Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Can bird seed make this day better?



We had big plans for today.

After rising bright and early (about 6ish), we planned to eat breakfast (Ellie and Brendan are eating waffles AND a bowl of cereal AND fruit smoothies for breakfast these days). I hoped to grab a quick shower (HAH!). And then we were going to get dressed (Ellie in a special Christmas outfit for her performance at school).

By 7:35 or so, we needed to be in the car to drop Ellie off at school by 7:50. Then we were going to quickly spin by the post office to mail our holiday cards. Then back to Ellie's school to watch her Christmas concert from 8:15 until 8:45. Back in the car to head over the Nature Museum where Brendan was supposed to take a class about birds starting at 9:30 a.m.. If we had a few extra minutes, we might even swing by the Green City Market to pick up some fresh produce for our holiday celebration on Saturday.

All that before 11:00 a.m.

Things were moving along smoothly until . . . let's see . . . we had breakfast. And then everything went off the rails. As the clock ticked down to departure time, Brendan informed me that he had packed EVERY SINGLE PAIR OF SHOES he owns in his backpack for an imaginary trip to Dallas. The backpack was of course no where to be found.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

We eventually located the backpack and a suitable pair of shoes. As we peeled out of the garage, I thought I heard a funny sound (although it was hard to tell over Brendan's crying about the fact that I had unpacked his trip bag). And again, that funny sound.

I pulled over and discovered a big, fat flat tire.

So back into the garage. Out of the car. Into the kitchen. Cue the crying due to the fact that the Christmas Concert began in less than a half an hour.

This sad story turns out okay in the end. My heroic brother delivered Ellie to school just a few minutes after the concert got going. After nearly two hours on the phone, my tire got changed. The baby eventually napped.

Brendan did miss his bird class at the Nature Museum. But we made this simple pine cone bird feeder instead. Not a bad substitute, right?

Off to bed now. Kind of a long day around here.

4 comments:

Tan Family said...

Wheww! I could feel the intensity and emotions of your day, just reading the post. These types of days especially seem to occur around busy times of the year! Your pinecone feeders look terrific. We just made some this week and the kids loved it. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow! Here's to a less eventful day today. You need it!

Anonymous said...

such a tragic day, especially compared to the women who are worried about how they are going to feed their children breakfast, and hope that the one pair of shoes holds out for another month or that the two buses they are trying to catch arrive fairly close to schedule. Be thankful for your warm breakfast and warm car and that your biggest tragedy of the day is a flat tire.

Susan Bearman said...

Oh, Anonymous, we get it. It's not the tragedy of the year, but give this mom a break.

Caitlin, big points for creativity on the bird feeder.

We blew out a tire on a long car trip once — just me and the kids in the cold and rain at night in Kentucky on I-65. Not fun, but it has become part of the family lore.