a day in the life (true story of 09/24/08)

12:15am - set my alarm for 4:00am, go to bed.

4:51am – my cell phone wakes me up…”heather where are you?” quick realization that I’ve slept through my alarm “I’ll be there in 10 minutes!!!”

5:02 am – arrive at starbucks “heather your shirt is on inside out” crap.

5:03 am – shirt on correctly, bust our butts and somehow manage to open on time

5:30 am – Ding! “welcome to starbucks, what can we get started for you?” repeat 5 or so times directly afterwards.

6:15 am – loud crash outside. I run out and realize there has been a huge crash just outside our store. I run to the scene and help one of the drivers out of the passenger side. The driver’s side was completely busted in and she’s bleeding. I yell “CALL 911” to my co-worker and escort the lady across the intersection to our store. It’s still dark out and cars are whizzing by. She is in shock. Another man stops and helps the other lady. I bring her up to the patio and my co-worker rushes out with the first aid kit.

6:45am!! - ambulance, fire truck, police etc arrive and we run back inside

6:50am – Ding! “welcome to starbucks” steam milk, pull shots, pour coffee, sell oatmeal “hope you enjoy your day”

7:00am – backed up traffic = cranky customers…try to keep a smile on.

7:15am – another couple of co-workers arrive and butt heads over everything. I diffuse petty arguments left and right…proving that I am, indeed, a mom.

8:00am – my shift supervisor and I have a misunderstanding. She snaps my head off. I secretly want to dress her in steamed soy, but instead ask if we can discuss the issue politely when we aren’t in a rush. Agreed.

8:15am – my pits remind me that I have forgotten to put on deodorant. crap. Ding! “welcome to starbucks” repeat a million times. Seriously.

10:45am – shift supervisor realizes on her own that she misunderstood and she apologizes. I forgive. Hug. Run out the door.

11:00am – kiss my babies, kiss my hubby. Chat on the phone with kel.

11:15am – I nurse cora while checking a few emails. Tim showers.

11:30am – toss kids around, put on a load of laundry. I ask tim if he’ll grill some chicken tonite. He says yes and pulls some out of the freezer to thaw.

11:45am – kiss tim and send him off to work

11:50am – feed kids lunch while singing “oldmacdonald” countless times at their request

12:00pm – change THREE poopy diapers. Put cora down for a nap.

12:30pm – tidy house up and make a mental note of the projects to get done today

1:00pm – mother’s helper arrives. I send her down to play with the kids. They are thrilled and I say a quick prayer of thanks that they are bonding. Life is looking up. I relish some alone time upstairs and make myself a quick lunch.

1:10pm – begin to unwind.

1:15pm – CRASH! I hear liam screaming bloody murder and run to the scene. He has a knot the size of a golf ball between his eyes and he is in out of control panic mode. “oh Lord oh Lord!” he has fallen off the swing in our basement and hit his head square between the eyes on a table. It’s huge and bruised already in the 0.5 seconds it takes me to make it to him. I access the situation, cannot get him under control, he starts to try to fall asleep and I do my best to keep him awake. Change another poopy (cloth) diaper. “Father God I need You”

1:20pm – I call tim to come home

1:30pm – we head to the nearest urgent care. They don’t accept our insurance. Crap.

1:35pm – head to urgent care #2…it’s no longer urgent care. Crap.

1:50pm – arrive at urgent care #3. Exam. Tears. MAJOR meltdown. (it’s hard when you’re 3 and you are scared, in pain and you don’t have the ability to express what you feel)
“keep an eye on him. If you see any of these signs go directly to the hospital. I think he is fine”

3:45pm – stop at the train shop to pick out a treat for such a rough afternoon. He is happy. “Thank you, Lord.”

4:00pm – send tim back to work

4:05pm – load all three kids in the van plus the mother’s helper to take her home. Drop her off and tell her not to worry, it wasn’t her fault. (she felt awful)

4:20pm – get some fries all around and a coke for me for heaven’s sake!

4:22pm – realize that the tank is on empty (sigh)

4:26pm – get in the 24-car long gas line and wait.

4:45pm – still waiting

5:15pm – still waiting. Cora starts to fuss. Call tim and ask if there is a better option since I need gas for liam’s vision test first thing tomorrow. He says he’ll take the van tonite and wait. “you’re awesome…thanks”

5:16pm – head home

5:30pm – feed the kids dinner

6:00pm – tim arrives home and I take cora in our bedroom to nurse, we both fall asleep.

7:00pm – CRASH! Garland is screaming. She has pulled the baby gate that I put on our bedroom door onto herself while trying to find me.

7:05pm – (yelling to tim) “I CAN’T DO THIS ON 3 HOURS OF SLEEP!!!!” I snap. It has just been all too much. (and really I got 4 hours and 36 mins of sleep, but it sure felt like 3 when I was yelling it) I retreat to the laundry room (???) to gather my brains.

7:06pm – tim comforts garland in a sweet daddy way

7:07pm – “tim, I really need to just get in the shower for a bit and collect myself.” he agrees.

7:45pm – emerge from the shower a much better mom…seek garland out and give her some really fun mama time to make up for the snap in my behavior. Try to ice liam’s head again.

8:05pm – put older two kids to bed with kisses and snuggles

8:10pm – tim informs me that he’s put the chicken back into the fridge and brings me a grilled cheese sandwich, cut just the way I like it and a mug of beer. He instinctively retreats to the playroom to watch TV so I can unwind without the TV blaring. “thank you God for my husband”

9:00pm – tim emerges from the basement asking…
TIM: “why do they call them ‘separate corners’ anyway? I mean, aren’t all corners separate?”
ME: “I have no idea, babe. Good question”
TIM: “I mean seriously. It’s a boxing term. What are the guys gonna do…retreat to the SAME corner, snuggle and then go back to beating the heck out of each other?”
ME: “well, hon. That’s kindof what WE do.”
We bust a gut laughing. Like really laughing hard.
TIM “I love you babe”
ME: “love you too”
We toast with beer mugs and comment on how crazy our life is these days.