It Is and Ever Shall Be...

Chaos right before you leave on vacation...

Case in point:

1 - The cleaning lady was a no-show, no-call on Tuesday...setting my schedule on end, as I suddenly had to find time and shift things around so that I could clean my house and get things done for the trip.

2 - BB felt the sudden urge to buy camping packs for us to use as suitcases...costing us his bonus...

3 - To purchase said gear, we spent a lovely 2 hours at the camping store (not a Sporting Goods store) waffling between "do we buy their 'travel bag' that comes with a handle and wheels, or the true camping pack?" I cannot count how many times I said "which one holds more? which one weighs less? that one? great! Let's get it..." As a result, we had a very mischievous Captain Chaos taking lids off expensive Titanium cookware, stoves with full fuel bottles were toppling everywhere and the expensive moisture-wicking, UPF50+ shirts were flying off the heavy wooden racks...God bless the staff that was working that day...They had the patience of saints...

4 - We had a wedding reception to attend. A very dear friend married in Milwaukee, and the family knew how many folks couldn't attend, or were just not invited to said wedding, that would want to congratulate the couple. We went. It was fun, but I'd have much rather been taking care of my house and getting things ready to go...

5 - My parents decided to "surprise" us by inviting themselves to dinner on Saturday night, so as to spend more time with the kids before we leave. We were seeing them Sunday for my mom's birthday dinner...so, ummmm...the extra 4 hours they spent were apparently crucial...and totally destroyed my plans of having all the laundry done so we could pack Saturday night while BB was home to help...therefore, we were up until midnight doing laundry and packing clothes. We leave Thursday...

6 - Staying up until midnight Saturday night meant that Tiny Princess was wide awake and wanting to play at 5am Sunday. I fed her hoping she would drift back to sleep, but to no avail. Instead, she was in dire need of my undivided attention until 8am when her father decided to step in (how kind, as he was up at 7 to mow the lawn and take care of yardwork that didn't get taken care of Saturday.

7 - Tiny Princess fell asleep on the way to pick up my folks. Who live a whopping 5 minute drive from my house. She woke up, and didn't go back to sleep until we were 5 minutes from home at the end of the festivities...

8 - Tiny Princess would NOT nap for beans on Sunday, meaning I had her in the sling, or eating while I was attempting to finish the laundry (that which did not get done Saturday night) and finish the packing.

9 - When the children finally fell asleep, the neighbors came over to regale us with all the details of their trip to Texas. While this is not normally an issue...it was NOT what I needed to be doing Sunday night.

10 - Monday morning, BB overslept, and was hurried to get out the door...

11 - As a result of his oversleeping, he carelessly backed the bike out of the garage, too close to the edge of the sidewalk, and when he went to step down to start the bike and shift into gear to ride away, his foot went an extra 3 inches to street level, tipping the bike over with him on it. He was fine, except for some grease on his pant leg. I was on the downside of the bike, and wrenched my ankle, jammed my wrist, and gouged my knee.

12 - After bandaging my knee, and taking some pain relievers, I talked to BB to insure that he was ok, and that the bike was only scratched. He was perturbed at the situation, and we had a rather heated discussion.

13 - When he called back 5 minutes later, I told him I was going to the doctor as I thought I had perhaps broken my ankle...

14 - The neighbors came over to watch the children, and to drive me to the doctor, with whom I had set an appointment, rather than try to wait in the ER knowing it could be hours before I was seen...

15 - BB came home to "tend to his broken wife" (a direct quote from the email to his manager), drove me to my appointment, for which I did not get called back until 20 minutes after said appointment time. We had X-Rays, and I was told 'It is just a bad sprain. Stay off it, ice it, take 2 Alleve twice a day, and come back on Wednesday if it isn't feeling better, and we'll fit you for a walking boot.'

16 - BB stayed home the rest of the day, which meant that I was really sitting there, with my foot propped up, an ice pack on, and giving directives to the neighbor girl about how to change Captain Chaos' Pull-Up (how can a 14-year-old girl not know how to change a 2-year-old?), and going through mental anguish that I could not be scrubbing my toilets, cleaning my shower, and counters, and washing my kitchen floor...

17 - Today, said neighbor girl was supposed to come over at 9am. It is now 20 'til 10. She is still not here. Her parents and brother just drove away to take the brother to a junior golf tournament. She will not be coming over until closer to lunchtime if she comes at all. Which means:

18 - I had to gather and empty all the trash and recycling this morning, clean up the yard after the dog, change the cat litter, bring in the milk delivery, feed, bathe, and dress the children, feed the animals, and will now be sweeping and mopping my floors, dusting my furniture, and vacuuming my carpet, as well as truly finishing the packing of the rest of our things, to allow BB to do a dry run of luggage into the car we'll be taking and parking at the airport for 10 days.

Somewhere in the midst of all of this, I really need to redo my pedicure, as the polish is woefully chipped. I also need to think about how to get rid of 2 gallons of milk before Thursday without dumping it down the drain and/or giving it all away...I am hopeful the dairy will possibly take it back...

Oh, and did I mention that I still have to go to the bank to get cash, fill up both cars, run to the library to return books that will be overdue while we are gone, get my hair done, and insure that the kids know how to harvest our garden produce while we are away?

OY...wish me luck and a speedy recovery on this darned ankle...