One Of Those Days......

Thursday

So it's been one of those days.  A day that started partly at 10:00am Tuesday morning and now is finally over.  Let's all cross our fingers that tomorrow is better.

It all started (kind of) with a work project I received about 2 weeks ago.  It's been a couple of months since I've received any environmental projects in my area, so I was excited to get the email that said, "We've got a project for you!  Do you want it?"  It was the biggest project size-wise that I've ever received: a 1,430-acre tract of undeveloped land up in Sevierville, Tennessee.  Plans for the property include officially designating it as a conservation area.

One of my pics from the top of the property.  See that road?  I started at the bottom of that.

The due date for this project, according to my work order, was Monday, March 30th.  I did my site visit this past Monday (the 23rd) with the intentions of working on everything over this week and weekend, mostly at night after the kiddos went to bed.

Tuesday morning at about 10:00am, I received a big "OOPS" email from the Project Manager.  She realized that she put the 30th on my work order as the due date, but she messed up.  The due date was actually the 25th.....aka Wednesday.  As in the due date to the client was the 25th.  And under normal circumstances, this would mean that my due date is the day before that.  So my work order due date should have been the 24th.  Tuesday.  The day she emailed me.  I hadn't even planned on starting the report until Wednesday evening.  So this put a kink in my day for sure.

I wasn't pissed at all.....I mean, we're all human and things happen.....but I was definitely stressed.

So for the 48 hours between Tuesday morning and Thursday morning, between entertaining and feeding and taking care of tiny humans, I used every spare minute to work on my report.  I was up until almost 3:00am Tuesday night and up until 1:00am last night.  And by 10:30 this morning, it was officially was out of my hands and on its way to the review board, aka my Project Manager.  Whew!

The report being done was a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders, but then I had the awesome added bonus of two crabby toddlers tossed into the mix.  Over the weekend, Lucy was super snotty and sneezy and just an overall miserable human being.  We figured she was cutting another tooth.  But then at the beginning of this week, she was suddenly over the snot and the sneezing (with no added tooth) and Delano was instantly snotty and sneezy and overall miserable.  And this lasted until this morning.  They were both just flat-out crabby about life during those 6ish days because they felt like crap.  And I get that.  But it doesn't make life any easier just because I "get it".  Life as a parent still sucks when your kids are sick.  You can't reason with a toddler on a regular day, much less a sick day.

Delano isn't sick anymore.  He woke up this morning perfectly fine.  Wellllllllll........perfectly fine from the no-longer-sick aspect.  He still woke up screaming for me to come and get him of bed.  Which is apparently his new thing: screaming BLOODY MURDER in the mornings and crying until he chokes as if he woke up and realized he had been abandoned forever and left to die alone.  This all happens within about 30 seconds of him waking up.  Which usually wakes up his sister unless I can grab him in time to shut him up.  It's fun times.

The point of the photo doesn't relate, but the look on this child's face is familiar.  Just add in some elephant tears.

The first half of the day went pretty smoothly.  I was able to wrap up my report while the kiddos played and watched Bubble Guppies and ate breakfast.  Lucy vetoed her morning nap (I gave up after about an hour of her fussing in her crib), but it worked out okay.  Lunchtime came and went, and then it was time for afternoon naps.  Lucy slept for 2 hours and Delano slept for 3.  Since it was supposed to rain all day - which ended up not happening - and since I had that report to finish - I had decided ahead of time that we weren't leaving the house and that it was going to be a mommy productive day.  So when the kids went down for their afternoon naps, I hit the treadmill for a short run, took a shower, brushed the dogs (who are shedding like the world is going bald and they need to produce ALL THE HAIR), picked up toys, swept the upstairs, washed the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen.  Then Lucy woke up.  She woke up fine......giggly, happy to see me, yada yada......but I quickly realized within about 10 minutes that she was indeed not in the mood that I thought she was in.  No snack, toy or activity was going to rate above the fact that she wanted to be on my hip nonstop.  And even then, she still wasn't fully content.  She had no idea what she wanted, and no way to tell me because her sign language and/or verbal language didn't extend that far.  So enter tearful, fussy, crying, indecisive Toddler #1.

Then Delano woke up.  Once again, you would have thought he was being either abandoned or slaughtered in his crib (seriously - what happened to the kid who would wake up easily and peacefully???).  And then I guess you could say that for the next 4 hours, I had TWO tearful, fussy, crying, indecisive toddlers on my hands.

Exactly like that.  PURE JOY, Y'ALL.  LIKE ANGELS SENT FROM HEAVEN.

THEN came bedtime.  Lucy actually went to bed a little early without a single hesitation....and then she slept for 12 1/2 hours.  Delano, on the other hand, put up a massive fight.  It was a screamfest in my house for close to an hour and a half.  I went into his room several times to console him and try to figure out what was going on, but it just made it worse each time, so I eventually stopped going in.  He FINALLY wore himself out and passed out around 10:00.

Mama made herself a margarita.  Or three.

Friday

Today was much better.....kind of.

Delano woke up at 5:30am crying to get up.  I was thankful that I was able to convince him that it was indeed NOT time to get up.  He woke up again at 7:00 on the dot, and I knew that there was no going back to sleep for him (he could see that the sun was coming up), so I parked him on the couch with a cup of juice and a Curious George movie.....and then this Mama went back to bed (with the door wide open knowing that Delano was safe and sound right down the hall within view - I didn't just LEAVE my kid so I could sleep - I actually figured he would have come and gotten me within minutes, but he didn't).  And I got to sleep almost a whole other hour!  It was pure bliss.  I got up at 8:00, and Lucy woke up at 8:30.  We had breakfast and then went to my mom's house to play for a while before heading to my friend's new restaurant in Ringgold, The Green Apple.  IT WAS YUM.  We then stopped by my house to let the dogs out to pee before heading back across town.  That's when my good, decent day took a bit of a turn.

We were sitting at the light at Moore Road and South Terrace, about to make the turn to get onto the interstate, when my van died.  Just flat-out DIED in mid-turn.  So instead, we coasted into a parking lot and called my dad to come rescue us.  Turns out my alternator died.  And fyi, when your alternator dies, it doesn't wait until you're in a driveway or a parking lot......as in you go to start your car and it just won't start.....it just falls over and dies whenever it feels the urge.  Like in mid-turn with no warning when you're about to hop on the interstate.

Luckily, when your dad is an auto mechanic, you get perks like him knowing exactly what was wrong as soon as he took a look, a connection for an instant tow truck (who owed my dad a favor and didn't charge me for the tow), and a connection for a good, reliable place to take the van (S&S Auto Repair is a great repair shop, y'all.  My dad has worked with over half of the guys there in the past and will vouch that they are good guys who do a good job for a fair price, though car repairs are never cheap unless you do them yourself.)

Both my dad and my husband can fix cars.  But for this situation, my dad said the best decision for me would be to let the shop do it.  I don't know anything about alternators, but I'm guessing they're a pain in the ass.  And since the hubs is out of town until at LEAST Sunday, it's not anything he could take on at the moment, even if he wanted to. 

So for now, we are without a van.  We are not without a vehicle, as Lucas rented a van to take out of town (he needed the extra space to cart tools and supplies), so the kids and I have his car here at the house to use for the next few days (a TWO-DOOR.....ugh).  And if he comes back and my van isn't ready, he can drive a work truck for a few days.  So we're good to go in that aspect.  It just stinks overall!

Change of subject.......I've been on a half marathon registration roll!!  Lately I've been feeling like my groove is coming back with my running.  I'm still not in the shape I want to be in (if you suffer through my food log blogs you know I can't seem to shed these damn 20 pounds), but my running has been getting better anyway.  I've completed two half marathons in the past month, and was proud of my performance in both.  I wasn't fast by any means, but I still felt good about them.  So I've been super pumped about adding more races to my list (and medals to my wall!) and therefore have been stalking the Half Fanatics Upcoming Races page for upcoming races.  Then last night, I put my big girl panties on and signed up for a few.  Here's what I'm signed up for so far:

Run at the Mill at Prater's Mill in GA (April 11th) - This one is in two weeks!!  This will be my first ever half marathon in GA, so I'll get to add an extra state - my 6th state - to my Half Fanatics profile.
Chickamauga Chase in GA (April 18th)  - This one isn't a half marathon but a 15k (9.3 miles), but I've never done a 15k and this is a popular one.
Race 13.1 in Cleveland, TN (May 2nd) - I actually signed up for this one 6 months ago as an incentive to be in bathing suit shape by vacation (which is NOT going to happen).
The Scream in Jonas Ridge, NC (July 18th) - This one is ALL downhill and therefore a challenge to my legs....they call it "The Scream" because your legs will be screaming.....plus I should be able to PR!  Oh and sidenote....this will be my 7th state added to my Half Fanatics profile!

13.1 miles of "pure hill"......I like it.

I don't have anything lined up for June, though I have a race in mind if I'm able to do it.  Problem is, it's the first Saturday of Riverbend, and I might be needed to work that weekend.  I need to talk with the bosses first before I make the call.  If I DO get to do it, it's the Franklin Half Marathon in Franklin, Tennessee.  Beautiful scenery, lots of hills, a perfect yet tough run.  And we can use the weekend as a weekend visit to Nashville.  If I'm needed to work that weekend, I'll likely do the Riverbend Run here in town instead.  It's a 10k (6.2 miles) and one I've done before, but not in several years.

There's a race I'm eyeballing for August as well......the Area 13.1 Half Marathon in Roswell, GA.  The main appeal is that it's an evening run (starts at 7pm), so I wouldn't have to head down to Roswell until Saturday afternoon.  And theoretically, I could head back home after the race, though getting home at midnight (and sitting still in a car for almost 2 hours after running 13.1 miles) isn't exceptionally appealing.  So I'd probably stay the night.  I haven't signed up for this one yet (the cap is 2,200 runners and the next price increase isn't until May 1st) so I've got time to decide.  I need to talk to the hubs about all these races first.  There's a big chance that we'll be taking the family to Nevada (to visit with extended family) sometime in August or September, so I need to find out when that is before I sign up for anything then.  And while I'm thinking about that, I should ask my father-in-law if he's heard anything more about that trip, since they're planning on doing it as well.

And while we're talking about races, we must not forget that I plan to run the Tennessee Ragnar Relay from Chattanooga to Nashville this October, and that I am already officially signed up to run the Florida Keys Ragnar Relay in February 2016.  ALL THE FUN TIMES!!

I guess I should go to bed.  It's now 1:00am and I still need a shower, otherwise I won't get one until tomorrow afternoon, since my son now wakes up 1-2 hours earlier than he used to.  And you know what I'm NOT doing?  Setting an alarm for 6:30am just to shower.  I'd rather skip it and wait.

Life with kids.  It happens.