Yesterday's Adventures...

So yesterday morning, I must have had some sort of target on my back for all of life's little, but oh so exasperating inconveniences, because I certainly encountered each and every one of them.

First, I woke up later than I ought to have done. I got the chiddlers up and moving, and then I went to get myself ready. At this point, I looked at the clock, and things were looking pretty good timing-wise. I finished getting dressed, and that's where things went wrong.

The chiddlers both were taking their sweet time eating their breakfast, and it took a lot of motivation on my part to get them back on track. And then I started remembering all of the things I had to do before we left, and I had done none of them. Making CT's lunch, getting his homework signed, combing and styling AJ's hair and helping her get her boots and coat on, making myself some breakfast, certain papers that needed to be found and packed up...And there were probably more, but I can't remember them now.

Anyway, the point is that by the time we all finally got out the door, we were already running late. And, to add injury to insult, I smacked the side of my head on the frame of the van door as I was getting into the driver's seat. Hard. I may have used a few "holiday words" in response to the pain, but no one will ever be able to prove that...

Anyway, I got the chiddlers dropped off to their respective before-school sanctuaries and headed to my own class. While on the freeway, I heard a little nagging "ping" and looked down to see a red light on the dash, shaped like a thermometer in some liquid. Overheating, right? Well, I may have used a few more holiday words at that point, but again, no witnesses. Luckily I was within 5 minutes of the next exit, where I knew there was a Chevron station. I finally got pulled in there and popped the hood. My first instinct was to check the oil levels. It was a good thing, too, because it was bone dry. I ran inside and got 3 quarts of oil, and since I'd explained my predicament to the cashier there, he was kind enough to hand me one of those paper funnels. A good thing, too, because in my flustered state I would never have thought of such a thing and probably would have ended up pouring half the oil all over the engine.

Anyway, I got the oil tank filled up, turned on the engine, and the little red light was no longer lit up, so I hurried my little butt down the freeway and got to campus. Where I nearly ran over some poor pedestrian because I was fuming about my lousy morning. After that little adrenaline rush, I parked the car and finally rushed into my class. 10 minutes late. And crabby. Not to mention the fact that the TA who was lecturing didn't have enough material to fill the entire class time, so we got out early. Meaning that after everything I went through to get there, I wasn't even in class for a full hour before I had to turn around and head back home. Just as well, I suppose.

Anyway, as I started driving home, I was just heading up a hill when that friggin' red light pinged at me again. After cursing that stupid light and all the halflings, I turned around, back into town and pulled into another gas station. I checked the oil again, and it was still full. So that's when I considered the coolant levels. (Hey, I don't know a lot about cars, okay?) But I couldn't figure out how to check it. I saw that the canister was just transparent enough to see how full it was, but I couldn't be sure if what I was seeing was the coolant levels, or just dirt. Finally, I called Ty. After consulting with him for a few minutes he finally said: "I'll just come over there and see what's going on. Give me 20 minutes." (Luckily, his workplace is in the same area as where I was.) He came and determined that the coolant levels were indeed quite low, and we went inside and got some coolant and water to fix the problem. He then followed me home, just in case anything more sinister might be going on. Fortunately, there were no further issues, so we got home and went to lunch, since both the kids were in school at the time.

While at lunch, I found out that Ty had been having a pretty crappy day as well. So in calling him to come and rescue me and giving him the chance to leave work early, I had rescued him too. Yay Teamwork!

Anyway, yesterday wasn't as catastrophic as it could have been. Not by a long shot. But it was just filled with a whole lot of little, irritating, exasperating things happening in rapid succession that pretty much made it a really lousy day from the minute I decided to get out of bed.

Have you ever had one of those days?

Happy November!...

Ah! 'Tis the season. The season for wearing hoodies and drinking mugs of hot tea. Chilly, but not too cold. I know the calendar technically states that Fall officially began over a month ago, but we all know that the calendar is a big freaking liar. Now it really feels like Fall. My favorite season of the year. And it never lasts long enough for me. I've always agreed with this description of Utah's season changes: "Almost Winter, Winter, Hotter Than Hell, and Construction." One could easily get away with calling what we're currently going through the "Almost Winter" season, but I'm calling it Fall, dang it! FALL!

I've got my afternoon class today, and a few spare minutes right now, so I figured I'd stave off Bryan's hatred (he has recently made threats in that direction) and write a post. I know. I'm such a generous person.

So the other night my dear friend, Leesha, came over to hang out, watch movies, and eat junk food. In flipping through the movies that Netflix had to offer, we just happened across one called "Strictly Ballroom." This is a film that we both watched during our time in high school, and all we could really remember about it was that it was absolutely crazy, and that we found it to be hilarious at the time. So we watched it.

We laughed so hard the whole time. Not because of any particularly clever comedic writing. Not because of hilarious situations and characters, but because it was just. so. crazy!

The acting is over the top, the film in and of itself is so unbelievably campy and cheesy, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to turn it off. It was like a horrific car wreck. You want to look away, but you just can't! Anyway, Leesha and I were laughing and mocking the movie generously all the way through. But Ty--the innocent bystander--was forced to sit, horrified, through the entire thing. I think he's lost at least 90% of any respect he ever had for either of us. Sad, I know, but maybe I can earn it back with a long and intelligent speech about the historical significance of the wheel or something. Or maybe he'll just choose to pretend it never happened, and only betray his knowledge of the truth with the occasional sidelong glance and shake of the head.

AJ and CT had fun this Halloween. They each got plenty of candy for Mom to sneak out of their bags at night after they've gone to bed and she has to study for a test. I didn't dress up this year. I just didn't think about it until it was too late to really put anything together. So I went as a Mom, complete with jeans and hoodie.

Anyway, I feel good about November. It's a pretty good month, and I'm looking forward to the holiday season. I'm a bit nutty when it comes to decorating for Christmas, though. Not until after Thanksgiving. Period. Ty isn't a fan of this rule, but he goes along with it. Good man, he is. But maybe I'll let him put up Christmas a week earlier than usual this year, if only to make up for the whole "Strictly Ballroom" incident...