It's always something..........

I stole my title from my niece Sydney's blog, but it so describes our lives around here. Not a day goes by without some drama, large or small. Today started out by me being startled awake by my phone. Hayley was calling to tell me that she and Hannah had stopped by their dad's to get some clothes and their backpacks for school. But "in all the confusion" (huh?) she had forgotten to pick up her backpack so could I please call the school and excuse her from first period so she could drive back and get it? Not long after she walked in the door and I said "what are you doing here?" to which she replied, "I guess my backpack is actually here". Where it was in the first place. The house she left from this morning. Sigh.

Then, I got a text from Arlie saying she had forgotten her PE clothes and could I drop them by during lunch? What the....? Do these kids think I just sit around all day waiting to be beckoned for some menial service to them? I was getting ready for work at the time, but Jeff generously offered to drop the (still dirty) gym clothes off  on his way to work (by bike, mind you). Problem solved.

Then I got a text from Colin. You're right, I don't have a child named Colin, but this child is one of the "drama kids" who frequents my house and he thought he might have left his wallet here on Saturday night after the dance.  I texted him back that I'd look around for it, and headed to work.

Four hours later, I left work and went straight to Costco to purchase New York steaks, salmon and shrimp for a Valentine's day feast. On the way home, I got a call from my neighbor and got distracted from my mission to stop at Walgreen's. I ended up at home, scarfed down a reheated piece of veggie pizza, and set to work doing Disneyland vacation arrangements in order to get everything squared away so we could surprise the kids with the trip at dinner.

Colin texted me after school was out and asked if he could come by and search the house for his wallet. I let him. He came by again, later, with Brie, and they both looked, but no luck. This is the second wallet Colin has lost in as many months. He also has a chronic key loss problem, but he's not my child so I will not judge. (Love you, Colin!)

Arlie arrived home and chatted with me for a while, necessitating me hiding my computer screen and waiting for her to leave so I could continue my work on the super secret mission. Then, Harrison arrived home and told me that the whole class got Valentines from their parents today except him. WTF? I sent his Valentine in - put it in the teacher's box myself. I was fuming. Fired off an email and then decided I needed to go to Walgreen's anyway so headed up to the school. Solved the mystery when the teacher opened a box of file folders and discovered ALL of her mail (including several valentines for other students) in the box. Problem solved - Harrison got his Valentine AND his teacher gave us a whole container of red velvet cupcakes to take home. (Saved me making dessert!).

We headed to Walgreen's to pick up the one item I needed for the super secret project and went home. I was not home five minutes when I got a call from Hayley. She and Hannah had been in a car accident. I grabbed my purse and keys and was out the door again in a flash. Spent the next 45 minutes in the center turn lane on Bothell-Everett Highway talking to a police officer about the accident (luckily, not serious - rear-ender, but both girls now have neck pain!). Finally, finally got home again and locked my bedroom door so I could finish up the project.

Jeff arrived home and started dinner while I worked on the plan. Five cards, five notes and five Mickey Mouse stuffed animals ready for the big reveal. Set the table and dinner was served. Video cameras at the ready, we let the kids read their notes. Lots of screaming ensued. Video was uploaded to Facebook. Spent too much time on Facebook after uploading video. Ate too many sweets in celebration of Valentine's day. Finally took my computer to bed with me because I couldn't sit up any longer, but was having an IM conversation with my cousin and didn't want to cut it short. And here I am, staying up way too late again, blogging about my busy day.

Hm. Maybe I should just get more sleep?