On the Passage of Time

I am inspired. Apparently I haven't been inspired for awhile, because, well, I haven't written anything since July, and now it's October. And October's almost over.

Actually, a more accurate statement would probably be that right now I have two hands free at the same time, and apparently THAT hasn't happened since July, because I know that on a daily basis I am inspired enough to compose entire blogs in my head. HOWEVER, having them in my head doesn't get them posted.

Back to being inspired though. In the past week, some very long-lost friends have found my blog and commented on it. This has happened despite me not writing anything since July. So I decided I needed to write something. But then I had this problem where I have countless blogs already composed in my head, and I have to decide which one do I use to re-enter reality after surviving the summer, starting school, being immersed in homework, welcoming a new baby girl, and returning to that mom-of-a-newborn stage where my eyelids need to be pried open in the mornings.

But instead, to emphasize how quickly the past few months have escaped me, I share the following story.

The other day (meaning the first week in September) I was at the ATM and was trying to deposit a check. I punched all the numbers in and waited for the magic beeping sound signifying that the machine was ready for me to insert my money. It never came. Instead I got this crazy error message on the screen telling me that my card had expired. I looked at the card. WHAT?! It hasn't expired! It must be a mistake!

So I tried again. Punched in the numbers. Waited for the beeping. Again, error message. Your card has expired. I was baffled. What was I supposed to do? In the five years since we opened our account I have not set foot inside the bank. I also had two cranky kids in the car and had no desire to go inside of a bank anyway. (This is, incidentally, one reason why I opt for the ATM or on-line banking whenever I can! The other one is that I would really rather not have to think about what to say to a human, especially at the bank. It's about as bad has having to call the insurance company!)

So I pulled into the drive-through teller lane. I was pretty annoyed by this point, especially because I was going to have to talk to a human at the bank when I JUST wanted to DEPOSIT my STUPID CHECK! I got the cute little cylinder out of the whoosher and inserted my check. (What are those things called anyway? The things that whoosh your money over to the attendant?) I started writing a note to the attendant so that I could send over my ATM card and ask them why their machine is so STUPID that it thinks my card is expired. Mid-epistle, I stopped short. I looked at my card.

Right there on the card it said "Expiration date 09/08." And in my head, it was, "oh about 06/08 or something, definitely not 09/08. That sounds so late in the year, and it would have to be, let's see, the ninth month. That's September. ... ... Whoops. It IS September. My card is expired." Don't I feel stupid. So I went home and looked in my "files" to get the new cards the bank had sent who knows how long ago. And I kept looking at the calendar. Wow! It's September! And now of course, it's October.

Anyway, all of that was just to emphasize that I have no concept of time right now. And tomorrow my new baby will be four weeks old. Life is such a blur. Maybe I just need to get some sleep!