How quickly can things change? Today, a Monday, was the total opposite of yesterday. It was a day when I expected to be working myself into the ground, but instead it was easier than I could have hoped for. On a Monday! Imagine!

That's not to say it was an easy day. I was pretty much on the clock from eight in the morning until eight at night, and I had to make an extra trip to FedEx to send off a bid that probably won't be accepted for a job we really don't want. Sometimes you have to go for the ones you don't want so people will take you seriously when you go after the ones you do want.

But I expected to have to drive to a place where I always get lost, and I didn't have to go because the Boss sweet-talked his ex-wife into going there and then bringing the package she picked up all the way back to my house, even though she had to go about eight miles out of her way in each direction to do all that. And he doesn't even pay her! (Well, except for alimony, that is. Maybe that's why she did it.)

She's a lovely person, as all of his exes are. No, I take that back. I met a woman once who was snotty and rude to me because I was The Help. But she doesn't really count because she wasn't official. He was getting the main meal somewhere else, and she was more or less a side dish. She didn't last long, either.

Ummm... where was I? Oh yeah. Yesterday started slow and easy but got frantic at the end. Today I was ready for hell and got nothing much worse than a quick stroll through purgatory. Since there seems to be a little purgatory even in the best days, I wouldn't have noticed one way or the other if it hadn't been for the expectations. When you think you're headed for a hurricane and it turns out to be a car wash, you shouldn't complain if they don't rub out all the streaks.

Did I really say that?

I'm still not sure what to expect tomorrow, but when do I ever? Right now it's looking good, so that probably means the clouds will be rolling in early and staying late. Taking it one day at a time, as I tell myself to do, I think I'll just try to enjoy the calm waters while they last.

I did actually stay up late and watch 9/11 on CBS last night, and I have two thoughts. First, I was moved beyond words by the simple courage and calm dedication of the fire fighters on the scene, and the emotion they showed as they found each other alive afterward. And second, maybe we need to be reminded of that awful September morning every so often (especially those of us on the other side of the country, because many people live through it again every day and need no such reminders).