So how did you spend your Friday?

Last night, Billy and I went to Pancho Villa Mexican Restaurant with our friends the Brooks. The weather was lovely. The food was wonderful. And the margarita was very much enjoyed...after what was a very long day in which NOTHING went according to plan. And I do mean nothing. I have no doubt in my mind that it was indeed the Lord proving once again who was really in control. And it most definitely is NOT me.

The plan was school in the morning while we await the dishwasher repairman and Will gets his infusion, and finishing school and household chores in the afternoon.

However, the day started with my oversleeping (the incessant Blackberry did sing its song, but I apparently dismissed it and continued snoozing) and awoke to an acrid odor emanating from my kitchen. I hopped out of bed and hobbled down the stairs (ugly knee injury in a fall down the stairs...story for another day!) just in time to hug my very tall sons as they head to Williamsburg for the day. They did a fabulous job of packing their lunches and fixing their breakfasts (acrid odor and all) and leaving on time without the presence of Mom. Part of me is every so proud of them and the other part is very sad that I am indeed working myself out of a job. They are becoming independent adults!

Fast shower, put on my referee stripes because the children are uncooperative, and head to the schoolroom...and the beagle escapes. Again. We leave the gate open for when he returns, take the labs, and head to the schoolroom. (Mary had a lamb, but we have labs!) Call the pediatrician because Will's ears hurt. 4 PM appt. That should just work...the home health nurse who was supposed to come Wednesday is coming today at 11, so we should finish the infusion and have just enough time to make it. Or not. At 11:15 I receive a call from her office telling me that she has had an emergency and won't be here til 1. A four hour infusion means that I now have to see if Dr Aaronson will see Will in 30 minutes. They say yes, so we race for shoes and into the van and into Fredericksburg. His ears are clear. He passes a hearing test. He is having random, unexplainable pressure and hearing loss and Dr A has no clue why. But, we do come away with a prescription for a cream to kill the chiggers that he and Caroline picked up in the woods on Wednesday. We immediately head back home because the dishwasher repairman is supposed to come. Only, upon arrival, we realize that we left the other gate open for Jackson, and now all three dogs are gone. At 1230, I call Sears and they inform me that he is coming, but he is running late. Great. Lunch, then back to school til the nurse comes.

But no. We have no bread and that simply cannot be, so I throw bread in the Bosch and send the kids to ride their bikes for 30 minutes. But now the dogs are home. And they are labs, so they very obviously found the local muddy pond. Instead of one chocolate and one black lab, we have two chocolate labs. They can't be bathed outside because the hose was run over by the mower. (First lesson to teach your kids when they mow the lawn is make sure the hose is put away!) If I leave them muddy, then they will probably "accidentally" be let in by one of the kids and then we'll really have a mess. Fine. So, I pick up this 80 lb lab and dump her in the tub and start the bathing process. I hurt my knee so I can't kneel on it, so I finally sit on the edge of the tub with my feet in the tub to bathe the dog. I'm looking like I took a swim in the local muddy pond, but eventually all 3 dogs are once again silky and beautiful. It's also now 330 and the nurse still has not arrived. I hurriedly cleaned the bathroom and then race for the shower. And she arrives. I throw on some clothes and the phone rings. It's Sears. The dishwasher repairman isn't arriving because he is headed to the hospital for a knee injury. Tony, the nurse, meets all of the children and my granddaughter and I finally fly down the stairs...only she realizes that she is supposed to actually infuse William. And it's now 415. And it takes 4 hours. And she has 3 other patients to see after William. So she reschedules for Saturday.

I dry my hair, make tacos for the kids for dinner, and open a can of vegetables. (I almost never use canned vegies!) Only my can opener breaks. Really.

Dinner is finally on the table, everyone is ready for bed, and I head out for a wonderful dinner with Billy and the Brooks, and I enjoy my margarita. It was a lovely evening filled with laughter and friends and a respite in the middle of a swirling storm.

By the way...the nurse is wonderful and loves kids and dogs. But she hates cats. :) The Lord loves to show us who really is in control. :)