Month: March 2008

Note: If you don’t want to read this, you can get the summary by reading how to turn a $2 pair of scissors into a digital camera.

Morning begins last night

Got home at 2am and went to sleep. Woke at 4am to clean up puppy poo. Went back to bed.

Work and paperwork

Woke decently early to do some programming and file taxes for Tommy’s student loan paperwork. Decided a bath was in order and if I pushed it I could still pick Sarah up at 11am. Didn’t push it.

Taxi service and administrative admin

Got Sarah at 11:20am but the mother and everyone left (2 more girls) but Sarah and the party girl were still sleeping. Embarrassed Sarah by calling her emo on the phone in a call to a hair stylist. Made an appointment for 2:30pm. Got home to find out that Sarah and her friend wanted to do this hair stylist thing together. Why didn’t Sarah say that in the car? Tommy also has a D&D game at Books-a-Million at 2pm. Called stylist again further interrupting her from her present client. Moved appointment to 3:30pm as a joint appointment. Sarah tells the plan to the friend. Friend’s mother calls and person she talks to can’t find them on the books so she makes their appointment for 2:30pm. I call the other mother on my left holding phone to left ear. On another phone, on the right ear, I call stylist back further interrupting her present client. We sort things to 2:30pm. Girls rush to prepare themselves. As I realize that of the quarter inch of paperwork, I only have to turn in a single sheet for Tommy’s student loan and it must me postmarked today! The post office closes at 3pm. That answers the, "who is going and who is staying?" question.

Mobilization!

The house erupts into chaos as commands are shouted and all hands work to dress small children, inspect faces, comb hair, walk dogs, load diaper bags, find trench coats (Tommy just watched The Matrix for the first time), and roll out. The sick one happily volunteers to stay home talking on the phone and playing on the computer and sorta watch the dogs.

Road trip

Fortunately we started on the back roads which were traffic free and spat us out at Books-a-Million at 2:02 right as one of Tommy’s friends were unloading. The others were just in the door of books a million and were happy to see Tommy. It is so nice to see Tommy with friends. We turn east on Kingston Pike noting that westbound is at a standstill for no apparent reason. At 2:15 Sarah and Cathy are deposited at High-tech Salon. After spending several minutes convincing Amy to put her seatbelt back on, we are speeding off to the post office but first a challenge. As we approach the intersection at the mall, the traffic signals are flashing red and yellow. Eastbound has 2 turn lanes north, 3 lanes east, and 1 turn lane south. Westbound has 2 turn lanes south, 2 lanes west, and 1 turn lane north. Southbound has 2 turn lanes east, 2 lanes south, and 1 lane west. Northbound has 1 turn lane east, 2 lanes north, 1 turn lane west. Everyone is trying to go at once. If I was alone and had a whistle I would have gotten out and directed traffic! Instead I used my handy dandy aggressive driving skills to brown a few shorts and wiggle my way through the cluster duck unscathed. We make it to the post office and get our paperwork postmarked with certified delivery with time to spare.

Home for calm

Amy, Evan and I return home to give Evan a nap, check on the sick one, make sure the dogs have been walked and left me focus. A few minutes later I get the call that the grandparents are on their way to pickup Amy and Evan. I rush to the church clothes out, diaper bag prepared, and pull up a hay bail to try to cover some of the muddy yard but the hay is wet, moldy and unusable. Our front yard has degraded into such a mess I am considering having some sod delivered despite my desire to have an eco-lawn. A bouncy Amy is loaded into the grandparents car; a zonked, sleeping Evan is also loaded into the car. And I decide to check on the girls.

The Land of Esoteric Businesses

I arrive at High-tech Salon to see smiles on staff, clients and mothers. My girl is sitting under a hair dryer having aluminum foil glued into her hair. Her friend is resting on a sink. I relax in a hair dryer chair and kick my feet up for a few minutes before deciding I should go exploring. The shopping complex was very interesting. Leaving the salon I found a business about the size of my kitchen that was another salon but completely in Spanish. Beside that was a Spanish travel agency. Across the parking lot was an Indian grocery which intrigued me. I walk in "Marahba!" The owner looks up at me, "What you want!" Oops. Hello in Hindi is "nameste." Peruse and leave. Ignore the Spanish grocery or is that a Spanish employment agency. Look! Something in English. Driving school. The same strip actually has two driving schools which speaks volumes. It also has two different consignment stores and a chocolate factory. I decide to find some umpa lompas.

Sweets for the sweeties

After deciding on some chocolate for Cathy, I realize my wallet is in the car. I return to High-tech to confirm that I still have time to buy them sweets and in the process I get several other orders for chocolate. We get Cashew Wispers, dark chocolate dipped cordials, milk chocolate dipped cordials, dark chocolate caramels, milk chocolate caramels, chocolate covered peanut butter and one with rice crispies in the batch, and I decide a little fudge is in order for me. I finish as the the girls finish and I almost don’t recognize Sarah! Her make-over went really well.

Resupplying

The shelves have been barren far too long and Tommy is not finished. We have handed Sarah off to the grandparents and decide to go to Sam’s. I really don’t know how our family would get on without Sam’s Wholesale Club! Nothing feels quite as good as buying one package of toilet paper (72 rolls) that I know will last us an entire month. Of course, I rarely enjoy the cash register. I can usually predict the total and I swoon. But the dry goods will last most of the month and the food a week.

Evening meltdown

I prepare dinner. Call the boys to the table but they are each too caught up in their games. Their loss. Cathy and I enjoy a meal together and eventually the boys show up complaining, "we never hear you." I am pitiless. We have dinner roughly the same time each night besides I kept their meal warm. After a long day my logical side wants to settle into the computer and get some work done. My brain is fried and all I can settle into is the television and bed. Typical Saturday. It was fun!