Survived..

It has been a poor week for posting, hasn't it? I apologize. Maybe I will do better next week. Thursday was our bi-monthly Errand Day, the Big 'Un, that is. Hubby had forgotten to grab his check Wednesday evening, so we started our day heading to the town where he works, about 30 minutes away. That takes a while, because our his dog only sits and stays on the porch for a short time. She then proceeds to chase the car down the driveway, which is followed by my backing up the driveway, followed by my placing her on the porch with commands to sit! stay! Wash, rinse, repeat until you give up and don't care if the dog follows you to the road and gets mashed. She won't be spayed until next Wednesday, at which point I'll have the $70 to regret. I finally drove to Hubby's work, where my eldest daughters informed me that they "could not find" their shoes before we left. That's right. They climbed into the car without their shoes in 25 degree weather. For our big errand day. To give me a chance to learn patience and grace, I suppose. Nice of them. I found a pair of shoes for Little Monkey in the trunk, so she wore those, but Big Sister was without footwear for the duration. Once in Town (another 20 minutes another direction), I discovered that Hubby had borrowed my American Express/warehouse membership card. Which makes the shopping and errands much more complicated. I would survive, though. I would.

Apparently last Thursday my nice Camry was invisible. We didn't get into any accidents, but had several close calls with drivers slowly turning out right in front of me, or turning where they weren't supposed to and blocking my access in the midst of heavy traffic. Is it the holidays? Do all the idiot less-skilled drivers hit the streets in December? I'm sorry to report that I temporarily lost my salvation when an old man mosied his car to keep me from the lane to get me to the gas station that we were in dire need of. U-turns in busy traffic? Guess so! I did repent, though. Eventually we found a parking space at the Members-Only-Warehouse. After getting a temporary "pass" from the membership desk, we began our shopping. Big Sister ran ahead to a stuffed-animal bin where an employee spotted her stockings and informed her, "Little girl, you cannot be in here without shoes! You must put your shoes back on." I approached from behind and asked, "Do you sell shoes in her size?" She looked at me like I was real Mother-of-the-Year material for dragging my kindergartener about in below-freezing weather. Which I already knew, of course. "Well, then, you'll just have to stay in the cart" she told her. "It's against OSHA rules to be in here without shoes." The woman and I both glanced into said cart, which was already full to the brim with Little Monkey (who, shoes or not, cannot be 'on the loose' in the store), and the baby carrier. I had barely begun the 'shopping.' I had Big Sister stand on the lower bar and hold on while I made our way through the bustling holiday shoppers to a quiet corner where we could rearrange the seating. The corner did not remain quiet, however, when I tried putting Baby in my nice new Ergo Carrier (thankfully I'd brought it into the store!). Trying to get Howling Baby situated while her sisters ate their food-samples - one in the cart and the other carefully avoiding the floor by sitting on pallets of dog food - was a challenge for my already-frustrated self. Big Sister managed to get herself seated next to Little Monkey in the cart (this one had no child-seat in it), and I was faced with the daunting task of getting the infant carrier to the rack below the cart. With Darling Baby crying at the top of her lungs. Still. I'm not used to the Ergo enough to be comfortable leaning over and using two hands to accomplish a task, and kicking the carrier wasn't going to situate it carefully among the potatoes. Why, oh why does my girls' only stay-at-home-grandma live hours away? Because I left home and married and settled hours away, that's why. Note to self: Consider that in next life. God sent a Ministering Angel, also known as Another Employee to assist me in my High Calling of situating the baby carrier carefully among the potatoes.

We did make it home, without wrecking the car or getting arrested by OSHA. I even unloaded the perishables from the trunk, and was a pleasant wife when Hubby returned home from work. Progress is being made here. Real progress.

And, my second-babiest toe on my right foot was in excruciating pain the whole time too. We survived. Maybe even conquered. Next time: Be more than conquerors!