Yesterday. Was, um, not exactly exhausting, but close. This is what almost 53 feels like I guess.

¾ Pint, who has been here since Friday last, is still sort of sicky girl. I woke up yesterday, got Pint and ½ Pint ready for school, got them on the bus and called the old Pediatrician. Got appt. Got dressed, got ¾ dressed and off we go. The appointment is for 11:30.


We get there about 15 minutes early. Now, mind you. We are about a 35 minute drive from town. We wait a bit. It is nice because ¾ Pint is used to this Doctor, the Doctor is very nice, her husband is a nurse and an engineer, and runs the office. We have a very good rapport with this physician.

I explain that I got her on Friday, right after Nursey had taken her to her NEW doctor, who said she had a head cold. I go through the highlights of the weekend, the high fevers, etc. I tell her what I have used to treat the baby. (I know, I know, a kid turning seven is NOT technically the baby....to me they are ALL babies).

She gives me a prescription for Omnicef. Antibiotics are weird. Each child has an antibiotic that works best with their system. That is one of the things that having a long standing relationship with a Doctor helps with. In ¾ Pint's case, Zithromax and Amoxicillin and Augmentin don't work very well, usually resulting in additional meds because the infection doesn't leave after the normal course of the antibiotics. Any other Doctor would probably challenge that, but this Doc has treated ¾ Pint (and the other kids as well) since they were like 2 months old. She has SEEN this phenomenon a few times. Off to the pharmacy we go. I even remembered to get an excuse from school, which I NEVER remember to do. Sigh.

Pick up scrip. Head to bank to reinvigorate my wallet-o. Head to Wally World to reinvigorate my pantry and pick up Easter stuff as ¾ Pint will be here for Easter as well.

Head home, we get there by 2:30. I have to leave by 2:45 to go pick up the kids from school and head to karate.

The phone rings. In the 15 minutes of 'leisure' I have at home.


It's Calamity.

She got off work at 7 am, went to methadone clinic, picked up her car at dealers (bad rear seal), and drove to pick up ¼ Pint from other Grandma's where she had spent the weekend. Calamity works straight 12 hour night shift at a local senior assisted living place. Friday, Sat, and Sunday. Then has the rest of the week off.

She was almost crying, she hadn't slept since Saturday. The baby wouldn't go down for her nap. She needs help and there is no one else she can call. Can I take the baby? I tell her I have to work. She says she is afraid she will fall asleep and the baby will get hurt.

What the hell am I gonna do? I tell her I will stop and pick the baby up after I get the girls from school, and take her to work with me.. She says, “how are you gonna do that?”

Well Duh. It certainly won't be E A S Y to be at work with a very active one year old, answering phones, and doing whatever else I need to do, along with the girls being fed, and taking classes.

I get her anyway, because the bottom line is this is my grandaughter too, and I do know Calamity, and when she says she cannot stay awake, she is not kidding.

On the way to karate, I call the local pizza place and order the $5.99 special, a round pizza with pepperoni. 12 slices. This is our traditional dinner on Karate days. We used to eat at Burger King, but this tastes better and is half the price, at least!!

Stop and pick up pizza, get to karate. Get two girls, coats, bookbags (homework must be done at karate, we don't have time, when we get home it is STRAIGHT into bed), get pizza, my purse, the diaper bag and the baby and manage to make it through the door.

Drop pizza on conference table in office, tell girls to hang coats. Tell them to grab a slice and start eating. Set ¼ Pint down in carseat. Set diaper bag and purse down. Fish for change purse, find $3 for pop for the girls to drink.

Take baby out of carseat, leaving coat on, the furnace hasn't warmed the place up yet. Find her socks and shoes which she has pulled off while in the car. One year old's always have a toy handy, their toes. Challenging part is FINDING their socks and shoes when you exit the vehicle. They tend to THROW them, which is also part of the fun, and also chew on them which means you are putting wet and cold socks and shoes back on a toddler in the winter....

In ohio, you cannot buy Wine on Sundays. That sux.

This is monday, and I don't have any wine at home, because I couldn't buy any yesterday. I had been out for over a week, and it didn't bother me especially. Tonight it would bother me. Make resolve to stop and buy a bottle on the way home.

Get through the 4 hours of work. Keep ¼ Pint awake, so she will sleep when I drop her off back at Calamity's.

Pack up kids, realize they actually ATE all the Pizza, and there is none left for DH who has been at home with ¾ Pint for 4 hours.

Call Pizza place back, order another.

Pick it up. Start driving the 20 minutes to Calamity's. Call her, no answer. Do it seven more times until finally, about 5 minutes from her house, I finally wake her up. Get there, drop off baby. Head up the hill for the OTHER half of the drive, another 20 minutes.

Baby texts me. She and BF are coming out. At 8:30. Sigh. Right at bedtime. I tell her to eat first because I am not cooking. No. REALLY. I am NOT cooking.


She says okay. I would like to tell her to NOT come out, but I won't.

Fish in my purse while driving, to find Pint's bedtime pills which she has to take 1 hour before I want her asleep. Find them. Give them.

Get home, into the house, kids are not listening well. I don't blame them, they run in all full of excitement, and want to tell Pappy and ¾ Pint everything that happened at karate...but I want them to get straight into jammies and straighter into bed LOL.

Finally get all three into bed, quieted down. Not asleep, but at least I can sit down?

Talk to DH a few minutes, read snail mail. Get up at least seven times while trying to relax.

Finally, at 9ish, all three girls are asleep. I open the bottle of wine I got and pour a glass. Sweet Mary and Joseph, it DOES taste good!!

Baby and BF show up finally at 10:30. I am ready for bed. We sit and talk till about midnight at which time I get up and head into bed, telling them..

“If you guys want to stay up and talk, have at it. I have to get up at 6...”

Baby follows me into the bedroom.

“Dad cannot wear a kilt in my wedding.”

Hello???? Wedding?

Calmly I say, Okay. I can take care of that. She says further. Picking a flower girl is going to be the hardest thing. I nod. There are our four grandgirls, she has another niece on her mom's side, two more in the oven due in April and May...and a great niece on her mom's side who just turned one. All girls.

I say, it's okay honey. We will take the littlest one who can walk and actually DO IT, leave the babies out and make Junior Bridesmaids out of the rest.

She nods.

She asks whatever happened to Father Jim? I say he is in retirement and the church is closed down.

She says, that's a problem. I won't be married by anyone else. I tell her I will call him.

I say, well the cake might be a problem. Baba (my best friend and the official wedding cake maker) can't do cakes anymore. She says, well, she will just have to.

(the whole entire world stops at Baby's command..did you not know that?)

She hasn't exactly TOLD me that she is getting married. She is sort of feeling out what the situation is going to be, so I play the game. Apparently, the announcement will be forthcoming????

She says, I want the horse drawn carriage and the bagpiper to lead the carriage through town,after the ceremony and before the reception. People dancing in the streets.

I say we will have to have the streets closed. She nods..

I say okay, but you will have to be married at Sacred Heart, the old church is closed down, and the reception will be across the street at the American Legion.

She nods. Not much of a drive she says, about 50 feet.

I say, that's okay, we will leave the church, go to main street, go down to the grocery store, turn around and go back through town.

She nods.

She says, “I want every girl in town to go to bed crying themselves to sleep every night because they will NEVER have a wedding as nice as mine is going to be.”

LOL.

And, she means it.