Holiday Celebrations

YAY! Another Monday out of the office!

Although it is Monday Noontime Noms day, I think I'll take this opportunity to recoup. (Read: Nothing really exciting happened in the office this week. Outside of the stray giggle, nothing worth sharing crossed my path. Slow and boring, I know... I'm so sorry.)

It's been pretty dull and dreary in the world of EngineerFriend lately. A dark darkness descended upon my Smiles and there were days when I felt nothing at all, much less sunny-sunshines to share with my Dear ReaderFriends.

But NO LONGER! I shall not be reigned in by the doldrums! I will break free and shine my light. *hums* This little light of... No. Not going there. 

I think it helps that I've been so busy over the past few days. There have been no free moments to sit and wallow in selfish misery. There has been no downtime to recognize any darkness, much less acknowledge it and allow it to color my mood. Instead, I have been up to my tiddlywinks in busy preparations.

Today was the culmination of the last 36 hours of waking efforts for me as I chauffeured my favorite (admittedly, only) Mumma in a parade. She is the librarian in a small town just a few miles from home (hers... not mine. It's a significant hike for me to get there), and a phone call on Wednesday took my weary weariness and flipped it upside down, shook it until its eyes crossed and then set it back down with a firm warning that, if it didn't get its act together and start playing for the team, it would be given a time-out. And then the work began.

The phone call went like this:

"Hi, Sunny?"

"Hi, Mum."

"Are you going to be able to drive me in the Parade on Monday?"

"Of course."

"Okay, that's good. And by the way, I threw away all the signs you and your sister made last year. It was an accident. I'll need some more."

"Umm... okay."

"And no one knows the theme, so I'm sure whatever you come up with will be fine."

"Right. Lovely. I'm not upset at all at this enormous, sudden responsibility. I have to go pick my fingernails off with a seam ripper."

"Okay. Love you! Bye."

<End of Conversation>

Don't get me wrong. I very much DO love my Mumma. She's the only Mumma I've got, and I would indeed do almost anything for her. (Almost.) But there are times when I'm convinced she doesn't really understand what she's asking, or how much is involved (when she asks her anal-rententive, perfectionist daughter to "pull something together.")

Like telling me mid-work-week that I have four days to come up with an  idea for a float, create the posters and banners for the float, and decorate the truck. I came up with the idea for what might work on Thursday, had the time to create the paper products I needed on Friday and started cutting. I worked for four hours cutting things out on Friday night... ten to twelve hours cutting things out on Saturday (I lost track, and took a much-needed grocery shopping break mid-afternoon, because there was no way this project would be finished without the support of my favorite Captain)... and then six hours finishing the cutting and doing the pasting and magnetizing last night. 

Which was all well and good. I had some FANTASTIC posters that I was really proud of, but there was still work to be done.

(Unfortunately, I needed another break and decided to go see "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" last night instead of staying in and finishing the extra bits that would have really gotten our communal acts together. Short Sidenote: Dear Alan Tudyk... You are amazing, and incredible, and I wouldn't think twice about having your children. Except that they would be smarter than I am, and funnier than I am, and witty and clever and full of fun... And would probably run me into an early grave. But other than that... You are a god.)

This morning, I awoke early (enough for a weekend, or pseudo-weekend as the case may be) and got myself ready (even had breakfast - that's a big deal!) and zoomed out the door. I screeched into the meeting spot on fumes in my beloved ZoomMobile  and immediately went to work. Forty minutes, a more-than-pink sunburn and a hearty wish for water later, and the truck was decorated. "Our Public Library Celebrates the Fifty Nifty United States" was the announcement from each side of the truck. The hood announced opportunities to "Shout Them, Scout Them, and Learn All About Them at Our Public Library." The tailgate touted our patriotism by loudly proclaiming "North, South, East, West (In our calm, objective opinion...) OUR TOWN is the best!" Flags flapped, balloons billowed and one glowing librarian sat proudly on a spare tire in the bed of the truck, waving to children on the sidelines who recognized her for her work at Storytime.

And it was then that I realized all hope is not lost. I may be going through Dreary Darkness (TM) at work right now. My office may be having more tendencies of awfulness than are typically present, and my beloved EngineerFriends may be difficult, but at the end of the day, I STILL can make a difference. Because at the end of the day, it was my effort that allowed her to sit so proudly in that truckbed and wave to her little ones. And it was her wave that brought a smile to a little one's face (even if they didn't get any candy from us, which is really the reason they're there.) So, at the end of the day, my efforts brought a smile to a child's face. And that makes a difference.

(Admittedly, so did the shiny trophy that they handed to Beloved Mumma after we won third prize in the Children's category, after a two-year dry run.)

Now, I must away. It's time to hang up my writing hat, slip into something a little less revealing and a little more SPF-enhancing and go celebrate my freedom of smoked meat, strong drinks and Things That Go Boom In The Sky. This is America, ReaderFriends. It's how we roll.

I hope you have the fantastic-est of fourths! :)