Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2003. Mattie was about a year and a half old and by this point, kind of got Halloween. Or at least he was willing to wear a costume and trick or treat with his cousins. Mattie was fussy about clothes. He did not like anything too tight, itchy, and let's not talk about clothing tags. They irritated him. Together we picked out this cute pumpkin sweatsuit at Target. To me he made the cutest pumpkin and Mattie really gravitated to the color orange early on.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 45,696,134
- Number of people who died from the virus: 740,999
Honestly I feel like I am on a treadmill at this house. From the moment I get up, I am doing chores. It is one for the books. After putting my dissatisfaction in writing, guess what? The pool was cleaned today and we are back on track. One in the plus column. Still dealing with the mysterious smell, however, now we bought screens for the windows! The former owner had NO screens on the windows and in most cases, sealed the windows shut. I deduce because he has a draft issue in the winter time. Nonetheless, some windows had to be open for both safety and health reasons. The ability to get fresh air into the room with the mysterious smell is helping. Not to mention using bleach and constantly cleaning out bathroom drains. I'm telling you all of this is a full time job.
About a month ago, I made appointments on-line for Peter and I to go to the DMV in Virginia for our licenses and a license plate. However, it dawned on me this morning that I never got an email confirmation about my appointment. Peter did, but I didn't! I literally panicked. It doesn't take much for me to fly off the handle. I am sure it is because I am tired and stressed constantly. In any case I prepared myself that I wouldn't be allowed into the DMV today because I had no appointment documentation. I know this game well, as I experienced it before in Washington, DC. I tried to go in during COVID without an appointment (well I did not realize I needed one). The woman at the door wouldn't let me go in, and mind you there was NO ONE inside. It wasn't like they were busy. Given that horrible experience, I figured Virginia would be no different. WRONG! It was a night and day experience. It was well run and everyone was professional, polite, and accommodating. Definitely NOT DC.
We were met at the door by a woman. She saw Peter had an appointment, but couldn't find me on the list. Instead of sending me away, she told me to go talk to the lady in the information booth. So Peter and I proceeded in. The woman at the information booth was named Cheryl. I told her I have no idea why my appointment did not register, as I made it at the same time as Peter. She listened and instead of telling me to hit the road, she worked me into the schedule. In addition, she answered my various questions about getting my parent's licenses. But she prepared me that I may not be able to get a disabled parking placard for my dad today because he wasn't a Virginia resident yet and I also did not have a copy photo of his California license. Fortunately Peter has a photograph of my dad's license and we showed it to her.
We waited for about 30 minutes, until we were seen. Guess who actually worked with me? Yes Cheryl! I really lucked out. She was a God sent, and I called her a miracle worker. She helped me with my license and also granted me a disabled parking placard for my dad. She spoke to her manager and they believed my story. A story that is accurate and I most definitely will need such a placard with my dad in tow. After working with Cheryl, she asked if I would fill out a commendation for her. I did on the spot! She said she was so touched by my kindness, and I told her I was so taken by her compassion, professionalism, and can do attitude. She says she loves people and her job, and it shows!
Meanwhile, Peter worked with a woman who was also a peach. He was in the booth next to me, so we could hear each other's conversation. When we got to choose our license plate, we naturally picked the Virginia childhood cancer awareness plate. It turns out that the woman helping Peter lost her brother, when he was 18 years old, to osteosarcoma. What are the chances? If you ask the medical community they would say low to rare. If you ask me, I would say quite common, as unfortunately I am acutely aware of children being diagnosed and coping with cancer. We were in and out of the DMV in 60 minutes and got everything accomplished. What we experienced today would be totally unheard of in DC.
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