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Horoscopic

What just happened? I...have no idea. But it was strange, very strange. And kind of hilarious.

I took the photo of Bathsheba to the meeting and put it on the conference table in front of me, face-down. As soon as we'd all shuffled in, Meredith started going on about the layout of the magazine. Metro Woman is supposed to have real flair, she said, and she wasn't seeing the flair.

Have I mentioned how anal-retentive my boss is? I mean, Meredith's great, but come on.

I just tuned her out. If she has any problems with how I personally am doing my job, I'm sure she'll tell me. So I missed it when she asked if someone, anyone, had any ideas for how to improve the look of the magazine.

Vivian was sitting next to me. Now, Vivian can be a bit of a card at times, not always when it's appropriate. Without even my noticing, she'd grabbed the photo of Bathsheba to look at it. And when Meredith asked for ideas, Vivian waved the photo at her and said, "We could start an advice column, 'Ask a Creepy Old Lady'!"

Dead silence. Meredith just stared at the photo which, I imagine, stared right back. By this time, I had woken up and realized what had just happened. Too late to do anything. Meredith demanded to know who the photo belonged to. I sheepishly admitted it was mine.

Then, to our amazement, Meredith laughed. "She's creepy, all right. But y'all have already got a creepy old lady for your boss, so...."

All the tension in the room just blew out the window. We cracked up. I told everyone about the family curse and cracked them up all over again.

So...thanks, creepy old Bathsheba. Thanks for being the cure to an awkward meeting. I guess luck, good and bad, really does come from the funniest places sometimes.

And on THAT note, I'm done with curses and horoscopes. I shall leave them to the Shirleys of the world!
End Of Story