Relax

I am making a tradition of walking to Starbucks on one of my days off and taking some time for myself. Somehow that's easier when I'm away from home - at home there are too many distractions that make it hard to get things done and hard to sufficiently relax. Sometimes you just need to get away.

"Taking time for myself" results in writing a lot of letters. I think about someone and want to express those thoughts or memories to them. I want to stay in touch with my out-of-town friends, and writing letters has always been a big part of who I am. It feels good to embrace that. I know how good it feels to get real mail, and I am glad to be giving that joy. Also, writing to friends is a way of sorting through my life and reflecting.

(I'm having a hard time pluralizing things today... I've caught myself twice already. Weird. So if there are some I've missed, I'm sorry! But if I acknowledge this current propensity, it makes it less censurable. And see, I still know how to use big words!)

Today the comfy chairs were free when I got to Starbucks, so I got to relax in comfort. It's not as busy here on Saturdays as it is on Fridays. I tried to come yesterday, but I kinda spent the entire day sitting on the couch reading in my pajamas. I didn't actually face the day until seven o'clock. So my Starbucks time got moved to the second of my days off this week.

This is the third week of this tradition, and I love it. I hope it continues.

Singular

I got an email from my ex-step-mom a couple weeks ago:

That sounds fine Michelle. Just call me tomorrow and leave a message on my phone as to where I can find my car.
Thanks Mom

We haven't talked in over a year, and despite its specific and unexplained subject matter, this email was very out-of-the-blue. I don't have her car, and I never called her "Mom." But there's a very easy explanation: her daughter is also named "Michelle," and she must have just sent her message to the wrong email address.

I responded:

I think you sent this email to the wrong Michelle. =)

Short and sweet. And I didn't ever hear back from her. I thought that she might send some sort of Oh, that's funny! By the way, how are you doing? I'd love to get back in touch! sort of response... but I got nothing. To be fair, I could have said all those things to her and I didn't. But I did put an encouraging smiley face. And she was the one who had said back then that she would always be my step-mom. I guess that wasn't true. And I guess it still hurts.