Seriously, If My Head Wasn't Attached . . .

Updated to add: I only THOUGHT I was busy Friday! I labored over the following post for a little while Saturday morning, and then events overtook me in such a way that I was never even able to get back to my computer! Randy claims I would have SO much more time if I didn't have a computer; I claim that I don't get enough computer time as it is!

***************************
12/6/08
Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity framed by a whole bunch of productivity. Truly, I got more done in one day than I can remember accomplishing in recent memory (of course, my memory's not that long so that's not saying much).

I started the day by cleaning up the disaster zone that was Tyler's room, seeing as he was having a friend over to spend the night and he has the same head-attachment issues that I do. (Actual quote when I picked him and his friend up last night at 8:00 p.m.--(In a panicky voice) "Mom, is my room clean?" "Why, yes, I'd have to say it is practically spotless." "Whew!!!" See, he knows.)

By the time I got finished it was going on 11:15, and Christmas shopping was at the top of my to-do list. Christmas shopping is not something I generally look forward to because our budget is perpetually limited and I am not terribly creative (read: Stretching a dollar is not one of my talents), and this year was no exception because, hello, recession. I also felt heavy-hearted because I had a list of less-fortunate people for whom I was shopping (the kids are involved with special programs and missions at school) and no matter how empty my checkbook is, I know that there are many others who have far less than we do. But apparently I had to shop for my poor, neglected, forsaken five-year-old--while his brother and sisters each had one gift under the tree he had, um, NONE, and his sisters let it be known that that was simply unacceptable. Well then.

I arrived back at my house around 2:00, ravenously hungry but also desperate to get all my parcels wrapped and out of the way. So between bites of a chicken salad sandwich I cut, folded, wrapped and taped my bundles and even put together several gift bags for the girls' teachers. I was absolutely sweating by the time I had to leave to pick the kids up and Randy, who was relaxing in his chair all this time, helpfully said that it wasn't hot at all in the house . . . I just needed to slow down. Thanks for your help, Babe.

At 3:00 I headed out again, this time telling Randy I would see him again eventually. And following is a detailed list of my activities from the hours of 3:00 until approximately 6:00:

3:00 - 3:07 Drive to PCA
3:07 - 3:11 Sit in carpool line, collect Peyton
3:11 - 3:15 Wonder aloud where Tyler and Wesley are
3:15 - 3:17 Call Wesley's mom and arrange where to meet
3:17 - 3:20 Load Wesley's stuff in back of van, talk to Suzi for a bit
3:20 - 3:28 Put the pedal to the metal and rush Tyler and Wesley to Game Night
3:28 - 3:34 Back to PCA; sit in carpool line, collect Darcy and Cheyenne
3:34 - 3:37 Drive to the church building so Darcy and Chey can change clothes
3:37 - 3:50 Put donated toys in Emily's office, talk to Pat and J.C. for a moment
3:50 - 4:00 Drive to Alley Cats to drop Darcy and Chey off for a birthday party
4:00 - 4:20 Talk to other moms while waiting for birthday girl to arrive
4:20 - ??? Leave Alley Cats; wait in traffic on Cooper, Collins, and every road in between in my quest to get to Guitar Center, where my brother has assured me I can get the needed accessories to make Tyler's newly-acquired electric guitar something other than a dust-catcher in the corner of his bedroom. The bad news: My GPS device directs me flawlessly to . . . a road that is closed. Grrrrr. The good news: I make it to Guitar Center in spite of my Tom Tom (and without breaking any traffic laws), find what I need to make Tyler say "Ho Ho Ho Oh YEAH!!" on Christmas morning (although Me-maw and Pe-paw will get the credit) and head back out into traffic. Yay.
??? - 5:50 Drive to Blockbuster and get a couple of gifts for I'm-not-telling-who and pick up a movie that Randy has to watch for a class he's taking in January.
5:50 - 6:00 Make a frantic call to Randy's cell, trying to catch him while he is out and about, and arrange to have him pick up Darcy at Alley Cats while he is, you know, out and about.
6:01 - 6:02 Pull in garage; hit self in head, call Randy back and remind him that Chey's mom was planning to bring her home.

Is anybody besides me tired yet? And I'm not even finished! For a brief respite in which Randy threw together a pizza, Peyton and Sawyer caught a few minutes of Qubo on the tube and I caught my breath, I actually enjoyed my evening. The house was relatively quiet (well, except for the Christmas music Randy insisted on blasting from the bedroom speakers into the kitchen--bah humbug, y'all) and then we four sat peacefully around the table, enjoying each other's company and some kickin' pizza.

It was 'round about this time that I started mentally figuring what time we could expect Darcy home. Chey's mother, when arranging for me to take Chey to the party, had said, "We have a party to go to out that way so I'll get her--that's no problem," but because of her after-school duties (she teaches 4th grade) she couldn't get Chey to the party on time. Okay, you know how when you expect to hear a certain thing, you convince yourself that's what you heard, even when you didn't? Well, it was around 7:30 when the phone rang and I heard Darcy's voice on the other end saying, "Mom, are you coming?" that I realized I had been operating under a gross miscommunication. OH MY WORD, I'M AN HOUR LATE PICKING UP MY DAUGHTER FROM A BIRTHDAY PARTY!

As soon as my cell rang and Randy heard my enormous intake of breath, even while the phone was still to my ear he was maneuvering my arms into the sleeves of my coat, hooking my purse over my arm and handing me the keys to the van. How in the world could I have made such a colossal mistake? I mean, when I mess up, I mess up BIG.

The birthday girl's mom assured that she had nowhere else to be (except that her husband and another couple had gone ahead to dinner so, hmmm . . .) and that a couple of other girls had only just left (yeah, right); and on the bright side, I actually saved money when I committed my embarrassing gaffe because I was able to save myself a trip and simply swing by Jonathan's house on the way back from Alley Cats to pick up Tyler and Wesley. 'Cause you know, it's all about me . . .