Happy Valentines Week

My Valentines Day was not the best day ever. It wasn't the worst, but it was filled with inconveniences. I guess that's part of life.

It started with Matt & I trying to rouse and EXTREMELY crabby Xander out of bed. Maia got up no problem but it became apparent after a short time that she was not feeling very well. Just a cold, but the very beginning part of one, and she was pretty droopy all day.

Xander was just plain mad that he had to get out of bed ("It's not FAIR!") and didn't seem to care that it was Valentines Day, or that there was a party and special "Gala Banquet" for lunch. Just wanted to sleep in.

Too bad.

I drove Xander to school in our little Neon ("Maggie" as we affectionately call her), and though I had just had the oil changed the day before, noticed that she was not running the best. Then the oil light came on, and it started to smell. This can't be good! I ran home, got Maia, and figured I had time to zip over to the quick oil change place to make sure they got everything plugged back up, because the lake of fresh oil in the driveway was a pretty good indicator that there was a significant leak.

My PLAN was to have them fix their mistake, take Maia to daycare and then go teach lessons at USF for most of the rest of the day. I stopped in at the school to make sure of the time of my first lesson (9:30) beforehand, which backfired on me, because a student snuck in at 8:55 and signed up for a 9:00 lesson (she didn't get one).

Unfortunately, neither did my 9:30 because the problem was significantly larger than a loose oil filter. The quick-change place couldn't take the car apart far enough to figure out what the problem was, so they suggested that I take it to a dealer. (Read: spend big $$$). They also did not recommend that I drive her. That's convenient...

I did not buy this car here, I bought it from a small used car dealership in Marion - kind of along the lines of the "Wanna buy a watch?" guys in New York City (I've bought one of those too). But the Saturn/ Cadillac/ Pontiac dealer that we bought our Aztek from has always treated me fairly without making me feel like a girl. So I called them and they said they could look at it, told me to have the quick-change guys just fill it up with oil and dribble all the way across town to their shop.

So I did. I had decided by this point not to take Maia to daycare, because she was just hanging on me and feeling miserable. They wouldn't want her there, and she just needed her mom (I recognize the co-dependence). So I stopped at the house and picked up some stuff to help her get through the day- a couple of coloring books, a favorite storybook, her blanket, some food, etc. Left a little puddle in the driveway, then buzzed across town to the Saturn place.

They had a shuttle that would take us to USF in time for my next lesson (11:00), and Maia hung out with me all day. She spent some time looking at her coloring book (not coloring), some time sleeping on our coats in the corner of my office while I taught lessons, and some time on my lap. She really wasn't a problem at all. We all had great sympathy for her.

I finished early (1:30- usually 2:00), but hadn't heard from Saturn yet, so I called them and left a message that I was ready for pickup.... almost 2 hours later we finally got picked up, and went back to pick up Maggie. Turned out a gasket (not the head gasket) dried up and fell out. I guess it's kind of common in that engine. Apparently an important part to have... The part cost about $7. The labor cost $150. I'm in the wrong gig.

Meanwhile, Xander had gone home from school with a friend, and I thought for sure he would be in a better mood when I went to pick him up.

No.

I let him play there until 4:30. When I went in to get him, he cried, yelled at me for "forgetting his Bionicle" to take to Isaac's house, complained all the way to the car, and when I asked him how his class party was, his reply was "it wasn't any better than any other day, except we got to have ONE piece of candy at the very end of the day." I didn't bother asking about the Gala Banquet.

We got to go to a friend's house for dinner that evening. Our small group had a gathering, and there were quite a few of us there. Very fun, but the kids were so tired we couldn't stay long.

The positives about Valentines Day: I got chocolate. That can fix a multitude of problems. Or at least mask them. Matt was so thrilled with his gift (we gave ourselves a $14 spending limit)- he got chocolate and beer. He was the envy of every guy at work. I got chocolate and bath stuff- lotion, body wash, etc. We both enjoyed our gifts.

Also, it wasn't as bad as the year when Matt & I were dating and I broke up with him a week before V-Day and he had already gotten me a gift. What a rotten person I was!

The saving grace of this week is that Bruce & George (Matt's folks) called yesterday and asked if they could take the kids for the weekend. We have a 5-day weekend from school, no school Thursday, Friday or Monday- Happy Presidents Day! At first we were going to only send Xander (cousins Cassie & Lexi were going too) because Maia was not feeling too good, but this morning, I called them and begged them to take her too!

AHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh!

I'm feeling a little guilty about how happy I am that Matt & I are without kids for 3 WHOLE DAYS!!!

AND we got our tax return today. Things could be a lot worse.

Here's hoping we'll appreciate the kids more when they come home. And thank you, Grandpa & Grandma!!! Hopefully they'll be less horrible for you than for us.