Kansas City, Round 2

Yesterday was such a busy day! It started with the usual - get all 5 up, dressed, and fed - and I even managed to get a shower before we bolted out the door at 7:10. We stopped to get gas and suddenly I remembered that I had an appointment to get the oil changed in the van too. So I dropped the older 3 kids off at their school, ran to a friend's to pick her up because she needed a ride back into town, dropped Alex off at his school, and then went and got the oil changed.

Luckily, they do a 25-point inspection when they change the oil, and while they noted a few things that need attention, nothing is earth-shattering or needs to be done immediately. But, we have a few things that we should do to it before we go on TMOART:2012. After the oil change, I dropped my friend off at her appointment and then came home. I worked on laundry and cleaning (imagine that) until it was time to take Daniel to school.

After I dropped him at school, I ran over to The Dude's house to drop off the boys' booster seats and to spend a few minutes with him before I took off to KC again. I hit the road again at about 1:00, planning on getting to the airport at 4:00.

With her in my possession and that part of the mission accomplished, we headed back home. We stopped just outside of KC for me to get something to eat (yeah, I forgot to eat for most of the day again) and then we continued on our merry little way. We stopped at one point to take pictures - I see this little building every time I go this direction but this is the first time I've ever stopped. I always thought that it was a church, but I believe now that it was a school.

So anyway, we got back here around 7:30 or so - there was NO traffic around KC, which just amazed me, but I wasn't complaining. By the time we got back I had a huge knot in my back -luckily The Dude had already gotten the boys fed and changed into pajamas, so he chased them into bed and then got me into bed with my heating pad and some ibuprofen, and I crashed. Hard. I didn't really realize how tired I was until I slept for close to 11 hours straight!

Today isn't quite so crazy - I'll have 4 out of the 5 kids tonight (Emily is spending the weekend with a friend) and I don't *think* we have any plans. Tomorrow we are getting up early for the diabetes walk - in case you missed it, if I get a minimum of $250 donated by midnight tonight, I will do the walk fully dressed in Dallas Cowboys attire *gag*. And I will post pictures - but you have to hurry and donate today!

And then of course, Sunday is the half-marathon.

I'm looking forward to relaxing on Sunday afternoon.....

KC road trip

So after getting about an hour's worth of sleep last night, my friend and I got up at about 1:30 this morning so that I could get her to the airport in Kansas City. We got on the road just before 2:30am (and after putting $78 in the gas tank) for the 3 hour drive. I got her to the airport at about 5:30 and turned around to come straight back home. The Dude stayed here so that he could take Alex to school this morning, and then when I got back into town I met him and Daniel at his house for a few minutes before we came back home and I crashed. Hard. I slept until about noon, and then we took Daniel to school, grabbed some food, hung out a bit more, and then I got the boys from school and came home to make supper for us and The Dude's family. It was a good day - but a very very long one, and I am beat.

Of course, it was pitch black when we left and when we got to the airport, so we only took the obligatory pictures while she and I were together...

The sun started coming up as I was driving back home, but luckily it was behind me so I wasn't being blinded - the first two I actually took in my side mirror, and the third one is (obviously) in my rearview mirror.

I did end up having to stop at a truck stop on the way back to stretch my legs and get some much-needed munchies - but I did manage to do the entire trip without caffeine! I'm always amazed at the things you can find at a truck stop though.

Some of the Kansas countryside is actually quite pretty....

Not bad for a quick trip - and I get to do it again on Thursday to pick her up from the airport, but at least that one will be in the daylight! But, we'll also have to deal with rush hour in KC - that could be interesting! (Yes, I know I need to clean the dust off of my dashboard.)

Love road trips!!!

Plans, Stress, and Rental Cars

Why, oh why…..why can’t I have one drama-free day? Just one? Is that too much to ask?

I found out about a week or so ago that my best friend from college was going to be in the Kansas City area for work for a few days. We have not seen each other since 2004, so there was no way that we were going to NOT get together while she was here. She had no way to get to me, so I had to get to her. The plans started formulating, with a friend offering to take me to Kansas City.

Plans. Plans suck. Plans never work. Saturday morning, as I was racing from basketball game to basketball game, the She-Beast died. Literally sputtered and died alongside the road. I was able to get a hold of a friend who lived in the area and she came and took my kids to the next basketball game while her son came out and tried to work some magic. We towed it back to their house, but couldn’t figure out much of anything so we towed it the 30+ miles home. One theory was a bad fuel filter, so I bundled up the two youngest ones and we walked the mile to the auto parts place and got a new one. I came home and put it on, but alas, it didn’t work. So it could possibly be the fuel pump, which is of course located INSIDE the gas tank – that one is beyond my abilities to fix. I need help on that.

Anyway, driving the She-Beast to KC was Plan B. Plan A never worked, as the friend who was supposed to drive me went out of town for work and still has not been heard from (*gritting teeth*). Plan B was now out of the question. I tried to find a vehicle to borrow – no luck. Finally, I started looking at rentals and found out that I could get one with unlimited mileage for $20 for the day. Sold! I had to beg a ride to Wichita to get it (thank you very much to my 4-year old’s father for that one), but I got it and then I dropped my youngest off with some friends and I hit the road.

The trip up was uneventful. Having no kids in the car was strange, but it necessitated having the radio cranked up as loud as it would possibly go the entire way. I sang along with everything and had a blast. I found some great radio stations and so I had the opportunity to belt out tunes from everyone from Bon Jovi to Depeche Mode to Tim McGraw to Metallica. I managed to get up there just shortly after she checked into the hotel, so we went and grabbed something light to eat and visited for a while before I took her on a driving tour of Kansas City at breakneck speeds. Driving around and talking just reminded me so much of our days in college when we would take so many insane spur-of-the-moment road trips together, including a 17-hour one to see the peach drop in Atlanta, GA for New Years. Word of advice – if you ever have the chance to do that, don’t. It was nothing more than a giant orange pillow with a bajillion drunk people crammed into about a one square block area underneath it. But anyway…..

After our driving tour, we went back to the hotel and grabbed her coworker and we went to what the desk clerk called a “Mex-Tex” restaurant nearby. I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food, but wow – this stuff was good! The waiter was, uh, interesting, to say the least. He just couldn’t comprehend some of the things that we were saying to him – I think he was overwhelmed by three East Coast ladies in one room or something. But we had fun eating too much, talking non-stop, and halfway watching the Patriots lose to the Jets.

I finally left around 8:00pm, 2 hours behind schedule. I filled up the gas tank and hit the road. I got back to pick up my youngest around 10:45 and we got home at around 11:15. He was still awake when I picked him up and was still awake when we got home. He put a movie in (yes, HE put the movie in) and I turned out the lights and he crawled into bed with me and we both fell asleep.

This morning has already involved getting the rental car back to Wichita (and getting a ride back with another friend) and sending out feelers to try to get someone to come and look at the She-Beast to try to figure out what is wrong with her. My mind is going a billion miles a second right now, trying to come up with plans (there’s that word again) to get it fixed, get my daycare business up and running again, get my crafts going again, get my canned stuff going again, and just get some money rolling in again.

It is time, no it is beyond time, to get my act together. This divorce and all of the drama that went along with it is now over. I let myself slide into a very deep depression – one that I’m not sure most people were really aware of. I let things go that I never should have, and I’ve put myself into a very ugly financial position. But the good thing is that now I realize it. I see it very clearly. So now it’s time to fix it. Today’s plan – and yes, I’m using the p-word because I am determined to break the p-word jinx – is to get everything around the house cleaned up and straightened up and make the house look not so…….grotesque. Once that is done, the lists will be made – lists of things that I need to do in order to reclaim my life. And these lists are not going to get thrown away or lost in the shuffle – they will be kept, they will be followed, and they will be completed.

I have a new (or old) last name. I am in a new decade of my life. I am in a fairly new home (it’s been a few months, but it’s still new-ish). It is definitely time for a new start. Going to grab those hypothetical big girl panties and put them on – as soon as the laundry is done.