I woke up this morning and it seemed like a good morning. Neither of the boys woke up early. I got things accomplished. It looked like I was going to be able to get out of the house by 9:00. That's pretty good when it's just the boys and me. I quickly sat down to check my e-mail and I realized I was having problems with my Paypal account. I had sold two items on eBay and one person and already tried to pay me but it says the payment had not been claimed. Which to me meant, my e-mail address was listed as the old address on the invoice she had and she wasn't paying the right person. But, it wasn't her fault and I knew that. I knew I had messed up but didn't know how to fix it. So, I told her to cancel her payment and I would try to send a Request For Payment via Paypal. After 35 minutes of agonizing over the problem, I decided to continue to get ready knowing I was already that much behind.
I got dressed, the boys dressed, the car loaded for the day, the boys in the car and then I reached into my purse to find my keys. They weren't there. I panicked. I looked everywhere. I dumped out my purse, I looked in the house, retraced my steps, called Chris to see if he had them, etc. After several minutes of looking I found them. So, now I'm off to do my errands.
I went to the PO Box and I was trying to mail something. I had hand written the To / From part of the package. I went to the Automated Machine and typed in all the appropriate information. I paid for my package and then it printed out a shipping label. It wanted me to write in the "To" address on there. I didn't bring in a pen. So, I had to go out to the car, get a pen and write in the address and then go back inside. That's not easy to do with kids hanging on your arm. Oh, well! Mission accomplished.
I headed to Sam's. While I was picking up a few things, Dylan asked for a sample of the mini taco. You know how they stand there handing those things out after they cook them. You go to Sam's Club when you're hungry for a small snack. Dylan actually liked it and asked if we could buy some. Wow! Great! Something Dylan and Daddy will enjoy on a Sunday night after church when there isn't much time to cook a meal, this was perfect. I grabbed them with the 3 other things we were purchasing and headed to check-out. When she scanned the mini tacos, it says the "Item Is Not Sellable". (whatever that means!) The manager comes over and says there might be a recall on the item. I tell him he better find out because she's sampling it in the back and if somebody gets sick there might be a liability issue. He says he'll go find out and as he leaves our register he grabs another box from another register. My cashier doesn't say anything but I'm left to assume he isn't coming back because she hands me my receipt and tells me to have a nice day. I guess they didn't really want that extra sale.
I leave Sam's headed for Cookie Cutters. It's a place that cuts kid's hair. On the way, I realize I'm closer to Christian Publishers Outlet now than I will be after Cookie Cutters and Eli is asleep so it would be better if he got an additional 15 minutes on that nap before his haircut. I stop at CPO knowing I really only want to run in and grab a kids CD and maybe a kids picture Bible so I know it will only take 5 minutes. I did a horrible thing. I grabbed Dylan, left Eli in the car, locked the car and headed inside. While we were in CPO, Dylan was doing the pee pee dance. I ask him if he needs to go to the bathroom and he says "No". Of course, he said no, he always says no. But he doesn't stop dancing and I know I better take him. I quickly find a restroom and take him. He pees forever like he hasn't been in two days and then we get out of there, I grab the things I came to get, we check out and head to the car. On the way to the car I am rummaging in my purse to find my keys...THEY ARE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND! I look in my pockets, front and back. I look in Dylan's pockets, I dump out my purse, I look under the car, I try to see in the car, and nothing. I check on Eli. He's still asleep. This is good. I go back inside and retrace my steps over and over. I check in the bathroom, look around on the floor...nothing. I retrace my steps again, go back out to the car, look under the car, look in the car...nothing. I check on Eli. He's still asleep. This is good. I head back inside moving leaves and trash with my feet checking for keys. All this time I am dragging Dylan with me everywhere. He's asking a million questions. Try telling a 3 year old that his little brother is locked in the car and we are looking for the keys to my car which I cannot find. I go inside and talk to a Sales Associate, ask if she's seen any keys or had any reported missing. She hasn't. I retrace my steps again and when I end up back out at the car, I call Chris. I call his cell. No answer. I try again. No answer. I call his office phone. No answer. I call the operator at his office and ask if Chris is in the building. She says he is standing in front of her desk. I says it's an emergency and I need to speak with him. I tell him that I have locked his 7 month old son in the car and I don't know where my keys are. He starts to bark orders at me about retracing my steps and asking the clerk if they've had any keys turned in. I, of course, am already hitting panick mode and I yell back, "I already have"! Then, I tell him that his yelling at me is only going to make me feel worse and I already feel horrible. He says he is in his truck on the way. I start to retrace my steps again. I walk up and down every aisle in the kid's section at CPO, even aisles I never went down. I go back out to the car and check on Eli. He's starting to wake. I can see his feet moving. I had pulled the shade up around him so you couldn't see him hoping it would help him sleep longer while I was driving. Less distraction for him generally means more sleep. I have a mirror on the head rest of the seat behind him so I can check on him from my rear view mirror. I can see that his face is starting to pucker. I call Chris. He tells me where he is and then I hear it. Eli is screaming. I look. Yes, it's him. Meanwhile, Dylan is playing in the grass in front of the car. He feels no sense of panick. He's asking his 350 questions about why we are still there and where did I put my keys and what's that baby doing crying. He doesn't know it's Eli. He asks how long we're going to stay and then he begins to run around in the grass. I'm ok with that until he gets stuck in the bushes and I have to help him get out. I wait for Chris to arrive because, seriously, how many times have I already retraced my steps. I need fresh eyes. Chris shows up and unlocks the car. All I am worried about is calming Eli down. He is sweating from crying so hard, so long. His head is a little wet and his back is soaked. I talk to him for just a minute and give him his pacifier. He's fine. We all go in together and Chris asks me to show him what I've done. So, yes, we retrace my steps again. He asks a Sales Associate if anyone has turned in keys. I talk to the lady at the check-out counter to see if maybe I laid my keys down while I was paying. They both say No. Chris starts to leave but tells me I should leave my name and number in case they do get turned in. I go back and talk to a lady and give her the information. I load the kids in the car and we head to eat lunch. I need some down time. I get about a mile down the road and the lady from CPO calls. "We've found your keys on top of the paper towel dispenser in the bathroom". Whew! So, I turn around and go back to get them. I get the keys and then we head to eat.
We get to a back road and I turn on it to head to the restaurant. I forget where to turn and go a block too far. I turn around and come back. We go into Bandana's BBQ. I go to fix a bottle for Eli and ask Chris to order something that Dylan and I can share. I come back and feed Eli his bottle. Our food is there rather quickly. Chris ordered a smoked turkey platter with corn and french fries. Dylan said he wanted corn. They bring corn on the cob. That's ok, we can cut it off. Eli finishes his bottle and then I feed him his carrots. He does well with it. I ask the waiter for a steak knife. He says they don't have any and walks away. I'm thinking if I'm a waiter I'm going to says I don't have any, but what do you need it for and see if there's anything I can do to help. He doesn't. Obviously, he could care less. I start to eat my food, which is by the way just barely luke warm at this point. Dylan has tried to eat the corn on the cob but had a hard time biting into it so he started eating the french fries. That's fine. I put the sweet & smoky bbq sauce on my plate and taste the turkey. The turkey is dry but I guess it has ok flavor. The bbq sauce is disgusting. I try the original...disgusting. I add ketchup. It doesn't go with smoked turkey. I mix the 3. It's even worse. So, my lunch was not great. I've always said that sit-down restaurants in a shopping center are never good. I just proved my point one more time. Bandana's BBQ is in a shopping center and the place was almost empty at prime lunch time on a Friday. I now know why.
We go next door to get Eli's hair cut for the first time. I forgot my camera. I have actual film footage of Dylan's first hair cut and I can't even take a picture during Eli's. Other than that, it went great. He got a good trim, no eyes were poked out, all limbs attached, no scratches or cuts. We're good to go! When we leave they give Dylan a sucker. I hate kids with suckers unless they are outdoors and half naked. Dylan drips everywhere, so I'm not going to let him have it in my car. I need some chocolate, anyway. He asks if he can eat the sucker in the car and I say "No", but without hesitation I add, "Let's go get something else for dessert. Mommy needs it". We head to the mall because I'm thinking we can stop at Great American Cookie which is right outside Children's Place. Perfect!
We go into the mall and up to Great American Cookie. We order 2 cookies. Dylan wants one with M&M's on it and I'll just take the simple, Chocolate Chip. Then, I think...why don't I just get 2 more for us after dinner. The clerk turns into a salesman and says if I buy 5 I can get the 6th one free. I say it sounds great and he rings it up. Oh, my! 5 cookies are $5.95. Well, I did get a 6th one for free. By the way, their cookies are good, but my chocolate chip cookies are just as good if not better.
I go into Children's Place and get the two things I want. We're out of there. I ask Dylan if he needs to go potty and he says no, but since he's not doing the pee pee dance, I believe him and we leave.
We are now headed to Papa and Nana's house. Chris is going to be gone for the night and I don't want to be home alone. It was part of the plan from the beginning of the day. I've been to my parent's house hundreds of times, right? I have been there without them many times. I think I have a key but don't really need one because I always remember the garage code. I get there. It's 2:30. Eli is asleep and has been for about 20 minutes but his nap time doesn't generally start until 3:30. Dylan is awake. His nap usually starts at 2:00. Dylan asks if he can play outside while I unload the car. That's fine with me. I pull up to the garage as close as I can because I'm thinking if I can get Eli in without him getting too much wind, maybe he won't wake up and he'll get in a good long nap. I punch in the garage code. Garage doesn't open. I try a different code. I try it backwards. I try a different code. I call my sister-in-law. She doesn't remember the code but she thinks it was their ages at a certain time or maybe their birthdays. I know exactly what the numbers represent but can't remember what they are. While I'm on the phone I catch Dylan doing the pee pee dance and holding himself. I say, "Do you need to go potty?" He says, No. Of course, he doesn't. He's too busy playing. I tell him let's go anyway and start to unbutton his pants. He starts dancing faster. Before I even get his pants down to grab at his underwear, he pees all over his pants, underwear, my hands and the phone I'm holding. Oh, yes...everywhere! I tell my sister-in-law I've got to go and I'll figure it out. I hang up. I tell Dylan to sit down. I take off his pants and underwear but put back on his shoes because we're still outside and I don't want him walking around in his sock feet. So, he's running around Nana's yard with a shirt, socks, and shoes on. You know what that makes me think of? When you go into stores and it says shirt and shoes required. It never says anything about pants. I guess he could go in even though he's start naked from waist to ankles with a full moon hanging out. At this point in my day, this isn't funny though. I'm just frustrated. I check on Eli. He's awake and crying. No extra sleep happening there. I search my purse for keys. I found my keys. I go to the door because I have a key to my parent's house. I try the key. It doesn't work. I try every key on my ring and none of them work. I call my Mom. She gives me the garage code. I get the kids into the house and things unloaded from the car.
I put Dylan down for a nap on Nana's bed. Eli is crying in the living room because he can't see me anymore. We're going through that phase. I tell Dylan when he wakes up from his nap he can just come out and get me. At home, he generally calls for me from his room and then I come get him out of bed. It saves me the worry that he's wondering around the house doing things I don't want him to do. I'm sitting in the living room floor with Eli for about 5 mintes and Dylan comes walking out. I ask him what he's doing and he tells me I told him he could just come out. I tell him that I meant he actually had to take a nap and he says he has something on his finger. I fix the problem and send him back to bed.
About an hour later, I put Eli down for a nap and quickly rush to the computer to fix the problem with my eBay and Paypal account. I get on eBay searching for answers and end up spending about 20 minutes on Live Chat with an eBay personnel. I get my questions answered but I'm left with another problem so I have to contact Paypal. I contact Paypal but because we have the account under Chris's name, she doesn't want to answer my questions. I tell her that I can give her his SSN, DOB, any credit card, acct #, she wants. I can tell her where he works, his home address, his wife and kid's names, but she won't budge. She finally says she can give me answers to basic questions as long as it doesn't pertain to the actual account. I start asking questions and I don't know if she forgot the rule but she eventually gives me all the information I need to know. I'm on the phone with her for about 20 minutes also and half way through the phone conversation Eli wakes up. I get him out of bed and talk to him while she's doing some research for me. I set him down and turn on Dad's foot massager and Eli is mesmerized. We're good to go!
I head to the kitchen, now complete with that saga and start to fix Eli's food and bottle. I can't hold him and do all that stuff so he sits in the floor and cries while I fix it. We get his bottle down and then his peas and sweet potatoes.
Mom comes home with BBQ ribs, baked beans, cole slaw, garlic texas toast, and corn (not corn on the cob). We eat a dinner, redeeming BBQ for the day and enjoy conversation about a great day we had.
I'm home now. My husband intended to be home an hour ago but that didn't work out. It wasn't his fault. So, now I'm going to dress for bed and crawl into the cold sheets alone and pray I can forget this day ever happened. As I start to post my Blog I am reminded of my verse at the top of this page. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him."
Tomorrow is a new day!
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