J is for Jinxed

I jinxed it.

I do that often.

After posting the entry for 'I', I puffed up a little and announced to my daughter, "I'm so proud of myself that I've managed to carry on with the A to Z Challenge even in Budapest."

What I really wanted to say was: Look at me daughter, look at how cool this mother of yours is. She travels, spends the whole day walking the streets of Buda and Pest and then she wakes up at 5 am just so that she can post and keep up with the challenge. Look at this awesome mom of yours and pat her back.

Of course, I couldn't. She's nineteen. She would've done MUCH more than just roll her eyes at me. I love her and miss her when she's in uni and I'm in Doha. So I want to keep the eye-rolling activity to the minimum while we enjoy this precious time together.

But I did feel rather chuffed with myself. I often do. I'm like that. I love me...what can I say?

BANG! BANG! DHrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

That's how my morning started yesterday. Just as I was settling down to choose one 'J' out of many that had lined up in my head, building works bombarded all the poor 'Js' out and replaced them with a throbbing headache. Actually it was more a case of the dull rage that builds up when the morning coffee hasn't had time to work its magic. I cherish my quiet morning hours when the house is asleep. It's my time to bond with my keyboard you see.

Unable to endure the horrendous din (the two teenagers slept through it!), I complained. The sweet but unsmiling lady in the office made notes, looked up with her young, serious eyes and nodded to suggest that they'd look into it.

The thudding thundered on for another hour. There were no signs of it relenting. The warrior in me was ready for battle.

I made a resolve to not smile this time. I feel so bad when I'm complaining about anything. I rarely do this myself. Whenever I'm unhappy about a service, I outsource the complaining to my husband. He's got a serious demeanour. Sometimes, he humours me and sometimes he doesn't. But I don't like to do it. When I do, I smile. This time, I didn't want to dilute the effect of my annoyance with a smile. Resolute, I stomped down.

'This is unbearable. I need to write. I can't think in this din. Can we move to another apartment?'
I said and ,yup, you got it, smiled. (subtext inside my head/soul/inner me--need to write, seriously?)

'Sure. The apartment will be ready by 1.' came the serious reply.

We had another glorious day out, exploring. I even managed to get a haircut. The girls went for a run. I bought some books and a pair of shoes. It was a perfect day. The only casualty was 'J'. I Just Couldn't Do It. Sorry Nike!

It's time to pack my bags. I'll be boarding my flight back to Doha in a couple of hours. Hopefully, 'K' will kick in on the five hour flight back home. Inshallah, I'll post when I land.

'Make today an awesome day.' says the little card on my pillow. I wish you all the same.