Mama said there'd be days like this

Awhile ago, I posted about how I love Mondays. I lied.

This morning I was all ready to go. Same routine as every Monday... drop kids at school, drop Max at preschool, head to Y, drop off Ava at babysitting, work out. And then the phone rang at 8:10, just 10 minutes before leaving to start all of that. The caller ID said 'WA Cty'. Uh oh.

WA Cty?? That would be Washington County. Bells ringing in my head, something seems off. What could it be? Oh yes, that's it. I was supposed to check to see if I had jury duty today. Apparently, I did, and the nice lady was calling me to see why I wasn't there. Ugh. I told her I forgot and was home at the moment with my four kids, but could be there at 9. Would that be sufficient? She said she'd get back to me...

So, with the idea that it would be sufficient, I sent the kids running. While I changed from work out clothes to real clothes, and attempted to do something with my hair, I had Abby getting Ava ready and Nolan, well, just getting him out the door. I called Dave who didn't answer and left him a message and my friend Laura pleading for babysitting help. We were just about out the door when the phone rang. 9:00 wasn't sufficient, they needed to start before then. So, I was off for today, but needed to come tomorrow.

Whew. But now we're late for school! Throw my work out clothes back in the bag, shove the kids out the door, drop them off at school, call Dave to let him know, call Laura to go back to the original plan to meet for lunch, no babysitting services needed, get gas (lucky to make it to the gas station), drop off Max, drop off Ava at Y babysitting, go into the lockerroom, change back into my work out clothes, and...

Realize I have no gym shoes. I looked at my bag, took mental inventory of my van to figure out if I left an old pair in there, wished I had a swimsuit, and finally undressed, took a shower at the Y, got Ava and headed to WalMart for two hours.

We checked out the fish, walked the clearance aisle, and I even let her walk through the toys instead of strapping her in tight to the cart. She had so much fun playing with a ball up and down the aisle (no people around!) and then down the little kids toy aislie she pushed every button that sang, nose that talked and baseball that made sound effects. It was great to play with them all--and not have them in my house! Then we wandered through the electronics (may have bought a few), through the clothes, around to the shoes and finally did some grocery shopping that needed to take place. We really had a lot of fun! However...

Note to self. When attempting to waste time at WalMart, I should do my real shopping first, and then the fun stuff. By the time we actually got into line, then waited for the s-l-o-w-e-s-t checker ever, and the crazy guy who couldn't decide if he wanted the extended warranty on his Wii or not (his answer? Well, I guess I better, since this is WalMart) it was (past) time to pick up Max. Oops!

THEN (are you still reading??), I get to Max's school and run in, leaving Ava in the car (no hate mail, please!!) for the 30 seconds I know it will take, head in hands because I'm embarassed to be so late (5 minutes). His teacher was very nice about it, but then proceeds to let me know that Max wasn't accepted into the 4-year-old program (I knew that last week) because he doesn't participate at the level they need him to... except for this week, when he's apparently become Mr. Join In. Of course. Then she said I may want to think about whether, because his birthday is so late in the summer, he should start school Fall 2012 or wait until the following year when he'd be 6. Whoa! I was floored. Especially because Max always wants to play with bigger kids, and has always been physically adept at, well, everything. I told her no, I really hadn't thought about it, and probably wouldn't hold him.

And I was thinking ARE YOU CRAZY?!?

So anyway, after that it was a nice trip to McDonald's with Laura, where we spent 2.5 hours catching up while the kids played. It was nice and relaxing and who would have ever thought that my idea of relaxing and a good lunch would take place at the McDonald's Playplace? I guess that same person who never thought her life could get so chaotic she would actually forget jury duty.

Organized life or kids x 4. What's a missed civic duty now and then?