Just dancing through

I have started this post twice in recent weeks, and had to delete and rewrite both attempts as they got out of date before I finished. Three times lucky, right?

Just got a check from the office of the place I used to live for approximately 2/3 of my deposit. More than I was expecting, until I realized it was the pet deposit increase that they demanded two years ago that they were now treating as my full deposit. What happened to the original deposit from 1990? I don't know. I think it fell off the books. I've decided to treat that as some sort of lease-breaking penalty fine, because I don't want to talk to them again. Also, I have no receipt for the original deposit (1990, right? My bank stopped sending me my cancelled checks in 1988, and switched to microfiche that I could request print-outs of if I wanted them. Those fiche supposedly get destroyed after ten years. And that's if I knew the check number), and I don't quite remember how much it was. I think it was $200, but I'm not sure.

I also found a gift card to Lowe's that I was given a month or so back--a housewarming present from the folks I used to work with a few years ago. Not the place I transferred to after the two libraries split, the other folks. The ones I'm allowed to talk to now that I don't work for Pinky and the Brain. I was very touched that they decided to give me a present, particularly considering how nasty things got during the split. My colleague and I were used as weapons against these people, though we didn't see it at the time. That library is so much happier now without the influence of the two nutcases who left. I think the only regret they have is that their processing unit got disbanded too. Ah well. At least where we are now we can all work together on the government documents-related work issues without fear of Snarling Retribution (another pet name for my old supervisor).

But I digress.

Last week was move-in week for the students. They started trickling in on Wednesday, but the majority of them (and their parents) arrived on the weekend. Most of the grocery, home-improvement, and "big box" stores were hopping as anxious parents bought their youngsters one of everything. Because I am a lunatic/glutton for punishment/poor planner, I found myself at a grocery store Saturday afternoon with a front row seat for all the fun: shopping carts full to overflowing, parents piling more stuff into the carts and saying, "You'll need this," kids shrugging and knowing it's pointless to argue. Very little milk, bread, rice, soup, soda, or cereal left on the shelves.

I remember those days. Actually, I remember moving my little sister into the dorms more than I remember moving myself in. The memory that shines brightest is of Ditter and me tangoing down the cereal aisle of the Lock Haven Weis Market while my mother pretends she doesn't know us. Of course, this makes us turn into four-year-olds, and we chase her down the next aisle calling, "Mommeeee! Mahhh-meeeee!"

I don't know what it is about store aisles that bring out the dancing goof in me. I am always doing that. Never by myself, of course, because that would make other shoppers nervous, and probably make the employees call Security. No, it involves a partner in crime, and that partner tends to be my sister. This past June in Wal-Mart, after placing the order for the paint, my family scattered to the far corners of the establishment -- Dad and Stretch to the hardware section to look for new locks, Mom to the clothing section (I think), Ditter and me off to housewares to pick up a ton of stuff I'd forgotten the night before when I was in that exact same store. As we headed away from the paint counter, I couldn't help it. I started to do the conga while pushing the shopping cart, singing:

"Doot-doo doot-doo doot DOO! Doot-doo doot-doo doot DOO!"

And there was my sister ahead of me doing the same thing. We'd even kicked out our feet to the same side without looking at each other.

What is that, anyway?

There was a point to this post, I think. I started it so long ago, I can't remember. Oh! Wait! Money-Lowe's card-shopping-dancing, got it. I'm going to take that check, cash it in, take the money to Lowe's along with the gift card and go shopping--though not for a few more weeks. Shelves are probably still decimated right now. My sister was saying something about coming up to visit this Fall. I'll probably wait until then. So it looks like we'll have more aisles to dance in. What's a good dance for Lowe's? Cha-cha? I don't know the merengue. Jitterbug? Viennese Waltz? No, I get dizzy on the spins and might go whirling off into some unsuspecting passerby.