I should just stay in bed on full-moon days and write the day off. Yesterday was a perfect example; from start to finish the day was flawed.

I had an in-person interview yesterday for a position that I am really excited about, at an organization that actually saves peoples’ lives, so I wanted the day to flow perfectly. I wanted to head into the interview in a great mood and in a positive frame of mind. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

The trouble started with my morning ritual of peanut-butter-toast and tea. I made a cup of tea, placed the bread in the toaster, and then realized…oh no…we’re out of peanut butter! It’s the same feeling as pouring cereal in a bowl, topping the cereal with beautiful sliced strawberries, only to find out there’s no milk. Bummer….

But, I wasn’t about to let that little mishap dampen my day, so I smeared some jam on the toast and got dressed for my interview. I chose to wear black slacks and a new blazer, but as I headed out the door my daughter shrieked, “Mom! Where is your POWER SUIT?”

“Don’t you think what I am wearing is powerful enough?” I asked.

“NO!” she replied.

So into my closet I dashed and I quickly changed into my “power suit.”

“Much better,” she said. “Doesn’t that feel better?”

“Well actually, no, it doesn’t,” I said.  “It actually FEELS very tight!”

“How did that happen?” I pondered.

But at that point, I was out of time, and I couldn’t change my clothes again.

Sitting in my car I checked my iPhone for the company address and gasped. The email message stated, “Please arrive 10 minutes early for your appointment to complete some paperwork.” Oh great! If I hadn’t had a wardrobe malfunction arriving early wouldn’t have been a problem, but now I’m just hoping to get there on time.

Cruising along the highway I seemed to be making good time and I felt relieved that I was going to get there 10 minutes early. Then I heard, “Pop!” The car ahead of me kicked up a rock that punched a half-inch chip in my windshield. (You need to understand that my car is pretty special to me because I picked it up in Munich one year ago and I was telling someone the day before how happy I was that it was still in perfect condition.) Guess I spoke too soon.

Thankfully, I arrived at my interview 15 minutes early and I confidently entered the office knowing that my skill set was a very good match for the job. The interview went well…until the end. There was just something about the way she said, “You’ll hear from us in a couple of weeks,” that left me disappointed. Somehow I perceived that I was not going to be one of the two finalists selected for the final panel interview. I hope my gut instinct is wrong, but I left the interview deflated.

I didn’t need to be down for long, though, because I was meeting a former colleague for Happy Hour at 5:15pm. I rushed home, changed my clothes, and arrived at the restaurant five minutes early. Then I waited….and waited….and waited…and by 5:30pm my friend still hadn’t arrived. I ordered some wine and a couple of hors d’oeuvres…thinking she’d arrive any minute. (It wasn’t like her to be late.) Then, at 5:45pm I sent her a text and she replied, “I’m at the UW. I can’t make it tonight. I had it on my calendar for tomorrow night. I feel awful!” So there I was, sitting in a bar alone with drinks and hors d’oeuvres for two, feeling like I had a flashing-red beacon on my head saying, “I’m so embarrassed! I really was supposed to meet someone here tonight. Anyone care to join me?”

So I drove home and decided to lay low the rest of the night. I told my daughter, “Geez, what a day. It must have been a full moon or something.”

“It was a full moon!” she said.

Hmmm…Surprise, surprise.

My former colleague and I met tonight and after telling her about my weird day yesterday she said, “You might say you got mooned by the full moon yesterday.”

Indeed I did. And there are 29 days until the next one.