Column: That's not gel

I just could not get ahead last week. While I certainly had things going on that I could not control, I did not make things easier with some really genius mistakes.

I usually get up at 7:30 for work, and am out the door by 8. I hate morning, so I just try and rush through what I need to do to get ready as quickly as possible. Last Wednesday I went through the same morning routine as normal. Things were going smoothly till I went to put a little bit of product in my hair. I thought I had put gel in my hair, but realized a few seconds later I had grabbed the bottle of after shave balm instead. I looked over at the clock and realized I really didn’t have much time to do anything about. The kids needed to be at school and I needed to get the newspaper out, so I styled my hair as normal and just went with it. I’m sure it wasn’t probably the best thing put in my hair, but it was just one day so it wasn’t anything too bad. One time in an early morning fog I put oxy acne medicine on my toothbrush and this was a whole different ball game. Saying I had dry mouth the rest of the day would be an understatement, but at least my teeth didn’t get any zits.

The after-shave incident was one day after a really smooth move in the office. I drink a lot of coffee in the morning, and I like it hot. I know a lot of people love ice coffee and I’m glad it makes them happy, but if it’s not to the point it almost burns me I will have nothing to do with it.

I was going to reheat my coffee and I stuck it in the microwave. As soon as I shut the door, the microwave made a really strange sound and the lights on the display disappeared. After trying a few different things I realized the microwave was probably on its last leg. I was a little bit upset because I’ve got a lot of bills and I really don’t need to buy something to heat my coffee or leftovers.

Melissa had brought some Irish stew I made last Saturday, but unless we wanted to eat it cold, I would have to venture out to buy some lunch. When trying to save money, buying lunch is not a good idea no matter how convenient it is. She said just go get something cheap like ramen noodles. I didn’t even think about what she had said. Neither did she. I happily went to the store and came back with ramen noodles and easy mac and cheese. Pure genius! That was the perfect thing to buy when the microwave just broke. What was I going to do, heat it on top of the dashboard of my car with the heat going full blast? That would be fine if I wanted to eat it in a week.

That was all the money I had to spend for the day so I just went home and ate the stew.

These probably sound like little things, and they are, but at the same time they seem to add up over the course of a day, week, month and year and make things interesting.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.