When it all comes together

When things seem to just come together and work out perfectly, beware. This is a lesson that I fail to learn over and over again. My latest example of this begins Wednesday night. One of the charity projects I do is to knit sections of blankets that eventually end up at children's hospitals in NY and Philly. The latest one was called Beach Ball and was ready to be mailed. They each have a card enclosed to the recipient, and I wanted some great beach ball stickers to use to make mine, and I found them at Target. Woo hoo! Then, The Mailman and I stuck the kids in babysitting and had a swimming date at the Y. Again, woo hoo, and this is looking like a great evening. A little dinner, then swing by the Mt. Laurel post office, which is right on the way home and has a self serve postal thing called an APC so I can weigh and mail my package even at 8 o'clock. The only thing left to do is return the library books. Hey, look! A library! Right next to the post office. This is a perfect night indeed. I love it when everything comes together and works out just right.

Fast forward to Thursday afternoon, and The Mailman is using the computer. Once iTunes is launched to start the podcasts downloading and the fantasy baseball has been checked, it's on to managing the library. Why are my books overdue, he wonders? Oh, crap! The Mt. Laurel library is not part of the county library. Call them and ask, "What would you have done with the books I returned last night?" "You'll have to call tomorrow and check with the woman who does interlibrary loan." So now my evening of it all coming together has turned into not quite an international incident, but an interlibrary loan incident at the very least.

I should have known better. When I saw that library sitting there right next to the post office I should have turned and run. But the great and spacious building beckoned me, and I did deposit the books in the bin. I'm sure by week's end the books will be tracked down and returned, the fines will be paid, and all will be forgotten. Which means the next time it all seems to be coming together, I will probably fall for it again.