I stopped at Safeway on the way to work this morning for a bag of rice — the universal sign for “Why yes, I dropped my phone in water.”

It was  a quick dip, so I’m hopeful. Also, to be honest, a little grateful. It’s been a peaceful morning.

Maybe we should all give peace a chance. Or at least slow down a little. Last night a clean-cut grandfather-looking guy in the Safeway parking lot was screaming so long and loud and with so many expletives at some college kids that I called 911. My beloved hairdresser called to say she’d given me a bad haircut the day before (I hadn’t noticed, but now I’m self-conscious) because I rushed her (which I have to admit I did). And this morning I was in such a sleep-deprived hurry I dropped my phone in a mixing bowl filled with soapy water and pumpkin bread batter.

Make it stop! I’m not sure how — I feel like Lucy in the famous chocolate factory scene.

Ray is constantly pushing me to live in the moment (this morning he gave me a collection of humor writing, saying I need some levity in my life) and yesterday I got to — for a whole 45 minutes. We decorated sugar skulls in Sophie’s class.

To be sure, getting there involved a lot of rushing — making the skulls, digging up decorations, figuring out when I could hustle out of work and back again.

But once I was in the classroom, time stopped and it was all about fuzzy pipecleaners. These sugar skulls are non-traditional — no royal icing, not much talk of dead people. It was just an excuse to slow down and make some art, something the grade school kids could use more of, as well, I know. They are drilled as hard as we are. Harder.

I was so impressed with Sophie’s class — by far the calmest, sweetest group I’ve encountered in years of classroom volunteering. I knew most of the kids, but there were a few new faces. One little girl I’ve never met came up to me halfway through, beaming, and asked, “Will you come back again?”

You bet, I told her. Wouldn’t miss it.  

She made my day.