Not so fast, Allie. . .

Remember in my last post where I mentioned that I was thrilled to be only the second meanest mom from the baby room, not THE meanest? Well, I'll bet if you polled the baby room teachers today that I might have edged out Alan's (name changed to protect the teachers) mom yesterday to nab the dubious honor of being the meanest.

I woke up early yesterday morning because I needed to get myself and the kids ready. I use the term "woke up" loosely given that Jack was up and down all night which means I was too. I figure he must be teething but I didn't cave in and put him in my bed. Anyway, I'm betting I got no more than 3 hours or so of sleep IF you add it all together.

In order to get to Bluefield on time (9:00a.m.), I need to leave this door at 7:30a.m. and not spend too much time dropping the kids off. Well, things never go as planned and I was a few minutes late leaving the house. As I'm on my way to daycare, I notice that "low tire pressure" indicator light is on in the minivan. This super duper sucks and I make the executive decision to continue on to the school and drop the kids off. I do this and then head back to the house to get my car- - I don't feel comfortable driving an hour and a half each way with one of the tires messed up.

I move everything to my car and try again. I notice that I don't have a lot of gas and I stop in Giles County because I don't want to have to stop on the way home or in West Virginia where gas is far more expensive. As I'm pulling out of the parking lot where I got gas (already at least 30 minutes late, mind you), I get a phone call from work. Daycare called and said Jack was out of formula. I went into orbit. Why in the heck didn't they write it on Jack's sheet either the night before (or even earlier) like they are supposed to do? For that matter, why didn't they tell me that morning when I dropped him off; I had a can of formula in the minivan. I turn my car around to head back but on the way I give daycare a call. Of course I get the answering machine whereupon I proceed to leave a fairly scathing message.

I decided that it would take too long to go all the way back home to get formula from there so I stop at Food Lion. As an interesting aside, Food Lion locks up their formula. I asked the guy why and he said it was a frequently shoplifted item. Who knew? On a bright note, I was able to use my Food Lion "buy one get one free" enfamil coupon. I get two cans of formula and head back to daycare. When I entered the baby room there were three teachers working. The first thing I said was "You guys have to work with me" and then I launched into a firm (but not profanity laced) lecture. They apologize and I head back to work. I'm thinking they were wishing Ned was in town and can't wait for him to get back so he can start dropping off the kids again.

Anyway, I made it to work about an hour and a half late. The day flew by and I barely got out of there in time to pick the kids up from school. I was so defeated by the events of the day that I caved in and took Bear to Taco Bell drive-thru. In a move that is still surprising to me, she asked for a burrito and not a crunchy taco.

Bless Jack's little heart, he was sick. He was coughing some and didn't eat much at all. If you've seen him, you know this is a big deal: that kid is a tank. A cute tank, but a tank nevertheless. I can't handle another night without sleep like last night and I'm worried about him so I'm putting him in bed with me. I'm sorry Dr. Ferber but I have to think of myself.

In case you're wondering, while I was having this kind of day and night, Ned is still in South Florida and was looking forward to a great guys night out with his friends and fellow coaches.

Did I mention that I am so thrilled that Kate Winslet won two Golden Globes? I think that she is a great and courageous actress. Plus, she's only gotten more beautiful with age. I managed to catch her acceptance speech on Youtube and was delighted that she had trouble remembering Angelina Jolie's name; I always was on Team Aniston. Anyway, back to Kate Winslet. As for the two movies for which she won awards, I'm not sure I want to see them. They sound pretty depressing. I'll catch them on DVD or HBO at some point. But I loved her in both Sense and Sensibility and The Holiday. I recommend both of these movies without reservation.

Speaking of Jane Austen, I added a little gadget to the bottom of this blog which gives a daily quote from Jane. Check it out if you dig Jane.

Also speaking of Jane Austen, there's some flick (it might be a miniseries) called Lost in Austen on the Ovation Channel. If you have the Ovation Channel, can you tape this for me? I see my brother having DirectTV. Chris, if you do, please do this for your sissy.

Love,
Allie