Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Apparently...I Can't Stay Away

Today was one for the books.  Andy heard a weird clanking sound in his car, so he ended up taking the van to work and I was left with the Lexus, trying to figure out how to get it fixed.  First, I asked if I could exchange carpool pick-ups, then I asked my friends who all live nearby and have kids in the same classes as my #2 and #3, and then I was left with just #4 (#1 already went to school).  But before that could even happen, let's talk about my kids.  My kids have now been eating cold cereal and toast for breakfast, pretty much every single day.  I used to offer them hot breakfast like scrambled eggs, pancakes, breakfast burritos, breakfast sandwiches, the whole nine yards.  At a certain point over the summer, they began to see the joy of cold cereal and have never looked back.  Hot breakfast became a thing of the past.  But with packing lunch almost everyday for Jordan, I didn't mind it so much.  Today, as I was scrambling to call different car repair places and the Lexus dealer, while texting the mom friends to exchange carpools and arrange for my kids to hang with their buddies before school started, my kids decided this was the day they were craving some scrambled eggs.  Not wanting to get a pan out, I did the mom hack of microwaving scrambled eggs in a bowl (be sure to spray the boil and plate that goes on top with tons of oil first) and my kids devoured it, as if they had never had eggs in their lives, telling me how wonderful it was to have scrambled eggs for breakfast.  Of course.

I had a quick work call (so the television babysat my kids), and then managed to get a load of laundry in before and make sure my kids were all dressed with their teeth brushed, before we made our way out to fix the car.

I ended up going to the Lexus dealer, because I wanted that free ride home in case it would take longer, and there I could rest and wait for all my older three kids to get home. That, and I love dealer lounges because if I'm going to wait there, I'd much rather wait on a nice couch, or in a dirty play area (versus a dirty waiting area), and I am glad I chose the Lexus dealer, because that customer waiting area was phenomenal!  They had Jimmy John sandwiches (cut into fourths but I had three little ones), yogurt, granola, salted nuts, soda, water, tea, coffee, packaged crackers and fresh cookies.  Cooper and I enjoyed the dirty play area, the free hand sanitizer nearby, and lots of chamomile tea on top of the yogurt and sandwiches I had for lunch.  I read some magazines, watched some TV, and chilled with Cooper while he looked around from inside the confines of the Ergo, or crawled around to play with the toys in their dirty toy room.  No really, it was disgusting in there, there was a piece of cookie being devoured by a group of hungry ants in one corner, we didn't stay for long in there, even the couch parents sit on was filthy, but Cooper did eat his cookie in there so I'd feel less guilty about the mess he made.

Turns out this huge drill bit was stuck in our tire, and clanking against the inside of the car, and sure enough, it ruined our tire.  Well, we needed new tires anyway, so we counted ourselves quite lucky, and $48 dollars and 3 hours later, we were off.  I'd call it a successful day.

And yet... adulting is no fun.  So many things got overlooked, no laundry got folded today, we had quesadillas, leftover chili, and pho noodles in a bowl from Costco for dinner, and the dishes didn't get cleared until late at night.  I still have to call insurance to see if Jordan's teeth anesthesia can be covered (any little bit helps!), and many other little errands of calling someone or following up on something Andy asked me to do a week ago.  I mean, that's the kind of stuff I live off of normally, but when a wrench or a drillbit gets in your way, it all gets put on hold, and that throws me off guard a bit.  I truly absolutely love being at home with my kids, it's a true blessing to be able to, especially when most of my closest friends are the breadwinners or all have to work along with their husbands, I count my lucky stars that I get to be home with my kiddos, but then something like this happens and I'm reminded that as good as I have it, I'm still an adult who has to deal with adult problems from time to time.  *sigh.  Remember when my biggest dilemma was what to wear to the first day of school?  I don't long for those days, but then again, maybe I do.

And ultimately, the point is, I want to keep blogging, whether it's personal or public, or a combination of both, because I love looking back and seeing that this is how I felt or what I wrote at that time.  I want to remember the tender mercy of being able to handle this car stuff while Andy's at work.  Of having relatives nearby who can come pick me up if the Lexus dealer can't take me.  Of feeling like my village of mom neighbors and carpool buddies can help me out when I get a day like this.  So yes, apparently... I can't stay away.