Gratitude Monday: Getting it done

Last Monday I took a day off work just because I had a lot of stuff to do. And by God, I did it: by 1130 I’d mailed two packages at the Post Office (got there 15 minutes before it opened; by the time they did open, there were 15 people behind me in line); gone to Costco and ordered two pairs of computer glasses (sorely, sorely needed) and picked up a few bits and bobs (they moved the unsalted butter, the toerags, and I wouldn’t have found it except a guy who was snapping pix of prices caught me as I was leaving the chiller area to say he’d found it (yes, I buy butter four pounds at a time; you got a problem with that?); exchanged my empty Sodastream cannister at Bed, Bath and Beyond; and picked up some more bits and bobs.

Back at home I did some vacuuming and other stuff, and it was a great, great day off.

Well, despite the Costco optical guy telling me that it would probably be two weeks before my glasses were ready, on Friday I got a text saying that one pair was waiting for me. I shuddered—going to Costco on a Saturday in December is not for the weak. But I really, really need those computer glasses.

So, I screwed my courage to the sticking place and by 1145 I’d picked up both pairs of glasses (I cannot recommend Costco Optical too much—everyone I’ve spoken there is professional, knowledgeable and candid. Dinh, who helped me pick out the glasses on Monday, steered me away from a $169 pair of Burberry frames—“Too round!”—and showed me a number of lower-priced but still stylish frames. Anthony, who helped me on Saturday, was completely thorough in fitting the glasses to my head) and bought the zip-loc sandwich bags I should have got on Monday; filled up my car at the Costco petrol station; did my grocery shop at Wegman’s; dropped my holiday tip off at my newspaper carrier’s house (this guy never misses a delivery and double bags the paper on days of inclement weather; I would go with digital-only except that I want this fellow to keep his job); and picked up a prescription (which my new insurance throttled; I suspect for 90-day scrips they want me to use their mail-order service; I hate them all). And I did it in Saturday morning’s rain.

So, here’s what I’m grateful for today: after years of feeling incapable of doing more than one or two errands at a time, I’ve rediscovered that I can mow these errands down like Saint Augustine grass when I focus on it. May not seem like much to you, but this is huge for me.