Monday, January 25, 2010

This post is LONG

Our Sunday, in bullet form...

* The girls and I go to church. Audrey screams upon drop off. Julia sits in timeout in S.S. (I love how Julia is at the age where she tells me these things even if the teacher doesn't!) I feel awkward in the sanctuary sitting by myself. Both girls are happy and playing when I pick them up.

*Once we're home, I check the Weather Channel and confirm that we are in a Tornado Watch. I HATE BAD WEATHER! Even the possibility of it scares me silly. I continue to keep the Weather Channel's radar on all afternoon.

* Matt's flight gets delayed so the girls and I push our departure time for the airport back an hour.

*Matt calls again to say that he has been moved to an earlier flight. The girls and I rush around in order to leave at our original time.

*Once we're on the road, it starts raining heavily. Matt calls to say that his flight has once again been delayed - in fact he's been told there's a chance the flight might not take place at all that night.

*I contemplate turning the car around until we know more, but since we've been on the road 45 minutes - I keep on trucking.

*The sky darkens, and the rain comes down in sheets. I'm having trouble seeing the road, and I get worried about the tornado watch. I HATE BAD WEATHER! Since I naturally assume the worst, I just KNOW that the darkening sky is b/c of a tornado; it couldn't possibly be b/c it's 5:30/6ish and time for the sun to set. I call Danny and Jimmie Kay (Matt's parents) and have them check the radar for me. At this time, I am imagining a tornado dropping out of the sky in front of me. I also imagine me and the girls having to huddle in the nearest ditch clinging to each other for dear life. Imaginings such as this are what I call Daymares. I have them more frequently than I'm comfortable admitting.

Anyways.

*The rain comes down even harder. I am really uncomfortable driving, so I decide to stop at the next place I can find.

*Waffle House.

*I order myself a sausage biscuit ($1) and the girls a double waffle to split ($3.68). The waitress asks if I'd prefer the girls to have the kids waffle since it's cheaper. I ask how big it is (my girls can gobble up breakfast food) and she said it was exactly the same - even the same size as the adults waffle, they just cost $1 each. My total bill comes to $3.21 - this makes me happy.

*While we are eating I receive another phone call from Matt. He's now set to fly out at 8:50 Eastern - and landing in ALT at 10:30. This did not make me happy.

*Also while we are eating, Julia notices the lady that has just walked in and is sitting right next to us. Julia then says with a chuckle, "That lady has a BIG belly." I shhh her. Apparently, Julia thinks that I was unable to hear her b/c she then repeats her comment much louder.

*I realize as the girls finish eating that I'd run out of the house with no baby wipes - and silly me had just served them syrup. We had to the bathroom to wash up where I realize Audrey has another reason for me to greatly regret not having baby wipes.

*Since we now have 4+ hours until Matt's plane lands, and the airport is only 1 hour away. So, we just hang out at Waffle House for awhile. Our table had already been bussed - so we played in the chairs at the 'bar.' This got old for the girls, and before I realized it - Audrey's crawling all over the place... crawling... on the Waffle House floor... on the Waffle House floor on a rainy day. ick -Ick - ICK!

*I finally feel that the other patrons of Lagrange, GA Waffle House have had enough of my squeally little girls, so we leave.

*It's still raining pretty hard, but not as bad as it had been. Then, as we near Atlanta, the construction starts. I believe I've mentioned in this post that I HATE BAD WEATHER, but I'd also like to mention that I also hate driving when there is no shoulder - just a concrete barrier. This REALLY stresses me out. The concrete wall I was THISCLOSE to, combined with the rain, combined with the 18 wheelers passing me on the too close road, combined with the whining/yelling coming from the backseat about what DVD to watch, combined with the tears the girls shed after Julia knocked the DVD player to the floor had me losing it.

*Then I did something I regret now. I yelled at my kids - yelled, yelled at them. Julia was quiet when I finished hollering, but Audrey kept on... every time a sound started to come from her mouth I 'Shhh'd ' her. The silence in the car after my spell was just what I had wanted, but I immediately felt bad. At the next exit I pulled over into a gas station to fix the DVD player and, more importantly, to apologize to my children. I told them that yelling at them like that wasn't nice, and I should NOT have done it. Then, I calmly reminded them that it was raining really hard and Mommy was having a tough time driving - could they please try to be extra good in the car? They were.

* Matt calls and says he's now actually boarding his plane.

*We made it to the airport - I was so thrilled to see a parking garage! I was also pleased to see the garage so well lit and bursting with so much activity! (Dark and alone in a parking garage would have sent me into panic mode AGAIN!)

*We walked in and checked the status of Matt's flight - it hasn't changed - we have 2+ hours to waste.

*We walk around a little. We go to the bathroom (5 times total - I sure wish I'd had those baby wipes!!) We share a Frosty at Wendy's. (How about that - Waffles and a Frosty in 1 night). We walk around a little more. We talk on the phone. We play with a dog that is soon kicked out of the airport. The girls crawl on the floor some more. The girls spin circles and successfully make themselves dizzy. Audrey tries a number of times to run off - she isn't successful in running off, but she is successful in getting a few laughs from people near us.

*Matt's plane is said to have landed.

*We move up to greet the new arrivals. I start talking to this lady, and Julia loudly asks me (in reference to the lady I'm talking to) "Is that a boy or a girl?" and then "Well, she sounds(looks?) like a boy. I don't really remember if she said sounds or looks. I was just trying to get the child to BE QUIET!

*Matt calls 30 minutes later to say he is finally actually IN the airport.

*20 minutes after that, Matt comes walking up. We get his luggage and start driving back home.

*We arrive home at 2 a.m.

That's it - did I type enough detail for you??

2 comments:

  1. grrr....i had a comment typed and hit enter and it went away.

    anyway, valerie I think you are such a sweet momma for apologizing to your girls when you yelled! i am glad that ya'll eventually made it home!!

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  2. I totally empathize! I hate bad weather and driving. Add construction to that and I have panic attacks! I also hate parking garages - you are not alone! And I too have more daymares than I care to admit. I'm glad you survived the day and you all arrived home safely. Let us know how Matt's preaching thing turned out.

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