When it rains, it pours...

So, let me tell you a little story that might make you feel better about your day. It's about a week and a half ago on a Friday and I'm finishing an interview for a temporay job. Although I really like the office, I don't expect to hear from them because the hours they want and the hours I want are not a match.

Saturday I receive an urgent call from Beau, who is still in processing for Basic Training. Apparently, we somehow managed to be married for almost 8 years without having an official copy of our state marriage license. And of course, without it, I can't receive my military I.D., which means I also can't receive any insurance benefits. This means that I have to make an emergency call to Beau's mom in Maryland to see if she can pick up a copy of our license for us from Baltimore (which is an hour away from Hagerstown where she lives) and fax it to Fort Jackson, SC first thing Monday morning. Thankfully, she is willing and able to go to Baltimore- but I had a feeling that she wouldn't just be able to pick up our license without some sort of ID from me or Beau. But, until Monday, everything's closed, so I have to wait and see.

Sunday night, Gwen doesn't sleep at all- which is highly unusual for her. She doesn't have a temperature until the third time she wakes up. I give her Tylenol and end up sleeping on the floor with her because she won't fall asleep any other way. I decide that I'll see how she's doing in the morning and then decide about a doctor's appt. for her.

So, Monday comes along and sure enough, the office I interviewed with is willing to give me the hours I want to work. And they want me to start the next day. Wow. I just have to run down to Spherion and fill out a bunch of paper work... Gwen seems like she's doing better and even goes down for her usual morning nap without a problem. Her fever is controlled with the Tylenol, so I'm still waiting and watching... About 30 minutes later, I get a phone call from Beau's dad. Beau's mom is in Baltimore, her cell phone has died (otherwise she would have called me directly) and she can't pick up the license without a signed consent from me with a notary's signature. And she's waiting for me to fax it to her ASAP. Great!

I drop Gwen off with a friend, after typing up my letter of consent, and run down to the closest UPS store. (I discovered that the UPS store had a notary only after a panicked phone call to my mom at work- thanks, Mom. ) Now, I have to be at Spherion in an hour. At the UPS store, I am of course waiting behind an elderly couple asking very specific questions with several packages, and a man with about 20 small boxes that he wants mailed separately. I'm looking at my watch and just hoping that the notary working there hasn't already gone to lunch. I finally get to the counter and am in luck. The woman helping me is the notary. She signs the consent and faxes it right away. I stand there while she helps several people after me to wait on the confirmation sheet from the fax. Finally, I'm done. I call Beau's dad on the way to Spherion.

After all the paperwork is filled out at the temp agency, I call the friend who's watching Gwen to make sure she's doing all right. Gwen's asleep, so I ask if she minds if I run to Walmart since we're out of groceries. No problelm. I get to Walmart and get a phone call from Beau. (Yes, my cell phone somehow gets reception in Walmart, but will cut off when I'm driving down Washington Rd.) He's worried because it is now 3pm and they still haven't receieved the fax. I tell him the story and he says he's not worried because he know's his mom will take care of it. About 30 minutes later, I get another phone call. Gwen is very fussy and my friend wants to know if she can give her some medicine. I attempt to hurry through the aisles, trying to avoid crashing into any other shoppers. By the time I get to the register, I am just a little frazzled.

In the car, I call Gwen's pediatrician, who obviously doesn't have any more appointments available today because it's almost 5pm. And the next day is my first day of work- not exactly a good day to call in... The doctor does, however, have an after-hours clinic downtown that will start at 5:30pm. Okay.

I pick Gwen up, come home just long enough to put the perishable groceries away and grab a lovely and nutritious Lunchables dinner for my pitiful, sweet daughter. Her little tummy will not allow her to wait to eat until we get to the clinic, so I am deftly manuevering crackers and cheese to the backseat while carefully driving down Riverwatch Parkway. Thankfully, my mom met me at the clinic- it was nice to have some mental, er, moral support at that point.

Dr. Harris is there- yay. She's Gwen's regular pediatrician, and we love her. And she quickly surmizes that Gwen has a double ear infection and is teething because her one-year molars will be coming in soon. I feel awful that Gwen has a double ear infection, but am hopeful that the antibiotics will help her feel better in time to allow me to go to work the next day. Now, we're off to the drugstore. Just a simple prescription to fill and we can go home.

At the drugstore, I see a huddle of people all standing around the Pharmacy area. When I go to the drop off window, I am informed that the computers have been down for the past 2 hours and that they are no longer taking any drop off prescriptions for the night. That's okay (deep breath...) I only have a one-year-old with a double ear infection who's sitting in this cart in front of you and I have to go to work the next day and I only need this antibiotic and I will go to another pharmacy if you don't fill this right now while I stand here and wait for it because if anything else goes wrong today you just might have to peel me off of your countertop while you hide behind your plexiglass wall of safety.... "Well, it's going to be awhile, we're really backed up." That's okay, I'll wait. Mom comes to the rescue again after I've waited an hour with Gwen who is absolutely miserable and tired because it is now past her bedtime. Mom decides to wait for the prescription for me and I "race" home to get Gwen ready for bed. I am just about to lay her down to sleep when Mom knocks on my door with the antibiotic. I finally give the medicine to her and put her to bed. And she actually sleeps through the night! It's a miracle.

Work started the next day, and things have slowly calmed down. After working out child care and trying to get used to a completely different job environment than I'm used to (I'm sterilizing oral surgery trays), I am almost able to take a deep breath. And I'm almost able to laugh about my "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." http://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Terrible-Horrible-Good-Very/dp/0689711735

P.S. Gwen and I are doing much better now and are very thankful for all of our friends and family who were, and are, able to help out. Thank you! Oh- and I recieved the insurance packet from the Army and the form for our military I.D., so apparently, they did recieve the faxed copy of our license. Whew!