I inadvertently have a day today with nothing planned and I have to say I am loving the solitude. I have a long list of shoulds and coulds as I'm sure you all do. Some are expectations others have for me, like the gas & electric company, and some are ones I'm putting on myself. For example, since it's too rainy for my morning walk, I put on clothes to go to the gym. But instead I've been catching up on the phone with long distance friends, shifting laundry, and just generally not rushing anything.

Since I've become Construction Girl, I've noticed people expect that I have advice about plumbing, hardware, and other general construction topics. Sometimes I have an intelligent reply, but often I have to say that I am still learning and will put that one on my list. It reminds me of when I was an English teacher and people thought I could spell any word that stumped them or they were appalled when I said "me & my friend" instead of "my friend & I." I'm sure it's the same in any profession: as soon as you mention you are a doctor or nurse, people start telling you about their various aches and pains, or ask accountants about their tax dilemmas, or mechanics about their car troubles. Mostly that is fine, but it's good to have a day off from everyone's expectations every now and then.

I had breakfast with a friend whose house I hadn't been to in a few months. We are always amazed at the unexpected things that happen in each of our lives and try to make some time to catch up every few months or so. I noticed that the city must have installed some speed bumps on her street since I had been there last. Since it was a change, and the yellow paint and mound of asphalt were apparently not enough to warn to motorists, the city decided that they ought to erect a sign to notify drivers of the new obstacle. The sign, unfortunately for my friend, is centered right in front of her house. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw it. Rather than saying "speed bump" the sign simply says "HUMP."

I asked her if she had noticed any motorists pulling over in her front yard to obey the traffic sign. She said she had been amazed by the sign and no, she hadn't had any problems because of it. Then my happily married friend speculated that it was a good thing that the sign wasn't in my front yard now that I'm single. Talk about expectations!