Chocolate, take me away!

The question "How are you?" has taken on new meaning in the last few months since Christine passing away. And, there's no easy way to answer. I usually respond with "I'm fine," "It's ok," or "Keeping busy." But, then it's usually followed by, "you're so strong...I can't imagine how hard it must be," or "I'm amazed at how you do it all."

Well, it's a well-known fact (there's actually probably some collegiate study about it) that the day your husband leaves for deployment, all's up for grabs...challenges and trials come out of the woodwork. Literally, the day Dennis left, he woke up to a flat tire, that then took me 10 days to get fixed and back on his car.

So, for all of you that sincerely want to know "how I'm doing," here is a rundown of my week...

Monday: not too bad...had to take Hayden to a makeup karate class, but got to stay home the beginning of the day and get some housework done. It did snow pretty good that night, but "I just got new tires" so I got home ok.

Tuesday: is my busy errand day. McKenna has swim lessons in the morning, gymnastics in the afternoon. So, in between I decided to get my car inspected as the registration is coming due. I drove over to that base and realized that I didn't bring my checkbook with me. So, I decided to get an oil change. I was the first one in line, and 1.5 hours later, I just had time to run into the food court and grab McKenna some lunch before running back to the other base for her gymnastics. I was actually 10 min late because my cell phone keeps losing time. As I was dressing her, I realized I had forgotten her leotard, so we put her semi-wet swimsuit on her, ran her up to the class, and there was a sign on the door that the instructor was ill and class was cancelled. I then had to wait around and pick up the kids. Sabrina and I had haircuts, then ran them to get dinner, then I had an OCMT meeting for Girl Scouts, then they had karate....I got home at 8:40pm....to our entire village blacked out. The wind was insane! I spent 35 minutes getting candles lit, lanterns found, and then the electricity came back on...already behind schedule, the kids still had homework and ended up in bed an hour later.

Wednesday: I had an appointment to get my nails done, then ran to try the inspection again, where I was told that I not only needed a new muffler (which we already suspected) but I have not one, but 2 oil leaks. I drove to the other base to pick up the kids from school, met them at the library, and unsuccessfully tried to contact my mechanic husband about what he wanted to do with the car (I mean, isn't that why we marry men in the first place?) Then I had to go to church for Sabrina's New Beginnings program. Again, getting home around 9pm. Homework, yada yada yada.

Which brings me to today, Thursday: McKenna again had swim lessons, which we were 10 minutes late to because I was packing the car for church tonite. She actually went in her pj's and snow boots....she is so hard to wake up in the morning! After swim, I checked mail, ran to the community center to try Dennis again, and proceeded to overflow when I finally got him on the phone...in the lobby...in front of anyone that couldn't avert their eyes... So, then I went to make dental appts for exams for everyone for medical clearance for the PCS. They had an opening in 45 minutes, so I fit in a dental exam for McKenna. Which, sad to say, was an unfortunate revelation that her late-night snacking has to end as she has 2 cavities and bad flossing habits. (bad mommy) After picking up the kids, I decided to take my cell phone in as I talked for a total of 17 minutes today on a completely full battery and the phone was dead. Then I fed the kids and ran to church for enrichment tonite. We had a flea market type swap, so I had a van full of stuff to get rid of. During the evening, I was told my usually more intellectual son was in the room under the stage lighting matches (apparently they fell out of the camping equipment stored down there). As we were packing up, someone offered to help take totes out to the car if I would give her my keys. Where were my keys? I sent Hayden to check the car, as it doesn't lock if they are in the ignition. He came back, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is, I found the keys in the car. The bad news is, it's locked." ugh! Husband deployed. No spare, although I do have a remote key at home, but remembered to lock the basement door this morning, so I can't even get into the upstairs part of the house. 2 disconnected phone calls to ADAC (auto club) later, I decided to check the car for myself...I couldn't see the keys. When confronted, he admitted he didn't actually see the keys, perse....but a glitter between the seats. Hope! I went back inside to search again, and a light bulb went off...Sabrina was missing. Find Sabrina, and pray she has the keys. That worked! So, we packed up the car, kids, and my sanity, and I vowed to stay home tomorrow.

My lovely friend, Leslie, sent me home with truffles. She had it prepared, so she must have had a feeling I'd need them. So, as soon as I finish this, I'm going to put in a movie...go through some fabulous scrapbooking donations we received for Christine's project, and eat truffles.

So, next time someone asks "how are you doing?" I'm going to say, "I'm fine...with chocolate."