There have also been some events with family members and neighbors. I have written before about how my wife, Lyn, and I must keep separate personal monthly calendars. We compare them daily so we know what each other is doing and things that are coming up.
On occasion I get quite tickled with her. She is a master at multitasking (sometimes). She will begin getting ready to go somewhere when her recurring disease – known around here as “but-firstitis” – kicks in. Lyn kind of sounds like this: “I need to brush my teeth, but first I need to find my coffee cup; but first I should check my email.” I think you get the idea.
When we are ready to leave the house we have a quick checklist to be sure that we have the important things needed for that particular outing.
A checklist goes something like this: wallet, cellphone, shoes, glasses, watch, keys, coffee cup, etc. Completing this list really simplifies our arriving at our destinations without returning home for something and becoming late.
Our calendars and checklists make life much simpler and sometimes a lot of fun. Lyn volunteers at The Lord’s Pantry at Anna’s House, which provides assistance to residents on the Near Northeastside.
Saturday morning as she was getting ready to go to there she couldn’t find her cellphone. I asked her if she had called the cellphone with our land line. She hadn’t and grabbed the phone to make the call.
I turned down the volume of the television so we could hear if her phone started ringing, but we heard nothing. She then checked to see if it had been left in her car. I believe she had already called Anna’s House to tell them she was running a bit late.
Lyn found her phone in her car. She grabbed her coffee, completed her checklist and was on her way. We had discussed her route because of the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon.
After she left I decided to fix breakfast and watch some of the race on television.
Then Lyn called and said, “I just saw on my cellphone where you called me about 38 minutes ago.”
I replied, “You called your cellphone when you were trying to find it, remember?”
We spent a good while laughing, but she was flustered because she had been stopped in traffic by a train. She had a well-used detour in mind, but it was blocked because of the Mini-Marathon. She had to go a couple of extra miles to finish her trip.
As I was watching the Mini-Marathon I thought I had spotted Maddie Markland. She’s a good friend of mine and a senior at Beech Grove High School. Maddie competed in her first Mini-Marathon. She later posted some pictures on Facebook, so I was certain that it was her I saw. I’m proud of her.