A perfect day until............

Have you ever had one of those absolutely perfect days that happen once a year or so?  Today was one of those days.  I got up.  Had a load of laundry washing BEFORE 7:30AM!!!!  Around 8:00AM started the housecleaning.  Callie and I vacuumed carpets, washed floors, walls, chairs, swept down cobwebs(yes, I cleaned these up just for you, Sarah), made beds, cleared clutter, put away clean laundry.  By 10:15, the house was clean and we were getting ready to leave on Callie's 'field trip'.  We had planned a trip to the mall.  They have a small indoor playground that she loves to play on.  As a bonus, we stopped and picked up a few cuts of Christmas fabric at Jo-Anns.  Then it was a stop for a GIANT cookie slice at the Cookie Co.  This was Callie's first cookie from this place.  She was over the moon.  She spied Santa and wanted to go see him.  While there, she got a coupon for another FREE cookie(now WHY didn't we go there before I PAID for a cookie???) and a cookie cutter.  Next stop, was the indoor playground.  After that, she chose to go to Burger King for her lunch.  Everything was perfect.  She was listening and having fun and BEAMING from ear to ear!!!  After lunch, it was on to the bank to get some cash for our groceries.  I hit pay dirt and found 2 GIGANTIC homemade-style pepperoni pizzas at Aldis for $1.99!!!!  They were on clearance.  The expiration date was not until the end of next week.  I was over the moon with this find.  I had wanted a pizza dinner for the kids.  Two grocery stores & one pony ride later, I decided to swing by Family Video and rent a special DVD for the kids as a surprise tonight.  It was one they had put on their Christmas list.  I was feeling on TOP of the world. 

Wellllll..................let's just say that came to a SCREECHING halt on the way home from school.  I had decided NOT to go to the library for the SECOND time this week.  Apparently one 10 year old boy had his heart set on going to the library and proceeded to gasp in dismay and slink in his seat and sulk as we passed by without stopping.  This is where I made my BIG mistake #1!!!!!!!  His attitude made me feel terrible and I decided to go around the block with much complaining on MY part and go BACK to the library.  I shouldn't have given in...but I did....I know it was wrong...I made a mistake....Well, I decided to take what I thought was a shortcut.  It looked like an alley that went ALL THE WAY through.  I should have realized when my van started driving on concrete and not blacktop that something was amiss.  I even wondered what in the WORLD the metal poles that I was dodging were doing in the road.....but did I STOP.....NO!!!!  Not until I realized the end of the 'alley' was a drop-off curb into the parking lot at the courthouse!!!!  I pondered momentarily driving OFF the curb and bumping onto the parking lot.  I'm glad I DIDN'T for there walking out the doors of the courthouse was a police officer.  He stood there at the doors staring at me and my van and my predicament.  How was I, the girl that doesn't like to back up, going to back around all those metal poles!!!  Not to mention once I backed up and pulled forward. I realized that there was a GIGANTIC Christmas tree set up with cables holding it down.  I was just going to do a u-turn.  Well, all the cables coming off the tree prevented that.  So it was back up a little bit....pull forward a little bit....back up a bit more....pull forward a bit more until....at long LAST I had my van pointed in the right direction!!!!  Oh, and I should mention that I did pause in all my backing up and pulling forward to roll down the window and apologize to the police officer.  I told him, "Sorry, I thought this was an alley!"  He just shook his head.  I'm VERY thankful he didn't walk over and ticket me!!! 

 By the time, I FINALLY arrived at the library, I'm sure my blood pressure was sky-rocketing.  Not to mention, my heart was literally thumping over the entire close counter with the law!!!  Well.....we parked at the library.  Two men were standing right beside the entrance smoking away.  Now what happened next, I can't explain.  All I can think of is that I was slightly stressed, and when I starting inhaling smoke, something just snapped.  My super-woman pillar I had set myself up on for the day was rapidly crumbling at this point.  I marched right up there and told them VERY firmly that it was against the law to smoke that close to a public building.  I then asked the poor librarian, who was down on her hands and knees gathering up books from the book drop, who I could call about the two men smoking!!!  Goodness....I'm embarrassed of my VERY childish behavior. :(  Seth reported that within a couple minutes the men walked away.  They were probably afraid of what the 'crazy' woman would do upon leaving the library if they were still there!!!! 

Upon leaving the library, I had to back out of the parking space.  It is extremely difficult to back out after school.  People come RACING through the parking lot and nearly hit you as you try to back out!  Well, I checked BOTH ways for cars coming.  It's a one-way street through the parking lot, but occasionally someone goes the wrong direction.  I even check for back-up lights on the cars parked behind me.  Nothing.  I start to back out.  Am almost out far enough to put the car in drive again, when ANOTHER car behind me quickly whips his tiny little red car out of his space and nearly backs into me!!!  I honk the horn in hopes that he won't back up any further.  He doesn't.  By this time....I'm ready to have my 12 year old start driving for me.  Surely that won't be any more of a stress on my already frazzled nerves!!!

It's hours later, I've calmed down and realized the error of my ways.  Oh, if there were just an un-do and a re-do button for things that happen!  Now the pizza, is ready....the kids are happily eating....after a near catastrophe when a certain 5 year old raced through the living room bearing a plate with an enormous slice of pizza.  You can about imagine what happened when the hot slice slid off his plate and skittered across the CARPET!!!!!!  There were tears and  a very frustrated mommy that is trying so hard to have more patience, but it just isn't coming fast enough!!! :)

The night is still young....it surely can't get worse...right?  And tomorrow will be another day........