drunk and confused

The picture is from my recent trip to FL with some picasa inhancements.

I've spent the weekend selling crochet at a two day Octoberfest in town. It was a whole weekend used up, but it was lucrative and mostly very enjoyable, thanks to being busy, fabulous weather, friendly people, decent music, and seeing lots of people I know. The only part that wasn't so great was an encounter with a drunk woman. Here's the condensed version: I noticed a kind of disheveled looking woman staring at my stuff. She wandered my way and hiccuped, and then made a big deal of apologizing for it. She kept hiccuping and explaining about how she had had a mug of beer that was the size of a pitcher. She didn't want me to tell anyone she was drunk (like folks weren't going to notice..), she kept slapping me on the knee and getting up in my face and rambling about how drunk she was. She would turn as if to leave, then pick up something and return to me to exclaim about how cheap the prices were, and how if only I took check cards she would spend all of her money, etc. etc. Then she grabbed a scarf and draped it around a stranger who was walking past the booth. My attention was briefly, very briefly diverted to a customer. The transaction was done in seconds and by that time the drunk woman and her scarfed new friend were standing in front of me wanting some paper to exchange phone numbers. The drunk woman went on and on about how I was a match-maker and that she hoped this woman would call her, etc. The other woman wrote down her number, put up the scarf and left. The drunk woman continued on and on about her chances with this stranger. About that time, a man and two little girls appeared. He was apparently the one who was with the drunk woman at the event. He didn't appear drunk and he was trying to get the drunk out of my booth. The drunk woman didn't want to leave, she introduced me to everyone present, whispered in my ear that the kids were stinkers but cute, and indicated that she didn't want to continue hanging around the man. He left, then returned a few minutes later and finally managed to pull her away. Whew! No damage done, but by this time I was backed up against a concrete wall, literally, trying to avoid several imagined scenarios (vomit, catching a falling person, stinky beer breath...). The thing that fascinated me was how in a matter of seconds these two women could figure out that hooking up with each other might be a desirable thing on both parts. What was the secret code or signal or glance? How in such a short period of time could they each ascertain that the other might be interested? I mean seconds! Talk about efficiency! It seems like when I was single years ago that it took more than seconds to figure out that someone might be giving 'come hither' looks. Like everything else, maybe that has speeded up too.

I felt kind of bad for all the parties involved. For the drunk woman who mostly looked pitiful, for the man who was most likely not aware that the girlfriend seemed to prefer women, and for the woman stranger who likely has no idea what she could be headed into. The potential for drama was pretty high, but I guess some people like a lot more drama than I do.

This is a manatee at Wakulla Springs, FL. I was there last week and got to see several manatees, the first I've ever seen. They make their way up the Wakulla River each fall to the mouth of the spring. They are big blobs with noses. There were even two babies.

Florida was hot, sunny and a welcomed break. I can't gossip about my friends I went with, because some of them might read this and recognize themselves, but it was a good time and everyone got along. Remarkable, considering there were 8 people sharing a house. The house was beautiful, right on the ocean and far from any developments. I'm not going to tell you exactly where it was because then it would be discovered and everyone would want to go there. I'll keep it my secret for now.

One of the highlights was listening to a book on tape, "The Lovely Bones". It was on the bestseller lists a few years ago and one of my daughters read it a couple of years ago and really liked it. I bought a used copy of the CD's. The first 4/5ths of it was good but the last parts were not as interesting. There seemed to be a lot of missed opportunites for character development. Some of the characters seemed to play significant roles but they were not logically significant roles. The ending was gratuitous, as though the author had to wrap up everything in a hurry. But up until the end we enjoyed it. My carmates were eager to ride around so we could listen to it.

And now I'm back in real fall, corduroy pants and all.

decompressing in fall

Today wasn't a very good day. It was mostly work stuff. Something that I thought would be easy and routine wasn't, due to people who thought they knew more than they did. It got my blood pressure up way too early in the day, and worst of all, it took me by surprise. It's one thing to anticipate conflict, but it's another whole deal to have it land on your head like an asteroid. I was floored, and couldn't seem to regroup all day long. Mainly because I didn't have time to regroup or process or think about it...I just had to keep going and going. And once something like that happens, it's like the Fates take advantage and more and more weird things happen. For example:

it had been raining all night and all morning. It had nearly stopped. I went outside to my car to get something and BOOM, a bolt of lightening nearly made me wet my pants. It was the only bolt of lightening that had occurred in 12 hours of rain.

In a casual conversation with 3 (three!) different people, at different times of the day, separately, they all cried. For good reasons, I'm sure, but the tears came easy today.

I couldn't seem to pick up on body language. I was flummoxed by my own events and couldn't seem to 'read' anybody. I felt out of kilter.

I had an ethical dilemma. I received written information that I shouldn't have, but it would have made for some juicy reading. Although I think it was given to me intentionally, I don't think it's appropriate for me to read it or have access to it. I intend to give it back, but it's tempting to peek..but I won't.

Intensity. WAy too much of it today.

So, when I left work I had planned to go to the grocery store. I turned my car in that direction and when I got to the store, I just kept on driving. I was in no way ready to focus on groceries or deal with the social climate of a store. I decided I needed down time. Driving is very relaxing to me, so I just kept going. I drove for an hour. For the first half hour, I was lost. I knew that eventually I would come to something that I recognized but I enjoyed the journey until I got there. The leaves had suddenly started to turn. I was on winding country roads with trees close in, a few horses in fields, barns and interesting old houses. I had 3 phone calls in 30 minutes and had fun relating how lost I was. When I finally got to a road I recognized, I took it and went home. I was in a much better frame of mind, which was a good thing because the intensity of the day continued, but I had enough spare gas in my reserves to deal with it. I felt proud of handling my stress in the way I did, and I can't wait to get lost again. And I finally did go to the store late at night, and it wasn't even crowded.