We have a pope! Err...Manager!

I was supposed to make the announcement on the members' page but I was at the dentist. Such a sense of relief for me last night when the new GM was chosen by the Board. I hadn't realized how much focus I had on that one issue for the last six weeks. Went to bed exhausted, got up all chipper and threw in the laundry before I checked the weather forecast. Wrong order...I don't have a dryer. Didn't realize yesterday's weather was quite that precious, but apparently it will be sunny again tomorrow. Hung the clothes up anyway under the eaves where I have a little line but they won't get dry there. Little problem. I put on my rain gear to bike to the dentist for a cleaning, though my 40-minute ride was quick and dry with a tail wind. It didn't start raining until I set out for home, when I got soaked and had a head wind. So more wet stuff, but I had the rain gear, so I was pretty well off.

That bump on my gum turned out to be an abcess...uh oh, first root canal. Not a happy piece of news. Didn't have enough money for today's bill since I had given some money to a woman struggling with a bag of cans under a bridge way out by Chase Gardens. That is a long way from that redemption center in the industrial zone. I told her there was a 75% chance of rain and she said "at least it isn't 100%. I can deal with 75." That tickled me as I tend to think that way, and I'm glad I helped her a little. The dentist knows I'll pay up next week when I get the big bill. I asked for an estimate...omg. Good thing I had a little saved from the summer and hung onto it so tightly.

So here was my inner monologue on the way home:
Dang it's wet...so glad I have good rain gear unlike all these other wetter folks on bikes.
Root canal...well, it's the first time that's happened. I trust my dentist so I'm in good hands.
Root canal and property taxes, which one hurts more...so glad I have a warm hand-built house to pay taxes on. I can get painkillers if I need them.
Antibiotics...good thing I just bought some probiotics yesterday. They can fight it out.
Got my pile of wet soggy leaves from the city today...got my leaves so I can work outside.
Dang it's wet...almost home and now I have a reason to curl up and take some time off. I can blog!

That is a skill set I have been working on for the last couple of years, reframing complaints so I don't get caught up in my own potential drama. I find reframing one of the most useful techniques I've picked up. I still need a little encouragement to use it sometimes. Complaining is just so easy. But nobody really wants to hear it, and I don't really want people to feel obligated to help me, so it amounts to some kind of self-stimulating in a kind of negative zone. Next step would be not even complaining to myself. That might take some work, but really, isn't complaining just a version of playing the victim? Like saying "all this stuff happened to me and it wasn't my fault." Clearly all the things I had to complain about were my fault. I put off dealing with the mouth sore to save time, since I was going to the dentist anyway. Major error...those things just get worse. I got DIY with it and thought hydrogen peroxide would fix it, or tea tree oil. Inexperience, and not asking anyone for help. Biking, while great exercise and always a good idea, is optional. I could have driven the car. I bought the property and improved the house, so the property taxes were mine. I ordered the leaves.

So at least I wrapped all that stuff up and now I'm warm and have dry socks and I work for myself so if I want to move wet leaves around today instead of working I guess I can. At least I have to clear the sidewalk so I can bike out on Saturday. When it is not supposed to rain, and everyone will be happy about our new GM, and I will be with my community. See you there!