Yesterday I was really put to the test as far as controlling my reactions to every day aggravations. How did I do? I’ll let you decide for yourself.

  1. On the way home from dropping my daughter off at school, I tried to merge on the highway but got stuck behind a minivan going 25 MPH! Oncoming cars in the right lane did not slow down enough, and I was stuck in the middle of it all. It was one of the most terrifying merging experiences I have ever had. How I made it out alive, I am unsure. But did I let it bother me? You bet your @#$ I did! Let’s just say that it is likely that the the minivan driver had nightmares about my facial expressions last night.
  2. I had a lunch meeting and could not find a parking space. Then when I finally did, the rain poured on me. If that were not bad enough, I stepped into a deep (7 inch) puddle and my feet, socks and shoes AND bottom of my pants were soaking wet. That was very uncomfortable sitting in the air conditioning that way. How did I handle it? One word. But I cannot say it.
  3. I had to run to the post office on my way to pick my daughter up from school. After arriving at the post office, I realized I forgot to bring the papers needed for Rachel to take her driver’s license test. So I had to race back home (in the rain) to pick them up and then head to school. I knew I’d be late picking her up, and she would be waiting for me intently (due to the eagerness to take the driver’s license test). How did I react to this inconvenience? Actually, I did not let it bother me, really – that is until a nasty driver of an 18 wheeler cut me off on I 95.
  4. On the way to the driving exam, it started to rain again extremely hard. We knew this meant we might get turned away at the DMV, like we were on Monday. But we decided to drive out there anyway to give it a try. We witnessed a ridiculously stupid car accident right in front of us, where the guilty party chewed out the innocent driver. We decided not to get involved. It was stressful. I kept my thought to myself on that one.
  5. 1 mile from that minor wreck, we got stuck in more traffic due to a more serious accident. By now we thought we’d never make it to the DMV in time to get the license test done. But we both were pretty good about just waiting it out. Okay, I did a lot of sighing and moaning maybe.
  6. We finally got to the DMV and were faced with a long line outside. Luckily we had a special pass to get VIP treatment due to being turned away on the day we had the appointment. But then we had to wait in another long line, but at least it wasn’t 2 long lines. (See? I’m being positive.) The real problem was that we had to move our car to the testing area. Rachel was driving, and another driver came very close to slamming into her twice while she was backing up. Not her fault. Even though she tooted her horn, the other driver kept going until I yelled at the top of my lungs out the window. It turned out that the driver was around 100 years old. The good news is that Rachel passed her driving test!
  7. When we finally came home, I was glad to get back to work, since that would be more relaxing than driving. Rachel went next door because she is cat sitting for the neighbor. She was unable to turn off the house alarm, so the obnoxious alarm noise blasted through the neighborhood. I had to run over there. I could not turn it off either, as apparently the control panel near the front door does not work. The neighbor failed to inform us about this situation. The phone rang and it was the alarm company, but because we could not find the darn cordless phone we could not answer in time. I was running around the house like a maniac panicking. We finally were able to turn it off using the panel by the back door. Long story short, the police came – 45 minutes later! (Nice security!) We explained what happened and it was okay.
  8. I came back home and started to make dinner. What could happen now? Well let me tell you. I cut my thumb with a very sharp knife while slicing a potato. (I rarely cut myself in the kitchen, and I cook all the time.) Ouch. Very gross as well. How did I handle it? I ran around the kitchen looking for something to wrap it in, since it was bleeding a lot. Turns out I picked up a paper towel that had glass cleaner all over it. Ouch! $@#%&! My husband had just come home from work, so he helped me get it right. (Today it is all swollen, and it is no fun to type on the keyboard.)

I went to bed at 9 pm last night. I assessed my reactions to the events of the day. I gave myself a D-/F+ for my reactions. I guess I have a long way to go.

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