I Cracked Up!
Let me tell you about Sue, our office administrator.
I think I may have briefly mentioned her a time or two in the past, but not really in much detail. She is a Jehovah's Witness. She doesn't "push" it on anybody, but neither does she hide the fact that it is part of her life. She is divorced, and has had a rocky time in the past, suffering the wrath of an abusive alcoholic husband. The as pulled herself up by her bootstraps and has become a survivor. She isn't an outgoing lady at all, and some consider her to be somewhat standoffish and cold. I understand her though. I was one of the few people that ever said anything to her, and I didn't care that I seldom got a reply--I still chose to greet her and talk with her whenever possible. Because of that persistence perhaps, she and I enjoy a friendship that nobody else at work has. By my standards, it's not a very close relationship at all, but for all I know it's near the top for her. We have talked about about many things and have shared many stories and anecdotes about our families and experiences. She has a very infectious, high-pitched laugh that is very easy to hear a little ways away. Yesterday we both had tears streaming down our faces from laughing.
I was at work yesterday morning and was sitting at my desk when she had just come out to use the paper cutter that resides in my workspace. Her work day starts at 8am, so she had just gotten to work a few minutes earlier. My leather jacket and helmet and stuff was sitting over by the paper cutter, so she commented on my riding in on such a cold day. Here's kinda how it went:
"You rode your bike today?" she asked incredulously, "It was kinda cold wasn't it?"
I leaned towards her for emphasis, and said in a mock sheepish expression on my face, "Yeah, it was so cold I couldn't pee for like an hour after I got here."
She erupted in laughter as she turned to the paper cutter. She was standing there and was just about to start cutting, and she again erupted in fit of laughter, this time more intense than the first.
"What?" I asked turning towards her. I hated to miss out on a good chance for conversation between us when she was in such a good mood.
"I was just thinking that..." Suddenly she erupts in laughter again, doubling over instead of cutting paper. In between laughs she manages to get out, "I was thinking that you need to get one of those things they put over faucets in the winter!" With that she cracks up again.
"You mean those styrofoam cup things?" I asked.
She nodded, still laughing herself silly as I joined in. Both of us laughed and laughed at the thought. Then as the laughter was starting to die down, I just had to rev it up again:
"I dunno--I think I would have to wear it on the outside, and
We laughed and laughed and laughed... By the time we were finished we both were wiping our eyes and others nearby were wondering what all the ruckus was. As to not embarrass Sue I didn't explain it to anyone else until after she had gone back inside. It was truly a special moment to get my Friday workday going.
After I got home from work I got a call from Teresa, wondering if I would go to Lowe's with her and help her look over some weatherstrip choices to fix the back door threshold on her house. She came and got me and she bought a "scrubber" weatherstrip that screws onto the bottom of the door to eliminate drafts, and also bought one of those plastic window kits that you use your hair dryer on. I took the back door off and put on the scrubber thing, which worked fine. She was happy about that. One draft eliminated. After that we put a layer of that plastic stuff on the back door window (yes, same door). It worked pretty cool! The window is only about 18" x 24" or so, but it's single pane and it definitely sweats in the winter. All in all, she was happy with what we had done in a short amount of time.
Shortly after I got back home Debbie came over, staying until about 9:30 or so. When we are together we yak incessantly about every little thing. I really enjoy her company a lot and we seem to be "clicking" pretty well!
What's this? Rick is "smitten" by someone?
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