What, you want more?

Another long string of days. This time, not all my fault. Tuesday, Lee had traded shifts with someone, but forgot, so he went in to work. The other guy was there, so he hung out a little while then went home. He says he was inside for 5 minutes then came out. I know him. It had to be at least 15 minutes. I love the man, but he doesn't do hurry. Anyway, the car's gone. He calls me at work and goes into this story about a tow truck coming into the lot as he was walking up to the apartment. He said something told him to move the car. And yet, the car got towed...

So, I tell him to walk over to the office of the apartment complex that owns the lot and find out if it really was towed, just to make sure it wasn't stolen. They gave him a number. The towing company wouldn't acknowledge or deny anything. They had to wait for the paperwork to be faxed over. I had him find out what the damage was going to be. He was assuming around $75. Ha! If that was all, I woulda gladly paid it. But, no. It was $252. For the first 24 hours. I asked him how much was in the family fund. (A.k.a. the water-jug that holds the cash he's been stashing.) Only $72 because he'd spent $212 on a new intake manifold last week. Did I know about this? Um, no. He asked me if Alexa's savings account wouldn't cover it. Um, no. I'd borrowed it for school clothes and hadn't paid it back yet. So we were even on that score. One good thing – I'd actually started putting money back in her account the week before. Ok, so it was $5/week, but still, it was something. Right?

Meanwhile, I have to pick him up from the house so he can go to work. As we're at the last light to turn toward his job, he says to me, “This is going to be the fun part” and holds up his foot so I can see he's wearing his dress shoes. I tell him to call and see if the car's made it to its destination yet, so we can go get his shoes. And his wallet. And the charger for his nearly-dead phone. And the jump-box. Again. Because the first several times I asked did he need anything from the car – particularly his wallet – he said no.

I had to wait while they filled out all kinds of paperwork to let me in. Stupid tow lot. I forgot the phone charger. Because I didn't see it. Plus. He wouldn't come with me. Something about his skin color being an issue in that part of town... Whatever. So I got a bunch of stuff, rolled the car window up and took him to work. Then I went back to work.

After school, Alexa had her Robotics awards program. She wanted to leave early because the band was being presented an award at the School Board Meeting. So we raced around to get there. Only to get there after the meeting started. Nevermind that she was supposed to be there 15 minutes early. She decided we could skip it since she couldn't get her recognition anyway. I felt bad, but it was a last-minute thing and we just didn't have time to get there.

Wednesday was his payday, but not until 3 or 3:30. He dropped me off at work in the morning and kept the van. He got his check, went and cashed it and came and picked me up around 3:30. We headed straight for the tow lot. Nobody was there. I called the number – someone was supposed to be there in 10 minutes. My gas gauge was sitting on E, so we decided to get gas. But that neighborhood was high. So we kept looking. Finally, we found something reasonable. It was about 4:15 when we got back. There was now a Jeep where there was none before, but still no one answered the door or window. After a few minutes of knocking, I called the number back. Yes, the red Jeep was there, she'd call and let the guy know we were here. Still nothing for several more minutes. Finally, Lee lays on the horn. It was still a couple of minutes before someone answered.

The guy had been at the lot next door releasing some cars. Hello, have you heard of a note? Anyway, he was a chatty guy while filling out my paperwork. Then this bee came along and was buzzing all around me. I kept moving out of it's way, but it was intent on following me. I told it I was not a flower – no dice. Lee said swat it and handed me a shirt to do so. There was no way I was swatting at a bee. I don't know if I'm allergic. But I am allergic to wasps, so better not to take a chance. Turns out, there was a hive up on the roof. When Lee honked the horn, it woke them up.

So, everything got taken care of, we could get the car now. Except, Lee couldn't go in. The car was in my name, I'd signed the paperwork, I had to go get it. Geez Louise, I was right there and said he could do it. What did it matter? So I had to make the cranky car start. It wasn't interested. By the time we got out of there, it was 5:15. And I was farther away from home than usual. And traffic was extremely heavy. I was much later to daycare than usual. Sigh.

Thursday was take-a-break day. I got to work a half-hour early and skipped lunch to make up some of the time I'd missed. I was pretty worn out by the time I got home. We picked up drive-thru and I did practically nothing all evening. We were supposed to have gone to Alexa's award program at school, but Taylar skipped her nap at daycare and was being a terror. This was the second event we'd missed and I felt terrible about it, but there was no way I could fight both babies through a program with no backup. Lee was working to make up the car money. Again.

Friday was a busy day. I had lunch with a friend at 12:30, but I was misled by the time on Mapquest. Well, maybe it was the stupid drivers that helped some... Anyway, I got there late. Some other people who work with her, one of which I used to work with and the other I'd met before, also came. It was an interesting lunch. The other two girls left and we stayed and chatted a while. It was nice to catch up.

I left there and stopped by Lee's job to get the shirts out of his car to drop off at the cleaners. The cleaners was near my best friend's house, which I needed to go to and drop off some baby clothes anyway, so I went home (the opposite direction) to get them. The smart thing to do would be to get the kids from daycare while I'm a mile away, but apparently my brain was off. So I took the clothes and headed back across town. I dropped off the shirts and stopped to visit with my friend a while. Her grandbaby is really fat, just like her momma was. My friend's own baby seemed to be about the same size as his niece, but I couldn't really tell. He'd just woken up from his nap and didn't recognize the strange white lady.

Too soon, it was time to get the babies from daycare. We still had a schedule to keep! So I got them, stopped by the grocery store for a few sale items, picked Alexa up and we went in search of food. McDonald's it was. Jasmyne got a snack wrap and discovered she really likes lettuce. We changed clothes and headed out. My cousin was graduating from high school at 7. We were early. (That never happens anymore.)

We found the family and settled in. What I should have done was let the kids get some energy out. But again, my brain, only half-functioning. Lee was working, so we were on our own. Things went pretty well until the long speech by the head of the school. Jasmyne had been drinking from her cup, but was getting louder about it. I was giving her a little at a time from my water bottle. But it wasn't what she wanted. Ok, so I put some more. No, that wasn't it either. So, I started re-arranging things. Somehow, she ended up with the cup in her hand, with water in it, without the lid. She decided the water needed to be back in the bottle, so she poured it back in. Except that she didn't exactly aim for the bottle opening. Or pour slowly. So I got drenched. Because she was on my lap. I took her out. Let her play a little. But it was almost time for the graduates to walk across the stage and I wasn't going to be out for that, noise or no noise. I did happen to run into a girl I graduated with. Her husband's cousin was graduating. They also had a little boy who was Jasmyne's age. Who was also causing a ruckus and had to be taken out.

When we went back in, Jasmyne was much better-behaved. Well, she was quieter. Which was enough for me. She'd previously whacked the lady in front of us in the head with the program. (It was a small private school – about 40 kids graduating – so they had money for the heavy card-stock programs.) Taylar had spent all evening pestering my Mom and Alexa. I'd brought a handful of kids' meal toys along to help out our evening. (I don't give them to the girls when they get their meals, I stash them away, sealed, in a bowl on the bar. They don't know about them, so they don't miss them.) Taylar played with the magnifying glass on a swiss-army-knife type toy for a long time. She was picking out the “T” for Taylar on a stack of envelopes. Apparently she's kinda OCD. (Or as I like to call it, CDO – you know, in alphabetical order. Like it should be.)

We made it through the hour-and-a-half long program and took pictures with the cap and gown. Then skipped out on the reception the school was throwing and went home. It's only been a couple of months, but I don't know how I would make it now if I worked a whole day on Fridays.

Saturday morning was Lee's volleyball tournament. He had to be there at 9 to check in, but the games didn't start until 9:30. We were going to follow. He ended up not having time to eat, so we went through the drive-thru and got breakfast. He'd put the picnic blanket and the sports chair (I'd gotten it during Alexa's first soccer season) in the van for us. All we had to do was get the food and all the stuff out to the game area. Which was just a couple of volleyball nets set up in the baseball field outfield. We landed away from everyone else, because they were all capable of stopping stray volleyballs from hitting themselves in the face. My children were not going to pay that much attention. Perhaps there was someone over there Lee didn't want us to meet... He didn't bring anyone over to talk to us... Nah, I'm sure that wasn't it. We'd talked to most of them at the softball game that wasn't, the previous week. Or was it the week before? I forget.

It was in the mid 80's at 10, when we got there. I didn't put sunblock on the babies until after they'd eaten, so they wouldn't get it in their food. I shouldn't have waited. It wouldn't have bothered them. So we stayed for one game Lee was in. I got a few video clips and some still pics. But, we were way back, so they weren't that good. Plus, I was rather distracted by the girls running amok and playing with the umbrella I'd brought for shade.

Lee's team was scheduled to have a break the next game as well, and we were going to leave around 11:30 anyway – too much direct sun for the babies and all. So Lee sent us off. I think the heat had gotten to me. Whatever he was instructing me to do about the girls – the ones I'm solely responsible for 5 or more days a week – hit me the wrong way. I'm sure it had nothing whatsoever to do with him being an absentee parent and basically shooing me outta there with instructions to control the girls better, when they just wanted play time with their daddy, whom they hadn't seen other than in the mornings for a week... I could go on and on. So I was rather teary-eyed about not even a kind word, when he calls across the field that he loves me, have a great day in his passive-aggressive, sarcastic tone. I managed a “You, too.” which he made me repeat 3 times. I didn't have much of a voice, plus I was rather uninterested in wishing him well at that point. So he jumped. See, that's why blah blah blah something something something. I really didn't listen to his crap. We just left.

We got home and I lotioned Jasmyne up on her sunburn. After I had the babies in bed for their nap, I called him. And I let him have it for that crap when we were leaving. He basically tried to put it back on me, but I stuck to my guns, told him it was crappy of him to do and got off the phone. Then I started writing this blog. Which I never finished because eventually the girls woke up.

I fed them pizza because we were going to a bbq and I didn't want the girls to have hot dogs for lunch and supper. As they were eating, I called Lee to see what their upcoming schedule was. He was in a bad mood. They hadn't made the cut to the playoffs. There were 5 teams in the tournament. Only the top 4 advanced. And maybe there was some lingering resentment about earlier mixed with that... The point was, he was on his way home. He stopped and got himself some food on the way home. I had some salad from a bag, which Jasmyne kept stealing.

Late, we headed to my aunt and uncle's house for a good time. Or something. I was inside chatting away with people I hadn't seen in decades. I turned around and Lee was nowhere to be seen. He'd taken the girls out back where there was horseshoes and basketball going on. I guess it was better than being cooped up in the crowded house. The girls were both afraid of the dogs. Little rat-terrier/chihuahua mixes. My aunt came out and put the dogs in their cage inside after a little while. One had bitten this one girl, after all... We sat and chatted with my mom and grandma. It was a nice evening. But it was time to go after a while. The babies needed baths and to get in bed to rest from their busy day.

Sunday morning, we were getting ready to go to my mom's for lunch. Lee had a missed call on his phone from work. He said “This could be trouble”, but I took that to mean it was his mom calling or something. He was an hour late to work. He'd volunteered for 'any shifts they needed' when the car thing first came about and apparently forgot about one they asked him to pick up. Great. It was the girls and me alone again. And this time it would be worse. My sister and her husband would be there. Ugh.

The girls and I finished getting ready and left. I was thinking we were going to be late, but we were the first ones there. Good thing, because I'd forgotten the diaper bag. I had time to run to the store and buy some. Which worked out because we were low anyway. And I had a chance to stash the right size in mom's closet. Jasmyne and I got back just as the others were starting to arrive. Perfect timing.

We had lunch soon after. My sister and her family was supposed to come for dessert, but somehow they were on time. They've never been on time in the history of their relationship. Anyway, it's a good thing they came when they did, because my cousin and his girlfriend had to leave. They had tickets to the Colonial. Once dinner was over and the kids went to play, I went to chaperone. Their kids were ginormous compared to last time I'd seen them. Ok, so it'd been a couple of years since I'd seen the twins. Each of whom had gained a foot and 50 pounds. (Or possibly more.)

I took lots of pictures of the kids. My second niece was wonderful. She played peacemaker between the three year olds. Once everyone got used to each other, I left the kids to themselves and joined the adults for as much of my brother-in-law as I could stand. Fortunately, it was soon well past my girls' nap time, which afforded me an acceptable excuse to leave. It didn't dawn on me until after I left that maybe we should have taken a multi-generational picture while we were together. But I called and mentioned it so they'd have a chance to get my sister's family in one. The babies were looking kinda sleepy in the van, so I didn't turn around. Besides, they still had Alexa. I was going to see them when she was transferred back to my possession. We could have our picture then. Which we did. After the babies had their naps. (Perhaps too soon afterward, they were still a little sulky.) Alexa showed off her bridesmaid dress and a fun time was had by all. Well, they were kinda walking fast to get outta there...

The rest of the evening was spent in relative quiet. I washed a couple of loads of laundry. Lee worked until after midnight. When he came home from playing dominoes at 6AM, I asked him to take the clothes over to the dryer. He came back while I was in the shower. He carried the laundry basket into the bathroom and set it on the counter. He said I should get out and take a look at this. I was totally expecting a family of rats or something. I was so relieved to find it was my wallet and a pile of its contents. Which really shouldn't have been a relief. At least not to a sane person. I looked through the stuff and decided the only thing missing was one of my ATM cards. The other one, the one I use all the time, had been in my pocket. Along with my license. Ok, so reporting it to the bank was quick and painless. Well, painless. They really need to do something about those menus. (There used to be an option to report your card missing, but now it's Chase. And I really hate Chase.) And once you push 0 for the operator, it doesn't need to go over your balance for you. Hello, wet girl wanting to finish her shower here... Anyway, Chase is another rant entirely. There was no apparent activity. I'll have my new card in 10 days or so.

So what had happened was... Sometime over the course of the weekend, I went somewhere without wanting to drag my 30 pound purse. So I took my wallet. Well, it's a huge thing in itself, so I stuck it in the bottom of the console. It fits diagonally in the bottom section. It's in the dark and it's black, so I take out the cards I want for where I'm going and generally leave it in there. Not anymore. While I was in the house at some point, someone opened my unlocked van and took out my wallet. There was no cash in it. All they took was the one ATM card. They left over $100 worth of gift cards. All of everything else was there. Amazing.

On my way to work, there was an ambulance with its lights on about 5 blocks before I got there. Someone had run their minivan into a telephone pole. I remember thinking, someone's having a worse day than me. I don't have things so bad after all.

After school yesterday, Alexa's friend needed to stay for supper. Her mom wasn't answering her phone. Ok, you preheat the oven, so I can start the lasagna when I walk in the door. All that happened, but soon after I got home, the mom called the girl's cell phone. I heard, why didn't you answer your freakin phone?!? and I told Alexa she better never talk to me like that. She'd be standing up for a month, her butt would be so sore. Then the girl practically hung up on her mom to talk to her sister. Ok, so the sister was her ride, but seriously. There's more than one reason I think this girl isn't exactly the best influence on Alexa. She was walking out to meet her sister, and going pretty fast. We followed. I would have given her a ride, but her sister was there. So the girls and I went to the grocery to get some more of the sale items if they had any left before the sale ended. 18 eggs for 88¢, yes. 18 bottles of Snapple for $10, no. Plus, we found a great deal on smoked sausage that wasn't prominently enough in the ad that I saw it. It was a longer trip than I'd planned, but it worked out ok. We got home in time to uncover the lasagna.

Lee played dominoes again last night, but overslept. I didn't give him a wake up call until time for him to be at work. He's a big boy, but he doesn't need to get fired. He'd actually woken up about 20 minutes before he was supposed to be at work. He doesn't multi-task well, so he didn't call me. (Believe me, it's been the subject of many, many fights.) He did call me around 11. To let me know he thought they were sending him home as soon as they could get someone in to cover his shift because he had too many hours and also that he had gotten my call, but things had finally settled down. So when someone finally came in, we went to lunch together. I caught him up on some stuff he'd missed out on. And he told me the guy got the wrong manifold for the car. I am now completely confident in this guy's skills to put said manifold on...

Did I mention it was pouring out this morning when I single-handedly carried both babies, my purse and the breakfast I'd cooked myself out to the car?