It started off as one of THOSE days. He slept late which was fine, but after waking he concluded we didn’t have enough time to review paint swatches and leave in time to get breakfast before his appointment. Reluctantly, I forfeited printing out my crossword puzzle, and snatched my mediocre novel from the night stand so we could grab breakfast at a diner before waiting at the chiropractor’s office.

We’ve been trying to consolidate trips across town. It isn’t that we can’t afford the gas. We can. The rising gas prices have had little relative impact on our budget when compared to other families. I’m also aware how lucky we are to live in the U.S. when you compare the fuel costs to European nations. Basically, its the principle of the whole thing. It pisses me off that fuel costs have increased so much. I guess I’m one of a few who is actually miffed enough to change the way I drive. The Mister and I carpool and consolidate trips when possible, but running late this morning put a kink in the best laid plans.

I put the frustration behind me, and the remaining morning was pleasant. After the appointment, we returned home for lunch and to deposit heat sensitive purchases. Lunch was a minor culinary disaster which has resulted in my refusal to eat broiled flounder until after Don Isthmus is nominated for a Nobel Peace prize (Yes, that bad.) When the phone rang I glanced at the caller ID and passed the phone to the Mister. It’s HER. I listened to his side of the conversation as they exchanged pleasantries and irrelevant information about HER upcoming vacation. Finally they got to the real dirt. After he finished the conversation, the Mister filled in the blanks for my benefit.

As per the usual way the conversations have gone with HER recently, I was disgusted, quiet and sullen. He said a few things, and I said a few things. After thinking about a little longer, I told him, “I don’t care for the way she conducts business.” As this type of thing can be easily misinterpreted and blown out of proportion, I made it a point to tell him I was disgusted with the situation and I wasn’t blaming him, I just wasn’t happy about the way things were progressing (or not progressing as the case were), and that was all I was going to say about it, though i intended to fume a little longer.

Empty complaints launched into thin air don’t make me feel better about conflicts. What does it prove with the exception of establishing beyond a shadow of a doubt that some soulless human anomaly has delighted in shitting in my corn flakes. I informed him that I would be quietly seething for the rest of the afternoon, but it wasn’t personal. Being quiet is easy, but being detached when scorned, not so much.

We left made three attempts to leave the house and tend to remaining errands, but seemed unable to pull out of the driveway without first: peeing, making one more phone call, picking up cat food off the floor, checking paint chips, finding the grocery list, getting a bottle of water, and running back in the house for car keys, while simultaneously having an energetic phone conversation with my mother about her dog’s valium prescription.

We stopped at the animal hospital to pick up prescription cat food they ordered for us. After limping to the car sans an arm and a leg with a twenty pound bag of kibble, the Mister was irked.

On the way down the mountain, the He started grumbling about tailgaters, potholes, whether his suv is large enough to accommodate a queen sized matures. Next it was the traffic, the location of the speed limit signs, and finally the inconvenient location of St*rbucks.

After noting the difficulty of entry he decided we should get coffee before continuing. As he pulled into a parking spot, a pedestrian stepped off the curb and stood in the center of the parking place for a moment before walking to his car. The Mister was still grumbling when we went in side.

I turned to the Mister, and said, “SHE did an excellent of wrecking our moods.”

This brought a smile to his face and we exchanged high-fives. It’s reassuring to know it’s possible to be angry and still be on the same team.