Happy Birthday to Me - Another Year Completed and Starting

Happy birthday to me. I'm going to celebrate getting back into the swimming pool. Yesterday's plan of swimming, then getting my car done, and then doing my various errands hit a wall when the pool chemicals were out of balance and it was going to be closed for an hour. So, my swimming this week has shifted over a day and I'll be swimming today and Friday instead of my usual days. 

Time is fluid, and yesterday's challenges can look 
like today's successes. I'll just move my swimming 
days over by a day this week, and swim today 
and tomorrow instead. 

Having the pool closed yesterday was rather amusing. There is a small crowd of people who gather at the doors of the YMCA, waiting for them to be unlocked at 5:00 am. Meg, Rosemary and I are usually the first three people, and who is first varies - yesterday it was me. Behind us are a group of others, almost all also pool people. I estimate that up to 20 people are early morning pool people - not all swimming laps. There's a large group of water exercise/aerobic people too. 

As one, we all turned our backs on the gym 
doors and headed back to our cars. There was 
Meg, Rosemary and I, Mark, Connie and Karen, 
and Gail, who had just closed her car door, 
just turned around in her parking space and 
re-entered her car, preparing to drive East to the 
White Bear Lake YMCA instead (she swims 
every day no matter what). 

It was amusing, though, when Beth, our lifeguard, came to the doors and said that the pool chemicals were out of balance and opening would be delayed. I'm not sure there was anyone left who was interested in the gym! It was a small cadre of people who turned around and headed back to their cars - LOL. Of course, I could have taken my shower, but it was just as easy to go home and do it here. So, that's what I did. 

I got to the car dealership without issue, and was out 
of there by 8:30 am. All in all, despite the YMCA's 
pool closure, it was a successful morning and I was 
finished with my errands and multitudes of grocery 
stores before 10:00 am. Success! 

I got to the car dealership with plenty of time, and it turns out I didn't need new tires (yet). We'll look at that again in the Fall. I did need some essential things, though, including a new drive band. According to the video, there was a large crack down the center of my drive band. That could have been very bad if it snapped while I was going hither and yon. So, I'm still out a few hundred $, but I now have a car that's in great shape with a few new filters and a brand new drive band. Whoot! 

My local grocery store sent me an e-coupon for a 
free cupcake for my birthday. I'll have to ask DH 
what flavor he would like and get it for him on 
Friday. Their cupcakes are wonderful, but I refuse 
to eat them any more. He'll enjoy it on my behalf. 

So, today I'll celebrate getting one more year older (Bleh!) and one more year better (a bit less Bleh!), and I'll laugh with all of you as I look another year in the face and tell it "I'll conquer you too." Have a wonderful Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow before I head to the pool on an "off day" to catch up on my cancelled swim. I'll get my three days in, one way or another - LOL. Slava Ukraini.