The Icing on Cake

I awoke an hour earlier than usual , after a very sleepless night with A., to get up with the older kids since D. usually does that but he is out of town. I went to make coffee, which he usually does and I for some reason HATE to do, only to find that we were OUT of coffee--the icing on the cake. I found a few crumbles and mixed them with some decaf and it was enough for one cup and enough to prevent a caffeine headache.

I called the doctor first thing in the morning to get an appointment for I. and I made one for T. as well, since she has had the same nose issues for a week, without the fever, and her entire face is chapped, giving her a Fred Flinstone beard and mustache look. First I had to talk to the nurse to even get an appointment, which irked me since I do NOT take my kids in at the first sign of a sniffle. Then the only appointment was at 9:15am. I called the dealership and they said I could come at 11am and I called my babysitter, who was going to watch K. while I had lunch with a friend to see if she could have him earlier so he wouldn't have to ride around to all of these places. She picked him up at 9am. I took the girls to the doctor, who agreed that I. has a sinus infection and prescribed antibiotics. He thinks T. is getting one and gave me a prescription with the instructions to wait a few days before filling it to see if she improves. I had him recheck A's ears and he said that they are still infected and painful and that she may be developing a sinus infection as well. He gave me an antibiotic prescription for her with the same instructions. They only charged me for 2 office visits--Yeah! the 2nd best thing that happened this week. I dropped T. at preschool, and off I. and I went to the dealership. (In the meantime the car was running normally again and the engine light had turned off!) My sister couldn't pick us up now because her kids had a half day of school so she had to get them at noon. We didn't have anything to entertain us so I stopped and bought a deck of cards. They had a nice children's playroom, with a Playstation (something we don't have at home and NEVER will!) so we played cards and video games. The repair took less than an hour and they also fixed the passenger side window which wouldn't roll down.

We blasted home and my friend came over so we could ride together to a rather late lunch. There was nowhere to turn around with her car and the sitter's in the the parking area so I attempted to back down the driveway, and got stuck in the snow. I just wanted so badly to do something fun and had been looking forward to this all week. It took the 2 of them and sacrificing my bathmat for traction to get me out. We had a lovely lunch, and I got home around 4:45pm. I was talking with D. who had called when I suddenly realized that I had to pick up young D. from a middle school dance! Off I went AGAIN. I stopped on the way home at the coffee shop to get a bag of coffee, and will be forever grateful to the nice young man who ran out to the car after I left the coffee I'd just purchased on the counter. My MIL pulled in the driveway just ahead of me.
We ordered pizza and she had brought DVDs. The kids enjoyed "Yours, Mine and Ours" with Lucille Ball and we watched "Shall We Dance?" with Richard Gere, who gets ever sexier with age. It was a GREAT movie, really romantic and affirming of marriage--I highly recommend it.