Craziest Day Ever

It is very rare, even with four kids. That I feel overscheduled. I'm a "fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants" kind of person, and tend to just focus on the moment I'm in, not the moments that are coming up.

Saturday, December 8th I can honestly say..... I don't know how I did it.

Let me start by explaining that usually Brian is fully involved with the dropping off and picking up of the girls, but his work is getting really busy, and he had to work that Saturday. Yay..........

T-Rex had spent the night at a friend's house and needed to be picked up and dropped off at a fencing tournament she wanted to participate in around 9.  This was a little tight though because Big Al had to take her driver's test at 9:45 and wanted to switch cars with her Dad in case she had to take it in our car and not the driver's ed car.  So we picked up T-Rex, ran her up to the tournament and she realized she needed her socks. Of course she did. So we ran to a soccer store nearby and grabbed a pair that could pass and drove back to drop them off.  BUT..... I walked into the tournament and realized T-Rex was in over her head. It was an open tournament for ages 13 and older. I expected a lot of teens from all different ages, but what I saw was adults. A LOT OF ADULTS gearing up. I found T-Rex getting her equipment checked and the fear on her face was evident. I .could. do. nothing. for. her.  except maybe smile and tell her to enjoy herself. I left her standing there to meet my next obligation (felt like a parental failure).

Drove to Brian's work, switched cars, took Big Al to get her license, and waited. Found out that I was paying the driver's ed place to give her the test, which could have been done much cheaper at the DMV, AND found out that it was possible for her to go to the DMV to get the actual license and be pulled to retake the test. So I waited, and then made a BIG mistake. I was bored inside, so I went to sit in the car and wait. RIGHT NEXT TO WHERE THEY PARALLEL PARK.  A lot of pressure was on Big Al with me sitting there, but she thankfully passed. 

We drove back to the tournment in time to watch T-Rex in a couple of her matches. When she had a minute she mentioned that in her grouping she was competing against two coaches (see the picture above). Oops.  She managed a few points off of one lady, but pretty much lost magnificently.  The coaches did come over and tell me that they were proud of her for not giving up, or...... crying.

 

We did finally meet a friend of my sister's who also fences. She offered to hang out with T-Rex and give her some pointers. So I ran T-Rex home, fed her, and took her back to the tournament. Then I headed to go get Blondie and Cheesie from a girl scout sleepover. They had a blast, but both had to be in different places at 3:00. Thankfully Brian was finally home around 1 and we could divide and conquer.

 

 

Blondie had to go with me to a local pool and practice with her snorkel and fins for our fifth grade Mantee trip coming up in January. Mr. Cary (above) goes with us every year, and I adore him. He has a great banter with the students (even though he teaches them that pelicans are pole birds because they sit on poles on the dock). I'm not too worried about Blondie doing this trip because she can swim, and the wetsuits will keep us floating without much effort. I needed her to try the fins to see how it would work with her left side. Everything was fine.

 

 While I was with Blondie, Brian took Cheesie to her concert at the local outdoor mall.  I had attended her concert the previous Thursday (Brian took T-Rex to her violin concert) so I didn't feel too bad about missing this event. Our music teacher puts on a very enjoyable show, and this was Cheesie's first time really performing. She was so excited.

 

 

 

By the end of the day, I was one tired puppy. The tough thing though, was that I knew the next day was going to be just as busy......