When I was in advertising sales, I would start my day reading through a “to do” list that at times seemed impossible to conquer. One at a time I would begin to knock things off the list until I was simply too tired to function or the monitor appeared to blur the words, “go to bed,” “insert food here” or “redrum” and I would call it a day.
Being home with the kids, I had one thing on my to-do list for the entire week; make two loaves of bread for the teacher’s lunch Thursday–simply doughy.
I knew I had to make the bread on Wednesday because each cycle takes about two hours followed by an hour for the dough to rise, twenty minutes to bake in the oven, quick random hair check and some time to cool before being wrapped if I want it to be fresh, doughy and melt-in-your-mouth-good for the luncheon.
We went to bed Tuesday night, finished off the season finale of CSI which had me sleeping with one eye open and awoke to the loudest hail storm I have ever attempted to sleep through. The kids were scared (rightfully so), it sounded like golf balls were pelting their windows but without the quiet whispers of British announcers calming them from afar. We were yelling to hear each other over the wind and I was certain on a number of occasions I was going to trek out into the hallway and slip on a wave of water that had made its way through our roof. Speaking to some neighbours today, it seems we might be the only people on the street who didn’t relocate to the basement in the middle of the night. That just seemed like a lot of extra work. Surely a tornado can’t get all of us.
We lost power.
We checked the school schedule today and it seemed all systems were go on their website but instead of sending Hanna on the bus, I opted to drive her as she had a project that was too big and too top secret to ride on a public school bus. When we arrived we were told School. Is. Cancelled. Tim Hortons (X 2 )closed! No toilets, no hot water, no steeped tea with two milk. I’m out. Off to Stratford to visit Grandma and Grandpa.
Also, did I mention it was the hottest day of the year?
Sweating, I packed a bag and we headed out of town. The kids were sticky and unruly from the heat. I was asked by Ellie to please not speak to her because she was using her imagination and didn’t want to lose her concentration.
I attempted a standing diaper change which I’ve become a pro at but in my humid haze, my smell test failed me and I ended up removing what I thought was a wet diaper only to have a lump of feces drop right into the palm of my hand like I’d won the goose’s golden egg.
Lessons learned;
- If you’re going to attempt the standing diaper change, wear gloves.
- Always do your dinner dishes right after eating. Do NOT leave anything to soak overnight, you may not have water in the morning but you will still have a stinky pot.
- Do the things you want to do today because tomorrow, you may not have the power.
