Sometimes I wonder

Today I decided to wrap up my Christmas shopping. Yeah, right. I started at B.J.'s, where I knew I would do a lot of browsing and end up actually buying very little. I ended up with exactly 3 things in my cart, and just as I was about to go to the register, over the P.A. came the announcement and apology that their registers were all down, as a consequence of some problem in the computer system. "We hope it will be fixed in a few minutes." Well, when the lines at registers grew to about 25 people with FULL carts, I decided to bail. I dutifully returned my items to the shelves, which was more than a lot of people were doing, and left, having spent way more than an hour and accomplishing nothing.

I finally returned home for some lunch, and at 2:00 when I was just finishing, my mother called to tell me that she had a piece of mail that she knew was important, but she didn't know what it was. Was I planning to come over? Yes, I was, visiting her for the 6th day this week. The important piece of mail? A summons to jury duty in Strafford County Superior Court. Oh yeah, right. So, I just filled out the form, and have to get a physician's statement as to why she wouldn't exactly be a great juror, and return the form and letter to the court by Dec. 30th. I probably should have let her fill out the form - that would have been an immediate demonstration of why they don't want her on a jury . . .

Before January 15, I have another form to fill out for the Dept. of Health and Human Services, certifying that she is still eligible for Medicaid. I guess this is an every 6 month ritual. Accompanying the form I have to send proof of unearned income, bank statements photocopied for the past 6 months and proof of social security payments. That will take a large chunk of a morning. . . . . Sometimes I wonder why it is that I never seem to get anything done that needs to be done in my own life, and other days, I know exactly why I don't. I didn't finish my shopping today, but I have put the Christmas candles in the windows - my first step in drumming up some Christmas cheer here at 16 Valentine Hill Rd.