A Day in the Life . . .

*Warning: Very long, totally uninteresting post, about my adventures in chaos.

Today started off, much like any other day. Up early to get Bayleigh ready for school . . . breakfast with the kids . . . threw in a load of laundry . . . loaded the dishwasher. The average and mundane, with a gorgeous sunrise thrown in for good measure. Everything was good and right in my world.

I randomly checked my email and caught up on a few blogs, and I was shocked speechless, when I found out I'd won 2 tickets to CKC's Vendor Fair in St. Paul, MN! (THANK YOU CATHY Z.!!) I was totally stoked and in my excitement, I was making all kinds of plans to finish what I could on helping with the addition, so I might actually get a shot at going.

And then around 11:30, the school nurse called. "Your daughter has broken out in a rash and it's spreading all over her body." Of course, being me, my mind immediately jumped to every horrendous outcome possible. I called my mom, my hubby at work, and the pediatrician's office, to fill them in on the details and get her in to be seen. I broke several land-speed records on the way to the doctor's office (which is about a forty-five minute drive, on an average day), and sent up many a prayer for everyone's well being.

Come to find out, she has Fifth Disease, which is really common in kids her age, and she shouldn't have to miss any school or anything atrocious like that. Alrighty then . . . mom's blood pressure returned to a somewhat normal level, until . . .

We stopped by to see my hubby at work (right across from the Pediatrician's office). He had planned on making a trip to Springfield (an hour and 15 minute drive from home), to pick up a piece for the hardwood floor, and exchange a light fixture at Lowe's. However, he hadn't had time to make the trip before work, and thought that since I was already that far South, I could just mosey in and get things picked up and exchanged. NOOOOO PROBLEM!

Mind you I had the polka dotted 5 year old, who seems to have a hearing problem, and Hurricane Eli on board. This would have been a challenge for me on a day WITHOUT the kids . . . seeing as how I very seldom get out. Let alone drive in city traffic . . .

So, being the loving, accommodating, wife that I am, I just bit the bullet. I had to go grocery shopping anyway. *sigh* The trip down was all in all, better than I could have hoped for. We ran through Wendy's for a quick bite, got fuel, and headed South.

I made it to my first stop without getting lost or causing any road rage that I'm aware of. And then I mistakenly thought that since things went so well at the first stop, I'd treat myself to Hobby Lobby, before finishing up at Lowe's.

I wish someone would have been there to just slap some common sense into me, before that thought had even sprouted. The polka dotted kid was running on high octane, and I literally had to PRY her off the paper racks in the scrapbooking section. And "Hurricane Eli" was fussing and wanting his John Deere snacks. Luckily I had what the boy was hankering for and he calmed down for the better part of the visit. When I thought I'd just got things to a manageable shopping level, I started in on the 50% off papers (I'm a paper addict!).

And then Bayleigh decided she needed to use the restroom. (*I'm gonna sigh a lot in this post, so please forgive me.) *SIGH* I swear the kid has to potty every place we stop. What is it about kids and restrooms?! After she finished her business, I drug the kids back to the paper section and started shopping. I was quick, ruthless, spent less than $50.00 AND could wallpaper the whole house with all the paper I bought. (Like I really NEED any more scrapbooking paper!) But what a way to let off a little "shopping with the kids" steam!

That was another swing up on the roller coaster, I've been riding today. Gas was also $3.19 per gallon, and I consider that a good thing, compared to the $3.80 something it's been here recently.

And you might get ready to hold your hands above your heads and scream at the top of your lungs, because we're getting ready to go back down!

The stop at Lowe's was less than rewarding. All I had to do was exchange a light fixture. The girl at the customer service desk credited the return to the Lowe's card, and told me to just pick up another one and run it through the service desk, where they could look up the credit card number for me, as I didn't have the card on me. Welllllll . . . I got to the service desk with my exchange and was unable to put it on the Lowe's card as my hubby's name was the only one on the card and he wasn't there with me. Eli was screaming and Bayleigh was doing the wacky dance at the check out and I just didn't have the wits about me to think about charging it to my own personal credit card. So I apologized to the checker and just told him we'd get it later. I felt like a complete moron, and the thought of donating my children to science, may have crossed my mind for a few moments.

On the trip back North, the kids decided to check their tonsils, which normally doesn't bother me . . . but by mile 23.5, it was beginning to make me a little tense. I mean 23.5 miles of "AHHHHHHHHHHHH" at varying decibels, can make my left eye start doing that weird twitchy thing, which can really throw your depth perception off, when you're trying to drive. This is when my friend Nancy called me on my cell phone, wanting to see if I could come over and help her download her photos from Europe, to a disc. I told her I'd call her in the morning and we'd get them downloaded. Today wasn't looking good for me.

Thankfully we made it to our next stop safely. Unfortunately that stop happened to be *SIGH* . . .

Wal-Mart . . . The name just makes me want to cringe. All you have to do is walk in the door and it automatically sucks your wallet dry. And the weird thing is, you never really come out with anything substantial. (*Aw well, that's another topic for discussion.*)

I got both kids in the cart, which is truly the only way to shop if you have small children, and made the super sonic trip through the store. I had planned on making out my list BEFORE going in the store, however, due to the rushed nature of the trip, I hadn't had time to complete it. I was pretty proud of myself . . . I didn't pick up that many "extra items", and I think the only thing I forgot was Kleenexes. WHEW! I swear I filled up the cart and was standing at the checkout in under 30 minutes! (That has to be another land-speed record somewhere.) Bayleigh had to exit the cart at the snack isle, due to cart overload, so I could have shaved off even more time, if I hadn't had to keep her from climbing the shelves, and picking up stray objects off the floor. UGH!

Standing at the checkout, I thought I was finally home free! There was one person checking out in front of me and they were almost done checking out. However, this person must have either known the checker, or needed some massive psychological therapy . . . he stood there and chatted with her for another 10 minutes, while I was frantically trying to hold Eli in the cart (cuz those little seat belt strappy thingies don't really work), keep Bayleigh out of the candy bars (WHY DO THEY TORTURE MOTHER'S BY PUTTING CHOCOLATE AT THE CHECKOUT?!), and put my own purchases on the conveyor belt.

When it was finally my turn to checkout . . . I found the checker to be slower than molasses running uphill in January, with a less than intelligent demeanor. It must have been something about her comment about how fun it was shopping with kids. Brilliant deduction there, Watson! *Note: If you ever shop with me . . . don't let me pick the line . . . I couldn't pick a good one to save my sweet salami on rye.*

After strapping the kids back in their car seats, so I could unload the groceries in peace, I decided I couldn't possibly make it home without a chocolate shake for the trip home. So we stopped at Sonic. And being the considerate wife, that I hope I am, I called hubby to see if he'd like me to pick him up something to eat for supper. I ended up ordering a large portion of the menu, for him and his co-workers and dropped it all off at the hospital for them to sort out.

Then we finally headed for home! The kids fell asleep and I got to enjoy a quiet 45 minutes, and a beautiful sunset.

Luckily Eli stayed asleep in his car seat long enough for me to unload the groceries and feed the dogs.

As soon as we got in the house, I popped a pizza in the oven and got both kids in the bathtub for their nightly bath. That's when I'd found that the load of laundry I'd started this morning was still in the washer. So . . . I started it up again. *SIGH*

But alas . . . it doesn't end here . . .

At 8:30 p.m., my old employer, the Sheriff, knocked on my door, to let me know they were going to be monitoring the gravel road across from my house. (*One of my neighbors has a booming drug business . . . a little meth, a little pot, and who knows what all. That gravel road has rush hour traffic at all times of the day and night.)

Of course it was a little embarrassing to be caught in my p.j.'s with the kids running around in their underwear/diaper, but hey . . . it's all good, and I couldn't have cared less what the Sheriff's department was doing, just so long as there wasn't a serial killer/rapist/murderer on the loose in my neck of the woods.

So the kids finished up supper, I threw the clothes in the dryer, and we went upstairs to bed. When I got to the top of the stairs, I could smell cat pee. OH JOY! (I'll fill you in here . . . About a month ago, I bought one of those high dollar self cleaning litter boxes at an auction for $4.00. One of the cats is terrified of it and goes spastic every time it cycles. So I had set him up a separate litter box in another area, so he wouldn't use our furniture as a waste receptacle. Apparently his litter box wasn't clean enough for his liking, so he reverted to using the kid's bean bag chair, which I'd already laundered once already.) Okay . . . where was I? Oh yes! So I went ahead and got the kids ready for bed, and searched it out. It wasn't hard to find. He'd used the kid's bean bag chair again. Unfortunately, said chair had a few books in it. I removed both the chair and the books, and then got the kids to sleep. As soon as they were out, I headed downstairs to clean out Elvis's litter box. When I finished, I decided to move his litter box right next to the new one (so he could get a little better acquainted with it), and then I proceeded to show him where I'd moved it.

The cat went APE! He ended up ripping a hole in the leg of my pajama bottoms, and leaving about a 6 inch, bleeding gash down my shin bone. I waited until he calmed down and "found" his litter box, and then I doctored my wound, and went up to bed. FINALLY! Blissful sleep!

But OH NO . . .

I swear I couldn't have been asleep more than a few minutes when the phone rang. It was 20 minutes 'til midnight. And it was the Sheriff . . . letting me know that all was well and that they had had a fairly successful night. Truly I'm glad . . . but couldn't it have waited until morning?!

I finally dropped off to sleep, only to get up around 2:30 a.m. to go to the bathroom and doctor my throbbing leg.

Hubby had made it home safely from work and was doing some of his homework. He starts clinicals next week . . . and for me, that means single parenting for the next month. *SIGH*

Just another day in paradise! And do I feel a sore throat coming on? . . . *SIGH*

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