We were watching the TV ad for Sunkist, where all the exuberant teenagers run toward the ocean to the sound of joyful music.
I looked over at my husband. “Do you remember Joe Versus the Volcano, with the island people who loved orange soda and had all their clothes and houses and religious icons festooned with parts of orange soda cans?”
He looked back at me. “That’s what this ad has been reminding me of, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.”
For the last couple of days, I’ve been doing month-end maintenance.
I’ve reconciled Quickbooks with the bank, and with the office manager’s records of donations to the church. I did the month-end entries and transfers. I printed the numerous reports that will be needed by the Stewardship Committee next week.
Cricket patiently walked me through the whole process; there’s a remote-login program installed so she can see what I’m doing from her computer, and she talked to me on the phone as I went through all the steps. I took copious notes as we went along. Frequently she would stop me and ask why we were doing this or that, or what I thought we should do next, making me think about it so she could be sure I was understanding the process.
My brain hurts. It was fantastic.
“You don’t even need me any more,” she moped as we were finishing up. Then she brightened. “Oh wait, next month is the end of the quarter—you’ll need me for that!”
Oh, yes. Yes, I will.
The Director had never happened to be in the kitchen when I opened a can of tuna.
As a result, he had never witnessed the performance.
*crack open tuna*
*cat appears out of thin air*
Duchess: Is that fish?! I want fish!! I love fish! It smells so good! PLEASE give me fish! I must have some fish! OMG I HAVE NOT EATEN IN THREE WEEKS AND I WILL KEEL OVER DEAD IF I DON’T GET FISH RIGHT THIS MINUTE!!!
*accompanied by weaving around my legs, stretching up toward the counter, and general feline drama and histrionics*
Me: Here, just a little.
Duchess: NOM NOM NOM MOAR PLZ
The Director: Do all cats meow that much when you have fish?
Me: Pretty much, yeah.