifully warm evening, the fridge is full of foods for the week and our simple supper (call it a salad plus) is exactly what we need.





That's one helluva good upside.