Today, the kids and I were supposed to be at Stephanie and Tim's house at 1300 and stay well into the even-time.
What kept us from getting there until after 1800 - maybe 1900? - was not a migraine, but rather Rob's insidious habit of not planning ahead. I should have titled this post, "Why I Don't Let Him Plan Our Vacations Or Anything Else Of Import."
You see, he was supposed to get up at something like 0400, gather his things, and meet a bus at work at 0530 for a Chief-in-Training (CIT) trip to D.C. I left him where he fell asleep, downstairs on the couch, when I finally went upstairs at 0300; I was awakened at about quarter to 5 when he turned on the light and started ransacking the room. You would think, for something that was mandatory and for which he needed multiple items of specific apparel, that he would gathered everything together ahead of time and put it in one place, ready to be grabbed in the wee hours when he awoke. But he never did that. No, he never does that. And we spent the next two hours tearing apart all the dirty laundry, the clean-but-unfolded laundry, the clean folded laundry, his closet, his armoire, and everywhere else his CIT shirt could be, with no luck. No luck at all. It still hasn't been found.
It was also mandatory to wear that damn shirt.
He finally decided, having missed his bus, to wear a different Vinson shirt and drive up to D.C. himself. No sooner did he get on the road, though, than his tire blew out. His spare tire. Remember when I locked myself out of the house last week and he blew a tire on his way home to let me in? He still had the spare on and had never gone to buy himself new tires. And he was going to drive on that to D.C.
Not one for planning ahead, my husband.
Brilliant man. I swear, he is. But forethought is not his forte.
Soooooo, anyhow, anyway, he ended up calling in and saying he wasn't going to make this trip. I'll leave the rest of that conversation between him and his superiors. He walked home, found me once still wide awake, and crashed on the couch. Eventually, I joined him, and by that time it was nearly 0800.
Needless to say, I didn't wake up until after 1400. He and the kids had been up and about, and I'd actually heard them through the fog, but it wasn't enough to wake me up. I finally woke up just as they were leaving to go get new wheels for his poor car. I wasn't expecting him back anytime soon, as it had taken over five hours to get new tires put on my van the week prior. I was right.
I came into the office to find a box on the couch with my name on it, from my friend Nicole in Wisconsin. What? Huh? What's this? Last time she sent me something, it was an Asian fish that we now have mounted in a frame, along with some other Asian artifacts, in our bedroom, so I knew it was going to be something good. I pulled out a box of note cards! You should have seen me, Nicole, looking all over that first box to see if you were the artist of those cards and were sending me some to get your name out there, or something! Hehe! Then I dug deeper and found another box, which I immediately recognized as Mary Englebreit's. Hmmm. Digging even deeper, I found a third package just stuffed with cards, and a note, from Nicole, explaining that she'd seen on my blog that I use a lot of these, and she had tons, and here they were! I laughed and laughed, first over thinking that she had designed them, and then with the joy of having such a thoughtful friend. Thank you, Nicole! I will definitely use them!
{I also found a box on my desk, which contained my order from my friend Tabitha's website, and let's just say we tried out some things and we're going to have ourselves some fun in Europe!}
Ahem.
So I finally gathered myself together and went upstairs to shower for the first time since (*blush*) Wednesday (and if you're thinking I must have been absolutely skanky and nasty, you're right) and do some laundry. I accidentally washed a load of whites with nine soapnuts instead of four, but boy they were clean when they came out! And I made up our bed, which is an accomplishment, since all that stooping kills my poor back anymore.
Rob came home, but only briefly, to drop off the kids and go back and get his car. I still had another hour-plus wait for him, and hardly any food in the house, so I took them to Subway for lunch. Their power had just been out, so we had to sit and wait for five or ten minutes while they got everything re-set up again. The children roamed around looking at all the chips, the kids' toy displays, and generally making the manager nervous. So we sat. And in the end, the manager told me they were nice kids. Yeah, because they didn't steal anything!
I think. Wouldn't put it past Jack, though. He's got some grabby hands.
Anyway, we finally got on our way to Steph and Tim's, and I thought I knew my way without having to look up the directions. I was so totally wrong! I was just about to call her for directions when my dad rang in to tell me he was up and leaving South Carolina and heading for Ohio and greener pastures - next week! And also that a mystery shopping company had sent him a $4000 check and told him to keep $400 and... "Um, Dad? That's a scam." Could it be? Is my father succumbing to old age? He really got taken in by the most obvious swindle? He really just wanted it to be true, I guess... but he'd never done any mystery shopping. Hello, no mystery shopping company - no company, even - is going to be paying you before you do any work for them. Four grand, no less. Those of you who read my last WFMW on mystery shopping, take note: Never, ever, ever fall for these scams! You will always have to do the shop first and then be paid, up to two months later. Please, ask me, if you are unsure. I'm glad to help!
So I got him off the phone and was stopped with my hazards on the side of the road when a police car came up behind me and the two officers started getting out, hands on their weapons. Ummm... The one on my side starts peering in the windows at the back, rubbing his hand along side the car as he came to my window. What, can you feel if there are stolen goods or drugs inside? I told him we were lost, and where we were going, and he set us back on the right path. Dude had some seriously red hair. He looked kind of like Prince Harry. I decided not to tell him so.
We made it there soon after, and were introduced to their other guests before infiltrating the party with our little dog-bait children. Everyone else left, and we were there alone, just them and us. So we decided to play Disney Scene-It, while trying to retain some semblance of control over the children, and have ourselves a good time. It was fun. Fun game. Good for adults and children to play together, at least that version.
Afterward, we left to get the kids home to bed, and they were asleep before we left Chesapeake. Even in her carseat, Sophie gets into the most awkward positions to sleep. She appeared broken.
We put them down and watched We Are Marshall while I knitted on the stripey blanket. I have hardly anything left on the third panel and will be finishing that up tonight! I plan on showing you a finished product in tomorrow's blog! Yippee!! Finally something I can cover up with to which I won't be allergic. Oh, and the movie? We both gave it a 5. Hardly seems fair to give it less when it made both of us cry. Rob first. Yes, you did. Did, too.
Fin.
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