Throwing me a curveball . . .

Yesterday started out so amazing! I was planning to have lunch with some friends. I was happy. After showering I put on a cute blouse (instead of my typical Eddie Bauer long-sleeve tee) and fun earrings that Amy sent me last year. (Each of my kids asked me at some point during the day "why are you dressed up today?").

Then I noticed Bird's eye looking a little pink and crusty. Hmmmm . . . I called the doctor's office and they could see him at 11am. So I called my friends and had to cancel lunch (didn't want to spread pink eye to their little cuties). Long story short, we go to the doctor's and Bird does have pink eye. And while we are there the doc notices Merek's runny nose. "Mind if I check his ears?" he asks. Left ear fine. Right ear--bulging and infected. The doctor said most kids would be screaming with an infection like that. Merek HAS been a little cranky the past few days. So then we went to the pharmacy to pick up eye drops for Bird. (No meds for Merek since most ear infections will clear up on their own).

We come home and eat lunch. I settle the boys in with a movie (Cinderella) on my bed while I go work on a project due Thursday. All is good and calm.

Email--Lina's softball practice is rescheduled for 3:45 indoors because of the rain (instead of 4:30 outdoors). Her practice is in the next town over. She gets out of school at 3:25. Ok--we can do this. I'll just pick up the kids from school (instead of having them carpool home) and go straight to practice. Miranda has piano lessons in the same town at 4:15. Lina's practice is over at 4:45. A little tricky that they both end at the same time but doable.

Miranda gets home. She packs up snacks for everyone and gets her piano books. We head out the door and pick up Lina and Krish at 3:25. Drop Lina off at practice in Fall City 3:45 and head to Miranda's lesson. We had to wait 25 minutes before her lesson. I had actually stopped at the library after dropping Lina off but realized Merek didn't have any shoes on. Library=no shirt, no shoes, no service. So we just waited in the car at Miranda's teacher's house. Then we waited the 30 minutes for her lesson. The boys and I read books, played Suduko, and entertained Merek.

I thought about going back to get Lina and then coming back to get Miranda but just decided to wait out the lesson. So out comes Miranda and I go to start the car. Click. Click. Click. Dead battery. NO! Seriously, this is the THIRD time my battery has died at her piano lessons! We didn't have any lights on in the car. It was completely off. I swear her teacher's tree grove must have battery-sucking powers! Of course, my jumper cables are in the garage at home.

And Lina is waiting to get picked up from her practice at the school 8 minutes away.
And I don't have her coach's number.
And my cell phone battery is critically low.

I texted DH to call the coach and let him know what's going on. I have Miranda run over the teacher's house (the teacher is teaching the next student's lesson in her studio and I don't want to bother her) and ask her 16  year old son if he can jump the battery. Thankfully he is proficient in car knowledge, drives over to the studio, and hooks up the cables. The first three tries over about 10 minutes of time didn't work.

Did I mention it was raining? And I have three boys who have been sitting in the car for almost 2 hours?

Lina's coach calls to see where I am at. Can he take her home? No, no one is there and she doesn't have a kay. Can he bring her to me? Sure--so I give him directions, which are a little complicated. Thankfully, the assistant coach was still there and knew where we were. His daughter takes piano lesson at the same studio. So, he will bring Lina to me.

And then we got the car to start! Thank you, David! What an awesome 16-year-old! I totally owe him a big plate of cookies :)

We got Lina and headed home.

The amazing thing is, through all of this, I remained pretty calm (at least, I think I did). Just super embarrassed that I put out other people to help me. I'm very thankful for them and their patience and willingness to help. The world is full of so many good people.

I guess to sum it all up . . . I believe that since my day had started out so well, and I was recognizing my blessings, when the curveball came it didn't throw me down and I was able to come home smiling.