After I had my PE (pulmonary embolism) in September, the Dr. put me on a blood-thinning medication called Warafrin. It's very sensitive to adjustments in dosage, food you eat, etc and has to be monitored very closely to make sure it stays within a certain concentration in your blood. So, depending on how my levels looked at the last appointment, I have to go in to the clinic every 1-4 weeks for monitoring.
It's kind of a pain because the appointment is always in the middle of the day and throws a kink in our routine. By the time we're done, there are still a couple of hours to kill before the kids have to be at Tae Kwon Do but not enough time to justify using the gas to go back home (we live about 20ish miles from town). So, usually we go hang out at Grandma Debbie's for a while in between.
A couple of weeks ago, it was my clinic day. We did as much school work as we could get done for the day, had an early (for us) lunch, got everyone dressed, tae kwon do uniforms packed and ready, and headed out the door. The kids got into the van as I grabbed the last of the things we needed from the house. As I went out, I turned the lock on the inside of the door knob and pulled it closed behind me. For some reason, it didn't want to close on the first try and bounced back open. I pushed it closed again, a little harder this time to make sure it was closed good and checked to make sure it truly did close and lock.
I walked over to the passenger side of the van and tossed in the stuff I was carrying. Then, I went to get into the driver's side. I opened the door and reached into my pocket for the keys. But, I found a cell phone. Huh? Checked the other pocket, no keys. Grrr. It was then that I realized that my keys were still safely in the bowl in the house.
No big deal, we had been opening windows all week to let the fresh air in. I'll just find one that is still cracked open and send one of the kids through. I didn't realize that my "other mother" daughter had taken it upon herself to make sure that every window in the house was closed-and locked-before we left. After circling the house checking windows twice, I had to accept that she had not, in fact, missed even one window.
Still, no big deal. My husband had a key on a nail on the electrical pole somewhere. So, I called him to find out exactly where it was. Guess where it was? In the same bowl that my keys were in-inside the locked house! Apparently he had used it once and never taken it back outside. Nice.
I circled the house a couple more times thinking that maybe God would decide to zap one of the windows open if I just kept looking (He could do that if He wanted to, you know) but that didn't happen either.
I still had one last hope. My husband drives his work truck during the week and doesn't always carry his personal keys with him. He's been know to leave them in my van sometimes. So, I called again and asked him if he knew where his key to my van was. "Yeah, it's right here in my pocket." So much for that.
After a few minutes, he called me back. I had forgotten a little secret about his truck. It's possible to start it without a key. Woohoo! So, I piled the kids into the truck (which I had never driven before and hopefully won't have to again) and off we went. If I didn't get behind any slow drivers (or tractors) on the way and all the traffic lights cooperated, I would still be able to make it exactly at my appointment time.
As we were driving, I happened to glance down at the fuel gauge. Let's just say it wasn't what I wanted to see. Okay, so I'll just stop and get like $5 worth of gas to make it there and then I'll fill up when we get done. I reach over and open up my wallet to get my bank card ready, but it's not there. Oh yeah, I had it in my hand the night before with my keys. It's in the bowl too! I had no cash either. But, I did have a $10 Wal-Mart gift card. I could get gas there. Only, it's not on my way and I'm already going to be pushing it for time. I decide to take my chances-I can always call AAA if I really need to. I say a little prayer and tell God that if He could feed the multitude with that little bit of food, I knew He could make the vapors left in my gas tank last long enough to get us where we needed to go.
Thankfully, He did. We arrived at the clinic one minute after my appointment time and by the time we piled out of the truck and got in, it was five minutes past. I wasn't sure they would see me because they ask that you arrive 15 minutes early to check in. I was happily surprised when the receptionist sent me on to the waiting room rather than back out the door.
Normally, we sit in the waiting room for 5 minutes or less so I was really surprised when 10 minutes passed with us still sitting there. Chris, the pharmacist who takes care of my meds and monitors my levels, kept coming out and getting other patients but he never called me. I assumed that they were just running behind for the day. I was relieved that my being late hadn't caused a problem because they were already behind before I got there. After waiting a little longer, I finally heard my name being called. Only, it wasn't Chris. It was a lady at the counter calling me to come up there. I thought she was going to explain why it was taking so long, but instead she said to me, "Mrs. Harmon, Chris said that he can see you today if you need him to, but you have an appointment with him NEXT week."
Don't you just love days like that?
This is my new favorite song. I can definitely relate!
It's kind of a pain because the appointment is always in the middle of the day and throws a kink in our routine. By the time we're done, there are still a couple of hours to kill before the kids have to be at Tae Kwon Do but not enough time to justify using the gas to go back home (we live about 20ish miles from town). So, usually we go hang out at Grandma Debbie's for a while in between.
A couple of weeks ago, it was my clinic day. We did as much school work as we could get done for the day, had an early (for us) lunch, got everyone dressed, tae kwon do uniforms packed and ready, and headed out the door. The kids got into the van as I grabbed the last of the things we needed from the house. As I went out, I turned the lock on the inside of the door knob and pulled it closed behind me. For some reason, it didn't want to close on the first try and bounced back open. I pushed it closed again, a little harder this time to make sure it was closed good and checked to make sure it truly did close and lock.
I walked over to the passenger side of the van and tossed in the stuff I was carrying. Then, I went to get into the driver's side. I opened the door and reached into my pocket for the keys. But, I found a cell phone. Huh? Checked the other pocket, no keys. Grrr. It was then that I realized that my keys were still safely in the bowl in the house.
No big deal, we had been opening windows all week to let the fresh air in. I'll just find one that is still cracked open and send one of the kids through. I didn't realize that my "other mother" daughter had taken it upon herself to make sure that every window in the house was closed-and locked-before we left. After circling the house checking windows twice, I had to accept that she had not, in fact, missed even one window.
Still, no big deal. My husband had a key on a nail on the electrical pole somewhere. So, I called him to find out exactly where it was. Guess where it was? In the same bowl that my keys were in-inside the locked house! Apparently he had used it once and never taken it back outside. Nice.
I circled the house a couple more times thinking that maybe God would decide to zap one of the windows open if I just kept looking (He could do that if He wanted to, you know) but that didn't happen either.
I still had one last hope. My husband drives his work truck during the week and doesn't always carry his personal keys with him. He's been know to leave them in my van sometimes. So, I called again and asked him if he knew where his key to my van was. "Yeah, it's right here in my pocket." So much for that.
After a few minutes, he called me back. I had forgotten a little secret about his truck. It's possible to start it without a key. Woohoo! So, I piled the kids into the truck (which I had never driven before and hopefully won't have to again) and off we went. If I didn't get behind any slow drivers (or tractors) on the way and all the traffic lights cooperated, I would still be able to make it exactly at my appointment time.
As we were driving, I happened to glance down at the fuel gauge. Let's just say it wasn't what I wanted to see. Okay, so I'll just stop and get like $5 worth of gas to make it there and then I'll fill up when we get done. I reach over and open up my wallet to get my bank card ready, but it's not there. Oh yeah, I had it in my hand the night before with my keys. It's in the bowl too! I had no cash either. But, I did have a $10 Wal-Mart gift card. I could get gas there. Only, it's not on my way and I'm already going to be pushing it for time. I decide to take my chances-I can always call AAA if I really need to. I say a little prayer and tell God that if He could feed the multitude with that little bit of food, I knew He could make the vapors left in my gas tank last long enough to get us where we needed to go.
Thankfully, He did. We arrived at the clinic one minute after my appointment time and by the time we piled out of the truck and got in, it was five minutes past. I wasn't sure they would see me because they ask that you arrive 15 minutes early to check in. I was happily surprised when the receptionist sent me on to the waiting room rather than back out the door.
Normally, we sit in the waiting room for 5 minutes or less so I was really surprised when 10 minutes passed with us still sitting there. Chris, the pharmacist who takes care of my meds and monitors my levels, kept coming out and getting other patients but he never called me. I assumed that they were just running behind for the day. I was relieved that my being late hadn't caused a problem because they were already behind before I got there. After waiting a little longer, I finally heard my name being called. Only, it wasn't Chris. It was a lady at the counter calling me to come up there. I thought she was going to explain why it was taking so long, but instead she said to me, "Mrs. Harmon, Chris said that he can see you today if you need him to, but you have an appointment with him NEXT week."
Don't you just love days like that?
This is my new favorite song. I can definitely relate!
So, what's your true story this week? Click on the True Story Tuesday button at the top to join in.
3 comments:
Oh no way! That is just the final insult, no? WOW! I totally didn't see that punchline coming. I feel for ya!
(By the way - it's telling me that my comments are being bounced back from your K12 email???)
Oh my! That was rough! Wishing you blessings on your home schooling ventures. I was a SAHM home-schooler for 20+ years and I still miss it! Such a blessing in so many ways!
oh my goodness, did you set in my van one day. this has so happened to me, well close enough.
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