Days Like These

I started this blog as a way to deal with days like these. I had a sweet post ready in my head all about relationships, but fate had other ideas. I'll post about relationships later. Anyway.....

The day started off with both Rob and I muttering and swearing when we woke up at 6:30 to the dark (DST sucks). The rest of the day went well enough except for the fact that I was tired and itchy (yay! allergy season). I actually left work a little early and wasn't going to have to fly to the sitters. I ended up getting waylaid by a problem with a student and got to the sitters in the nick of time. Now I was running late and still had to return library books and go to the store (it was 5:45).

I finally pulled into the drive at 7:00. Not ideal, but enough time to have a quick dinner and give Lily a bath. I dragged half of the groceries in and let the dog out. As she tore down the stairs, I glanced at the gate and saw that it was unlocked. It was like a scene from a movie as I ran in slow motion yelling "Nooooo!" while the dog bolted through the gate. I have a very smart sweet dog, but she loves to run and will not come when called. I muttered "dammit", asked Caroline to take care of the rest of groceries, and put Lily in the car. Lily is a compulsive rule follower and was very perplexed at the idea of getting in the car without shoes. I drove slowly around the neighborhood while listening to the constant patter of :

"I miss my dog. Where is my dog. Boy a lot of people in this neighborhood have kitty cats, we don't have a kitty cat. We have a dog. I miss my dog. Where is my dog? Where are my shoes? Why aren't I wearing shoes. Mommy, that's a kitty cat you're yelling at. That's not Callie. You're so silly. Mommy that's an inappropriate word. Choose another one."

This pleasure drive went on for 15 minutes until I finally found the dog and convinced her that she wanted a ride. When I got home, Caroline had emptied all six bags of groceries into the middle of the kitchen floor in order to organize them before she put them away. After I slowly exhaled and told her that was one strategy, I suggested she run a bath for her sister. As the tub water ran, I looked at a kitchen with a floor full of groceries and a sink full of dishes (yeah those didn't get done yesterday). To add to it all I have a living room full of clean not yet folded clothes. I thought back to the conversation I'd had with the wise woman at the grocery store.

As I told Lily to stop whining, a lady walked by with a cart full of two crying boys. I looked at the middle aged woman in front of me and said "It's the melting hour." She replied "As a young mother I learned that this is why happy hour was invented."
Well I got through the groceries without any happy hour aids. I started on dishes and dinner (time check 7:45), when I saw a moth fly down from the ceiling. This fall I had fought (and thought I'd won) a battle against Indian Flour Moths. I started jumping and swatting at it like some sort of deranged cat. Caroline came into the kitchen and joined me. We lept all over the kitchen swatting until we finally achieved, in Caroline's words, "moth guts." So much for teaching her to respect all living things.

I wrestled Lily out of the tub, served them both pasta and started on the dishes.

By the time Rob got home (he was at soccer coach training) , the dishes still weren't done and I had a huge headache. I didn't yell or complain, though. That's progress.