April 02, 2009

Whew, glad THAT'S over!!

The past two days have been...crazy! (So crazy it took me two days to post this, so ignore the fact that by "today" I now mean "yesterday" etc....sorry)

Yesterday morning Autumn threw up twice, then Julia crashed into me, causing me to drench myself in coffee. Which necessitated a wardrobe change. Which pissed me off since I was going to a job fair and really wanted to wear my IA shirt. Damn.

Anyway. Worked the job fair, saw my old high school friend Mike, (Ogey!! LOL- I am sure he LOVED me calling him that in front of his colleagues, I need to self edit better!!) Then came home and worked a while. Ran a couple miles and did some weight work. Austin grilled steaks. I had locked myself out of my safe and really needed the kids' paperwork for my Food Stamp/ Medicaid re-up appointment today, so I spent an hour hunched over the stupid safe, and finally got the damn thing open- Yay, me!!!! (And also Boo Hiss, me- wtf was I thinking locking the combo in the stupid safe!? Duh! Although I'm sure it won't be the last idiotic mistake I ever make)

I had been pretty sure that I wouldn't be receiving any Food benefits today for this month since I had the appointment today, but when I woke up I called the number on the card and it had $600 on it! I decided I would be an idiot not to spend as much of that as possible before the appointment, since who knew if they'd re-evaluate and lower the benefit amount afterwards. So I went to Food Lion at 8am and dropped $479 in two trips through the store, mostly on non-perishables. Then I worked a while, hit Walmart on the fly for $120 more in non perishable groceries, and went to my appointment at Social Services.

Social Services is like hell's waiting room, after a riot in the Jerry Springer studio kills twelve. I hate going there. I hate being a client. I hate being dependent. Its demeaning and demoralizing and depressing. Sitting between an excessively tattooed drunk guy talking about his latest arrest, and some woman trying to rationalize her scuzzy boyfriend beating on her, makes me feel worthless by association. (Yeah, I know- they aren't worthless. Its just, rough.)

So, I left there all screwed up, sad, angry, hurt, depressed, with about five minutes to spare, and went to the bank. I stuck my keys in my pocket and stood up to go inside. I heard the keys fall out of my pocket & hit the floorboard a half second before the van door slammed....and locked. Right before the bus was due to drop my kids off at home. After I had my panic attack, I called my dad, who works at a car dealership a few miles up the road, and my BFF Eve, who graciously hopped in her van and zoomed to my house to wait for the kids.

As an aside, while I was waiting, I called my girlfriend Eliza, who drives the same stinkin' van I do (and whose van is also hell bent on destroying her life with various acts of defiance) and we tested out the "unlock your car via cell phone" thing. FAIL!!

My dad arrived, unlocked me, crisis averted. Eve and I had a conversation about how useless vaginas are in cases of mechanical emergency, large hairy spider sightings, and stuck jar lids. Whereas it appears that merely waving a penis in the direction of these situations fixes any of them immediately. Its patently unfair. I am SO gonna be a man in my next life. Or a lesbian.

So. Tomorrow is gonna be cool. Thanks to Carmen over at http://momtothescreamingmasses.typepad.com/ the kids and I have free passes to media day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg tomorrow! We are gonna spend the day riding rides and watching a movie and eating lunch with characters. I am so grateful to her for thinking of us and for passing along the opportunity, my kids are thrilled! I will post pictures- and a review of the new Sesame Street Fun Forest, this weekend.

Taking the van in for an oil change now. My life is so glamorous I can't hardly stand it!