Oops, I Did It Again...

I got a flat tire. Again. Apparently, the laws of Murphy were written explicitly for me. Flat tires do not happen when I'm just hanging out in my house on a Saturday. They happen when I am on my way to work. Or when Sophie has her early-release day from school and needs to be picked up in an hour. I am blessed to have an incredible family support system. If my father-in-law didn't come to my rescue (again), I'm not really sure what would've happened to the kids. I guess they'd still be at school waiting for me to get sorted out.


I have Fridays off. In theory, this sounds lovely. Every Friday, I think I am going to accomplish all sorts of tasks that have been put off all week. I think about the playdates I'll have with friends I haven't seen in a while. Unfortunately, the universe has conspired to make my Fridays a hectic mess. (I've already learned not to go to work on my day off since that is how I got my car towed away. Curse you, street cleaning day!)


This Friday started well. I dropped the kids off at school and headed to my mom's with Sean and Charlotte. Lala was going to make us breakfast. We hung out there for Moonstruck eggs and when I left, there was still plenty of time to get to Sophie's school for pick-up. Or so I thought.


Shortly after leaving my mom's house (with working tires!), I had to pull over on the side of the road because my front left tire was not only flat, but completely devoid of air. Just what you want when there are two little kids in the backseat and three more waiting to be picked up at school. Roadside assistance informed me that it would be an hour before someone could come and change the tire (which turned into 2 1/2). My poor father-in-law came and stayed with my car so I could take his car and pick up the kids. I made it to Sophie with a tire minute to spare.


All of the hassle made me want a coffee. I drove to the nearest Dunkin Donuts only to find that it had been closed for renovations. Seriously?? Who cares what it looks like? Just give me my caffeine! I decided that I really didn't feel like getting the kids out of the car, so I headed to the McDonald's drive-thru for a coffee. When the woman at the window handed it to me, I forgot which car I was driving. My father-in-law's car is smaller and lower than mine. I grabbed the cup and slammed it into the window frame. I spilled a ton of hot coffee all over myself and the steering wheel. The poor woman at the window started apologizing and throwing napkins at me. This - along with all of the other ridiculous events of the day - prompted me to start laughing maniacally. My sister was on the phone with me at the time and is still disturbed by what she could only describe as cackling. To top it all off, the coffee was horrible. I decided to take my sideshow into the local Starbuck's and treat myself to a latte. Clearly, I've got an addiction.


Once my coffee issues were addressed, I headed into the pick-up line at the big kids' school. This is where I discovered that I was going to have to get creative. I was driving a sedan. There aren't enough seats for all of my kids. I eventually did maneuver them into seat belts with some sharing involved. (Thank you to Alice for offering to help me shuttle some of the kids, though.) In the meantime, my father-in-law ended up wasting about 4 hours waiting for my tire to get replaced. It was a ridiculous day for him, for sure. I'm pretty certain he's going to retire from his own private roadside assistance. Unless he wants to capitalize on it and turn it into a legitimate business.


So, we are currently operating with full tires. But, it's the weekend and we have no plans. I'm sure the fates can arrange for something ridiculous in time for Monday morning...

Only Me...

I routinely do stupid things. They're always unintentional, but stupid nonetheless. Maybe it's because I have a million kids. Maybe I'm just absent-minded. Regardless, it seems that things like this only happen to me. For example, I once got in the car to drive the kids to school and thought, "Wow, the gas is really low. I better get some as soon as I drop the kids off." I no sooner had the thought than it was gone from my mind. Don't worry. It all came back to me when I ran out of gas driving up a hill on the way home (with 3 little ones in the car). This is one of those stupid things I do. My car has a gas gauge. It even tells you how many miles you can go before it's empty. Duh.


Yesterday, I decided to go into work on my day off. I wanted to get a few things done that a co-worker was helping me with. I dropped the big kids off at school and took the two little ones with me. I decided not to park in the lot because I didn't want to get blocked in. After 2 hours at school, the kids were getting tired and I knew I had to pick Sophie up soon for her early release day. I went out to the street with Charlotte on my hip and Sean holding my hand thinking about the fact that they would take a great nap in the car. Only to find my car gone. And, unless there was a team of thieves who were hard at work emptying that side of the street, it had probably been towed. I don't work on Fridays. I didn't realize that there are some Fridays that are street cleaning days. So, there I stood, two kids, no car and a child who needed to be picked up in less than two hours.


Thank God for my father-in-law (the same person who brought me gas last year)! He tracked down my car at the random lot it had been towed to, picked me up at school, brought me to the tow yard, and I managed to get to Sophie's school with 1 minute to spare. I really need to get him a white horse for the next time he needs to ride to my rescue! 


My favorite part of all of this was the breakdown of the bill from the towing company: 
$90 - towing 
$35 - storage of vehicle (for a whopping 2 hours) 
$15 - towing for 10 miles 
$6.51 - other (what "other" charges could there be?) 
Grand total - $146.51. To go to work on my day off. Ouch. (Side note: I take great pride in the fact that the tow guys told me I was the nicest tow customer they ever had! My new claim to fame.)


The whole thing just makes me laugh. I'm the only person I know who does stupid things like this. I told the story to everyone I talked to yesterday because it was just so ridiculous. When I told my mom, she acted like a real mom and suggested that there was a lesson to be learned from this experience. (I'm sure she was suggesting that I should start reading street signs.) But she is right. Lesson learned: Don't go to work on your day off!