Is it over yet?

The week, I mean.

Monday featured a field trip to Independence Lake, a recreation area, with I's 2nd grade class. The kids see and hear a presentation about amphibians which includes slides, recordings of frog and toad calls, and live frogs and toads to hold. From there you go out to the swamp, also known as a vernal pool, scoop up muck from the bottom using a large net, and dig through it for living things like snails, crawfish, bugs, and eggs. The weather was absolutely delightful, featuring both rain and snow. This activity is followed by a picnic, usually outdoors, but we ate indoors due to the inclement weather. On the way home it hailed large chunks of ice, astonishingly hard, leaving a one inch coating on the ground.

Tuesday J. went to the orthodontist, a place that is always a little nerve wracking to take the little ones to, since it is located in a beautifully restored historic mansion. The waiting area is luxurious and quiet. Thankfully, they are always on time, so the wait was very short. I was requested to come into the exam room, which is unusual. After 2 years of spacers, braces and retainers she is hardware free! She doesn't need to wear the retainer any more.

Wednesday morning was a La Leche League meeting which I was leading. As a Leader I should get there early to help set up and be prepared, but I skated in just as the meeting was supposed to begin. It was a good meeting. The official title was "The Advantages of Breastfeeding" but I decided to focus on the emotional aspects rather than just the health, convenience, and economic advantages that are usually discussed. I asked moms what their baby would say the biggest advantage is, and I asked them how breastfeeding had changed them as a person. A nice discussion ensued.

That evening we discovered nits in L's hair. We knew he'd been exposed to head lice, and had checked several days prior and found nothing, so were relatively unconcerned. We've never had lice before, and I'd always dreaded it. Luckily he was the only one with any, and he has short, sparse hair. I wasn't sure at first that they were nits, although they did cling to the hair shaft like glue as described, but we examined one under the kids' microscope, and compared it to photos we found on this website: www.headlice.org. I kept him home the next morning and combed them all out. He had around 20 or so. He stayed home the rest of the day and after finding his head clean the next morning I sent him to school. I spent the rest of the day vacuuming furniture and laundering bedding. The psychological scalp itching has been the worst part for me.

Thursday night I. had a 2rd grade concert, featuring singing. It was nice, but made the evening challenging. I started out behind due to Mt. Washagain in the laundry room, and was trying to pay the bills. I lost track of time while trying to get Quicken to do a year end file saving and creating a new one, which not only didn't work, but seemed to crash the program making my file unrecoverable. ARGHHH! False alarm, I was able to restore the checkbook file.

I took I. to her piano lesson, but was now 15 minutes late to pick up J., inconveniencing her soccer coach, who waited until I arrived, despite my phone call assuring him that I was almost there and he didn't need to wait, since she was outdoors at the highschool where there are crowds of people attending many other events, making it a safe place to wait. D's practice ended at the same time as J's so I was even later to get him, but his coach didn't feel compelled to wait. I raced home, getting a phone call just as I approached the house informing me that "Keegan had a blowout." He was soaked, and when I changed him I discovered his apparatus was pointed up (not how I'd left it so he must have been exploring). I raced out the door and took J. to piano and picked up I. Then I went back to get J. 20 minutes later, at 6pm. In between I threw together leftovers, cheese crisps, sandwiches, for the kids to eat. Then off to the concert at 6:45pm. When we returned, as I walked in the door I smelled the unmistakable odor of poop. I was quickly informed that K. had ANOTHER blowout, #2 this time. D. had swabbed him off with wet hand towels (has he never heard of a diaper wipe, or "butt wipe" as they are known in our house?) K. had refused to get in the bath because D. had unknowingly tried to lure him in with a large swimming turtle that K. is terrified of in the bath. He loves it when he is outside the bath and it is in. I cleaned up the heap of poopy clothes and towels, tracked down K. and put him in the bath. Daryl went upstairs with antibacterial wipes and wiped off the remote and several other items that K. had managed to smear.

Friday dawned with me feeling a little depressed and overwhelmed. The kitchen was a wreck, the bills still weren't paid, Mt. Washagain hadn't diminished in size, and we were completely out of fruit, milk and several other staples, like diapers in A's size. I attempted to whine to my depressed sister, but she was easily able to one-up me in a game of "who is having the worst day." I was able to wrap one of K's big diapers around A. and after successfully whining to a friend on the phone, off we went. We stopped at the Golden Arches for sustenance and then visited Meijer, a store that is similar to a Super W--a grocery store combined with a low cost array of "stuff" ranging from lawn chairs and bbqs to clothing to toys. I detest this store because of its poor service and unpleasant atmosphere, but it defines one stop shopping, not to mention low cost. This store has an unusual bagging arrangement. As the cashier fills bags she loads them onto a small bag carousel and keeps turning it. It is the customer's job to take the bags off the carousel and put them in the cart. However, if you have a large order, which I invariably do, since I avoid this store if it all possible, so when I go I need EVERYTHING, you are still unloading your cart when the carousel is full, since they don't put very many items in their flimsy plastic sacks. The cashier then proceeds to stand there and WATCH while you stop unloading your cart to remove the bags and put them in another cart, if you are so lucky to have one. A typical response is, *Heavy sigh* "I suppose you're going to need a second cart?" as they phone for someone to bring a cart over to their register. On Friday I had to snag my own extra cart from an employee passing by. The cashier stood there staring off into space, completely ignoring me and the 3 small children I had just finished dragging through the store for 90 minutes, as I loaded the bags into the cart and then resumed my unloading of the $300 of groceries onto the belt. At one point I attempted to ask her a question, but after 3 attempts all I got was "Are you talking to me?" She was apparently trying to wait on me while pretending that I was not actually there. I then informed her that I would need assistance pushing the 2nd cart out of the store. This was greeted by another sigh, and she grudgingly phoned for help.

(Only once while shopping at this store have I had a cashier bother to put a sack into my cart. When I commented on her behavior she told me that it is store policy that they still must help any customer that needs it, especially those with small children. I was astonished and told her of my past experiences. She said that many cashiers are unaware of the store policy on this issue.)

One of my purchases at Meijer on this day was a large bottle of premixed margaritas, and I was planning to have a little "happy" hour. On my way up the hill from the car to the house, it slipped from my hand, dousing my feet and the path with broken glass and mighty tasty smelling margaritas.

I took the kids to Dairy Queen (they ask me to take them EVERY DAY! As if.. LOL) On our way home after ruining our dinner, Daryl called. He was just departing the retirment party of his former advisor and colleague. The official party was over but people were heading to a local restaurant/pub with a beautiful patio and backyare, one of our former hangouts and a place I love but rarely go these days. He said he would meet us at the 7pm piano recital. I was counting on his help with dinner, or I would have once again served "whatever" had I known he wouldn't be there. I rushed through the barbequing of hamburgers, cleaning up of faces and out the door again. Daryl was late, and K. felt he needed to speak to me in his loudest voice, so after a few minutes, I had L. take him outside, where, thankfully, there was a playground. Daryl arrived just in time to change the recently filled diaper of K. :) He missed the girls' performances but after the recital during the refreshments they got back on stage and played for him.