Tuesday, April 26, 2011

True Story Tuesday-4/26/11

What is it about Monday? It doesn't seem to matter that I'm not working anymore or that we're homeschooling, Mondays are still Mondays. So, for my True Story Tuesday this week, I'm going to tell you about our Monday.

Sierra woke up Saturday with what I thought were bug bites on her face. Turns out to be poison ivy. I was advised by several people that I needed to take her to the doctor since it was on her face, so as soon as they were open yesterday I called to get an appointment. We were able to get the last appointment with the PA that was open.

The weather's been kind of nasty around here lately. Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, tornadoes-typical Oklahoma springtime weather. So, of course about the time we were ready to leave, it started raining. My kids are notoriously slow about getting into the van so I decided to send them out in shifts. That way, no one would be stuck out in the rain waiting for someone else to move out of the way. We gathered in the laundry room and got every one's jackets on and hoods up. The rain had slacked off a little, so I went ahead and sent Cheyenne and Sierra out together with instructions to hurry and get in, then shut the door behind them. The moment they stepped onto the porch, the clouds decided to dump the rain by the bucketful and accompany it thunder and lightning. Once they were in safely, I sent Dakota out and turned to Landon.

He said "I'm not going out there." I said, "We have to. We're going to be late for Sierra's appointment." He said, "No, if I go out there, I'll get strike-ed by lightning!" I assured him that he wasn't going to get struck by lightning and finally managed to get him out the door. He clapped his hands over his ears because of the thunder and took off for the van while I locked the door to the house. The poor kid! He wanted to get into the van and out of the rain, but he didn't want to take his hands off his ears because of the thunder. Did you know it's impossible to open the sliding door on a minivan with your elbows? I finally got to him just before he hit meltdown mode, got him safely into the van, and off we went.

The rain continued to pour down until just about the time we pulled into the clinic parking lot. Luckily, it let up just long enough for us to get inside before the downpour started back in full force. We got checked in and made our way to pediatrics. The appointment went smoothly and we walked out with no shot for Sierra! Hooray! Next stop was Wal-Green's to fill Sierra's three (yes, three) prescriptions. Only one problem-it was still pouring.

I stood in the lobby for a while trying to decide what to do. I wasn't sure how long the rain was going to last, so I didn't really want to try to wait it out. But, I also didn't want the kids to get soaked trying to get to the van. The clinic has a covered pickup/drop off area but I wasn't sure whether or not I should leave the kids standing there alone while I went to get the van. I finally convinced myself that they would be fine for the two minutes that it would take me to get the van. I read them the riot act about what would happen if the so much as moved an inch from the place I left them and went to get the van. In real time, the walk to the van took maybe 2 minutes but in mommy time (kind of like dog years) it took hours. By the time I got to the van, I was a nervous wreck and in a hurry to go get the kids. I hopped in the van, cranked the defrost up, turned the windshield wipers on, and started to back out. I was almost out of my parking spot when I heard (you guessed it) a small thud at the rear of the van. Looking back, I see the back end of a white truck in my back window. Nice. I pulled up and looked back to make sure there weren't any people involved, then went to get the kids.
I told them to hurry up (perhaps a bit louder than necessary) and get in, then quickly went back to assess the damage. Both vehicles were fine. I wasn't sure what to do, so I texted my husband who quickly called me back and advised me to leave a note and take a couple of pictures with my phone just in case. After waiting a while for someone to come out, that's what I did. I still feel bad about it, but so far I haven't gotten any phone calls. Crossing my fingers that I don't.
We made it to Wal-Green's to drop off the prescriptions at the drive-thru and were told it would be ready in about 45 minutes. I needed to get gas and run to the bank, so that worked out perfectly.
I stopped at my favorite gas station (the one with Diet Pepsi in the fountain AND crushed ice), filled up my tank (okay, I didn't actually fill it all the way up because I can't bear to see what that would cost), then pulled up in front of the store (because ya know, they have my favorite drink in there). The kids sat in the van with Dakota "in charge" so they didn't have to get out in the rain again. As I was standing in line, a fire truck drove by. I didn't think much of it until a minute later when a firefighter came walking in. The clerk said "What's up___?" (apparently she knew him). He said "Someone called in a gas spill here." "There's no gas spill here," she said. He looked kind of puzzled then walked out with a "Hmm."
I paid for my drink (ahhhhhhh, makes me want one now) and left. That's when I realized that the firetruck had parked right next to my van! My poor kids! They weren't too panicked, but I could tell they had been a little worried.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful (thank goodness). We picked up Sierra's meds, went to Wal-Mart to kill an hour, took the big girls to Tae Kwon Do, came home and had spaghetti for dinner, then went to bed.
Oh yeah, and Sierra lost another tooth.
Thank goodness Monday only happens once a week!

4 comments:

Beth Zimmerman said...

Whew! What a day! Where are you in Oklahoma? I'm in Tulsa.

Foursons said...

Yikes, that is quite a day! Glad you survived relatively unscathed. Laughing that your hubby told you to write a note. Bwhahahahahaha. I probably would have just driven off if there was no damage. :)

Rachel said...

I don't know how you survived such a day! Just WOW!!!

And I've given up with the rain drenching thing... it's par for the course around here this time of year :) Keep safe!

Michele said...

What a crazy day! We've had some severe weather in north Texas (I live near the Red River) but not as intense as you.