My cleaning lady was here on Friday. Love her. She is one of the kindest, most honest people I have ever met. If I try to leave her a little extra for her hard work, she’ll rebuff it. It’s her job, she’ll say. And then she’ll bring ME Portuguese pastries. That in itself is enough for me to keep her around in perpetuity. This week she even emptied my dishwasher and put the dishes away. Now I just need to find where she put them, but I can live with that. A type of treasure hunt…

Last night I loaded up said dishwasher and went to turn it on. Nothing. I tried all sorts of combinations to try to get the lights to come on. Nothing. And who do I blame? My cleaning lady. Last person to touch it. Sometimes I can’t stand myself. 

As I am reaching the point of total frustration, my eyes fall upon the new air fryer sitting on the counter above the dishwasher. Hmmm. You think? I go down into the basement and check the fuse box. Nope – nothing appears tripped. Back up, hitting every combination of options on the dishwasher. I’m still drawn back to the air fryer. There’s something suspicious about it…. 

Back to the basement I go. And, just for fun, I decide to reset all the breakers. When I come back up…VOILA! The dishwasher has come back to life! I move the pesky air fryer to the other side of the room. Time out. 

I am gloating about my problem-solving prowess, when I notice flashing lights. All my electrical devices were shut down and now all the clocks need to be reset. And then there are the cameras I have set up to watch my dog when I leave him alone. And let’s not forget the lightbulbs that are set up to turn off by themselves at appointed times. 

I get to work. I set the clocks. And for the life of me, I CANNOT get the other stuff to work. The curse of Mercury Retrograde!

Again, I start on a mini-tirade, until I am gifted with the ability to see and hear myself. For starters, I have just blamed a cleaning lady for an electrical issue I caused. But back that up: I HAVE a cleaning lady. In a small house that’s just for me and my dog. I can afford to pay someone to do what I can easily do for myself. Change your attitude, find your gratitude.

Next, I fixed an electrical problem. I have electricity. And intelligence to problem solve. Change your attitude, find your gratitude.

Cameras to watch your dog – really? Dogs have gotten by just fine being left alone for, oh, EVER. Your leaving him to protect your home for a few hours gives him something to do. Change your attitude, find your gratitude.

And lastly, lights that turn themselves off. Really? You can’t turn them off yourself when you leave the room? Yes, it’s a lovely convenience, but really…. Change your attitude, find your gratitude. 

It may be Mercury Retrograde at its finest, but it is also an opportunity for me to step up as well. Begin with the gratitude and see how the problems evaporate. My attitude is a choice and I’m grateful for the reminder. 

And I’ll be glad when Mercury Retrograde is over.