OUTSIDE THE BOX

The knock at the door came as I finished drinking the last of my Croatian coffee. I would have preferred to go back to sleep after taking the children to the bus stop but feared I would oversleep the landlord's knocking on the door. The landlord arrived shortly after 10,00h with a man wanting to view the townhouse. They both made their way upstairs then back downstairs before leaving. They continued to talk outside on the front porch whilst I went upstairs.

Piles of boxes blocked the door to the downstairs bathroom and the laundry room. More boxes and a tall ladder blocked most of the upstairs room I am using as an office. In the living room, I had lined up several boxes in between the dining area and entrance to the living room as I intended to take the boxes to the new place after the landlord and prospective tenant left.

Before the landlord arrived, I contacted the employment staffing agency to see if any other leads had come up. The lady I talked with last week told me of two short-term positions where someone was needed as soon as possible and asked if I was available to interview today. I responded with a 'yes' and 'right away' and went upstairs to take a shower and get ready in case the lady phoned back with a time to interview.

There was another knock at the door as I was about to turn on the shower. I went downstairs and opened the door to find the landlord standing there asking if the man's wife can come in for a 'quick' look. I informed him I was about to get in the shower. He said it would not take long. Based on her cursory glances and her telling me she had looked at houses close to the school for their three children, I gathered she was not too interested.

Fatigue overwhelmed me today. The children had much energy after school and asked if they could play outside since it was so warm. The girls played some kind of treasure hunt game whilst Sage finished his homework. This time it was math and coming up with six different ways to make the sum of five.

Knowing what the teacher expected, I guided him in that direction. Instead of 3+2=5, 2+3=5, 4+1=5, 1+4=5, 0+5=5, 5+0=5, Sage came up with alternate solutions to the duplication of equations. His sentences were: 3+2=5, 1+4=5, 5+0=5, 2+2+1=5, 1+1+2+1=5, and 1+1+1+1+1=5. He was right albeit I am guessing the teacher expected the simpler number sentences. Regardless, I was impressed with his thinking outside the box. 

As I suspected, the phone call for the interview never came. Whilst I waited, I took some boxes and a carved wooden chair to the new place. In the late afternoon, I contacted the agency yet again asking for an update. There were no responses from either of the clients today. Perhaps tomorrow.