It all started with a forgotten key...

So I'm at work the other day and Michael calls me.  I was shocked because I always WANT him to call when he gets home from school, but he never does.  So I answer the phone, happy to hear his voice and he tells me that he forgot his key and so he is locked out of the house.  It is 3:50 in the afternoon.  

Okay, fine, I can do this.  I go to my boss, explain the situation and I'm like "It's gonna be about 25-30 minutes round trip to get there and back" and she's like "You can just go home for the day".  Part of me was like YIPPEE! while the other part of me was agonizing over losing the hour of work.  But I left.

I get home, there's my boy sitting on the porch and as I walk to the door, I happen to look back at my car and notice that my front tire is really low.  I mean REALLY low as in almost flat.  I panicked because I noticed it was low the other day and Frank had put air in but now it looks like it's more than a slow leak.  

So we go inside, Michael has a snack and I realize that we have yet to get a pumpkin.  When he was done eating, we left, put air in the tire and went in search of a pumpkin.  It was actually a very short search because we found a good one right away at the local supermarket.  This leads me to go in to grab a few things.  Okay, so we're back in the car with our loot and I think about the tire again and remember that there is this stuff called Fix-a-Flat.  

Now we're on the way to Target.  Okay, fine, groceries in the car, it will have to be a quick trip to Target.  Frank calls and I'm telling him all that is going on and he's like "Hey, you know that new road that was being built...?"  Let me interject here.  When he is working, he tends to work in Raleigh.  I almost NEVER go to Raleigh, particularly the part of Raleigh that he is speaking of.  I think the last time I was on the road he was asking about was six months ago.  So he wants to know where this new road leads to.  Really?  And I'm the first person you think of to ask?  Why not just DRIVE on the new road?  I mean, you're right there!  

Apparently, he did not appreciate my observation and hangs up in a snit.  

We get the Fix-a-Flat (and some more things because we're in Target) and head home to start dinner.  Michael had a nightmare of a homework assignment and after HOURS of arguing about it, we finally just decide that he'll have to talk to the teacher and I will send a note (which I will later forget to do).

Next morning, I get up early to go to a once-a-month cleaning gig that I do with a friend to find, surprise, surprise, a flat tire!  Frank had yelled the night before because I put air in the tire BEFORE the Fix-a-Flat but really, my first priority had been to put air in the damn tire!  So now, he can use the Fix-a-Flat because that tire is FLAT!

So, Fix-a-Flat in and now I have to drive it for a couple of miles and top off the air.  Okay, I can do that and STILL get to the cleaning gig with minimal delays.  I drive, I go to a gas station, wait on the line for AIR (go figure) and I turn off the car.  When I go to start it again, it's dead.

I kid you not.

Now, I'm stuck at the gas station.  Perfect.  I call Frank and I'm like "I'm dead at the gas station" he's like "What do you mean?"  

SIGH...

I repeat myself and he's like "I'm not following you..."  I'm like "THE CAR HAS DIED AND WON'T START!"  There may have been a nasty name added to that statement, but for the sake of the story, we'll leave that out.  So he's like, "What am I supposed to do?"  Um...how about come and help me??  Michael had just left for the bus and he wanted to make sure he got on it before coming to the gas station.  Okay, fine, I'll wait and in the meantime, I'll call our dear mechanic friend and see if he can help.

After listening to me make car noises (it wasn't fun) we decided it's quite possibly the battery.  Frank jumps the car, I drive it to the mechanic (who I LOVE!) and he takes care of it and tells me there is a nail in my tire.  That is clearly going to have to wait because the battery is the more important repair at the moment and the Fix-a-Flat seems to be doing an okay job.  In the meantime, I have to go to the cleaning gig, clean like a fiend and then go home and shower, change, eat lunch and then go to my real job.  By this point, I am beyond ready to call it a day.  

I work until five, go home, grab Michael and then meet Frank in Raleigh for dinner because I had a coupon for one free dinner at Outback that was about to expire.  We eat, we hang out, then he leaves to go to the band and Michael and I hit the mall.  I had a Bath & Body Works coupon on the verge of expiration, too, and needed some Sea Island Cotton scrub!  It's a weakness, so sue me! 

I did not walk in the door to my house until 8:00.  I had left it at 7:00 in the morning.  I do not want another day like this EVER!!!  And to top it off, "Modern Family" was a repeat and I forgot to watch "Psych"!  Clearly, I just needed to go to bed...