My, oh my. What a day I've had.
The plumber was scheduled to come today so he could run a gas line for our new range/oven. I asked Husband to write down exactly what the plumber was supposed to do. He said he did. Then, as he was leaving for work this morning, he said (and I quote), "I'll have my cell phone with me. You can call any time."
Feel free to fall down laughing with fake laughter. You know Husband went to a meeting without his cell phone and was unreachable for an hour and a half while the plumber made up little jobs for himself since he couldn't tell what Husband wanted from the list I gave him. Big fun, I'm telling you. BIG!
We finally reached Husband, they hashed things out (more drywall to be removed! more loss of various ceilings!), and the plumber took my money and left.
Then it was time for me to run my errands. As I was returning from some of said errands, I looked down to turn the radio channel. If you've ever ridden in a car with me, you know this can be detrimental. And it was. My tire nicked the edge of a guardrail. At first I actually thought I'd scraped the entire side of my van and I would surely have a lovely racing stripe. Then, as I drove into my neighborhood, I heard the most loud and obnoxious noise.
Oh. That would be MY car.
I pulled over, got out, and surveyed the damage. No racing stripe (yea!), but the tire was completely blown. I have never seen anything like it. It would have been cool to look at if it weren't my own car. I drove very slowly (and loudly) home. Thank goodness everyone on my street has at least two workers at their house this week. I would hate to sneak home without an audience. I'm telling you, having strange workmen look at you like you are a the biggest idiot they've ever seen does wonders for your self esteem. I recommend it.
I spent three hours and $300 at Hibdon Tires getting a new tire, an oil change, and having my brakes fixed (a little problem they found while fixing the other problems). Good times, I tell you. Good times.
During those three hours, though, I was able to practice my Continental knitting. And realized that I did not add any stitches this time ("this time" meaning the third freaking time I've knitted this particular project because I keep making mistakes!), but I had mysteriously LOST two stitches. Crap!
Now, you probably think I'm going to complain about what a bad day it was, don't you? (Probably because it reads like I'm complaining about what a bad day it was.) But that's wrong. It was NOT a bad day at all.
I practiced my knitting. I made mistakes, but I'm getting better at the Continental thing. And I'm learning to make a lace inset. Learning, people. Never a bad thing.
I called Shannon and she arranged to have my kids get off the bus at her stop so I didn't have to worry about not being home in time to greet my children. Good friends are awesome.
Then I ended up being done at Hibdon in enough time to arrive at Shannon's before my kids did. I was able to get Corrie from her nap and encourage her to go tinkle on the potty.
When all the kids got home from the bus, I got to go outside and watch them play while I pushed Corrie in her swing. I got to listen to Wild Thing tell Shannon about her most prized Bella Sara card (it's Star).
Finally, I got to watch the most amazing mothering moment. All the kids were jumping on the trampoline, including Corrie. She was a little disgruntled and frustrated because she wanted to be on the trampoline with the big kids, but she did not want to jump as high. Shannon tried to soothe her from the sidelines, but as soon as she turned to walk away, Corrie would begin to cry anew. What's a mother to do? Why, climb on up on the trampoline and sit with her daughter on her lap while the other kids bounced her to high heaven. And Shannon did. I watched with a smile and listened to the delighted laughter of five big kids and a toddler.
And I realized it was a great day.
