Ms. Ravelled v. the Chibi* Vampire

I knew it was going to be a crazy-busy day, as I would have three tapes waiting for me when I got to work, *and* the receptionist was out for the first day of school, which meant that I was going to be stuck at switchboard. What I did not know was that the scanning operator was also out for the same reason. So when I walked up to the front desk from the elevator to tell the data clerk that we were going to have to be flexible, she raised one eyebrow and said, “Oh, you need to go talk to the office manager! She has a project for the IT person to do today, and she needs you to do the scanning. I’m going to be up here all day, except for when I go get the mail.”

It was about then that I realized that my leg was stinging. I looked down to see that two or three of the DP’s for Firstborn’s sock were sticking out of my workbag. It wasn’t until I moved the bag away from my leg that I realized one of them was boring into my thigh.

You know that weird calm that comes over you [well, me anyway] when something mildly awful happens? I get this pop-up list that tells me to first do this, then do that, then check off the next thing, until some semblance of normalcy returns. Item #1 was, “I have to get a band-aid on this. And then I’ll go talk to the office manager.” So I reached down and pulled out the DP.



This happened in the short walk between the front desk and my own desk, a journey of maybe 25 feet, taking less than 15 seconds. I asked my friend in the next cubicle if blood made her woozy. She has a son, so, no. She captured the carnage, because of course when something unexpected happens it is going to show up here on the blog.

Yes, my tetanus shot is current.

One of the legal secretaries transcribed one of the tapes for me. The attorney’s regular secretary ended up doing the other two, because while the mail appeared to be under control when the data clerk went for the 9:00 batch and came back empty-handed, everything went to the place that sells handbaskets when I picked up a full bucket of mail at 11:00.

I had a 15 minute lunch, long enough to go down to the deli and bring back chicken salad on a croissant and inhale it. I went up to the front desk at 4:00 when the data clerk went home, and the IT person helped me finish up the last of the mail. She sent out the “Mail is finished.”
email around 4:45, and I sat at switchboard and twitched until I could shut everything down at 5:00.

I caught the bus to the station. Trainman was on the train. I was so weary, and so hungry, that more than once I nearly fell asleep in mid-sentence.

I really should have done laundry last night. Instead I grabbed the bread and the hummus and poured myself a small glass of juice. And when I was tired of that, I got in the car and drove to CVS and bought a pint of BlueBell. Sat on the couch and ate it bite by bite while watching Enchanted. Then I picked up Cuprit’s skirt and stitched down a few more pleats.

One really great thing happened last night. As we were walking up the steps to our cars, I heard recorder music. A guy who’d been on the train was sitting on a bench, presumably waiting for his sweetheart to come get him, and playing lovely slow folk tunes. I pulled my car around and thanked him through my open window, for making a difficult day immeasurably better. I pulled out of the parking lot and wept for weariness, frustration, and joy. And then I sang most of the way home.

I have no idea what I’m going to wear today. Definitely not the white pants, but beyond that your guess is as good as mine.

*Chibi. Because the best explanation for what happened to my leg is that a short, myopic vampire attacked me.