If I hadn't had Kylie's soccer game to look forward to at the end of the day, the middle of the day would have got the best of me. That's because the start of the day was the opposite of what I wanted it to be. I wanted to bounce out of bed early and run a bunch of errands, to the bank and my backup organic food store and the post office. By the time I woke up, I knew as soon as I looked at the clock that I wouldn't be doing any of those things. I don't know which element, the time or the energy, drove the decision most, but that's how it was.

And maybe it was just as well, because there was so much to do here at home anyway. Things are happening so fast at work lately that it's hard for me to keep up. Some of these things are good, like new jobs to process paperwork on. Some are not so good. Several insurance policies came up for renewal this month, and there was not just paperwork to do, but bills to pay. Huge bills. Insurance companies are unforgiving, and they ask for a lot of money up front before they'll even consider taking (or retaining) you as a client, especially if you're a contractor.

Today the big hit was the new worker's compensation policy. Rates in California have gone up since last year. The base rate has gone up 45%, and because we had some claims over the past year, we lost our discount. In fact, we not only lost our discount, but we have to pay a surcharge on top of the rate increase. I'm not sure how we'll stay in business after taking such a big hit. I'm not sure how any contractor stays in business under these conditions. I'm just glad I don't have to make the decisions. I just write the checks.

So I will try again tomorrow to run all those errands. I need to get to the bank, so I can deposit a few back paychecks while there's still money in the company account. I need to get to Oliver's Market, where I try to go once a month or so to pick up what I can't get at Raley's. And I need to get to the post office, to mail off the insurance deposit and to pick up two days' worth of mail. What I really need is to get a good night's sleep and wake up feeling like doing all that stuff. I can't seem to control that part of my life. It would seem that I should be able to do that, but it hasn't been working for me.

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Alex and the dandelions.
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Fortunately, today ended well. I made it clear that I was going to be leaving at 4:30 to make it to Kylie's game, but I also let everyone know that I'd be back about 6:30. (And wouldn't you know, the phone rang at 6:28, just after I'd successfully made the maddening drive home.) Kylie played well, as always, and her team won! (As not always. In fact, as not ever before, as far as I know.) They scored two goals, and Kylie was right there when it happened, although she wasn't the actual goal scorer.

With Alex around, I didn't quite see the whole game, but that was fine. A lot of the game is twelve little girls kicking madly at one defenseless soccer ball. Alex, on the other hand, was interested in what was going on behind the field. There were dried up dandelions growing all around, and he made it his business to help with the pollination. And then sometimes he just wanted to chase and be chased.

Luckily, Aiden was there for a while, until he had to leave for football practice, and he was a willing chaser. After he left Suzanne and I took turns entertaining ourselves by entertaining Alex. And after the game Kylie took her turn, although we had to keep an eye out, because she tended to lose interest and let him wander off. And wander he will, if it suits him.