And I even bought children new shoes
You all know that I don't like to have to leave my house, right? That's why yesterday was a bit of a stretch. We had our monthly homeschool co-op group in the morning. I'm enjoying it. The younger six are enjoying it. It just happened to fall on the day when I was able to get three back-to-back cranio-facial team appointments for K., R., and H. In Northbrook. Which is an hour and a half from our house. I've learned you don't turn these appointments down, so booked them, even though the timing was not great. It made for a crazy day.
9 am - Start dinner in the crock pot.
9:10 am - Leave for our co-op group.
11:45 am - Leave co-op, and head to the drive-through for lunch. No time to go back home if we are going to make the appointment, and no supplies to make a lunch for on the road.
12:15 pm - After having had to go back into the restaurant to correct meal orders, we were on our way.
1: 20 pm - Arrive at our appointment, 40 minutes ahead of time. Traffic was lighter than I had anticipated.
1:25 pm - Take everyone into Nordstrom's Rack, just down the street from our appointment. Mainly because I don't want to wait in the waiting room, and because a couple of children have been complaining about shoes being too tight. Find dress shoes for L., and sneakers for K., which fit and are affordable. For another week or so I can now avoid the daily shoe crises.
1:45 pm - Arrive back at our appointment. Now, I've spent a lot of time at this office with H., due to all her past surgeries. I'm friends with the nurses. We spend quite a bit of time catching up with each other. It's so nice to be somewhere I don't have to introduce myself all the time. When it's our turn to go back to the room, I leave G., L., and Y. in the waiting room. They have brought bags of activities. I go back with K., H., and R. I know the team members, so it's a pretty easy going appointment. Essentially, K. will finally have a bone graft after the holidays. R. is not going to have anything done right now. Structurally she is fine for the time being, and her medical anxiety is so high, just being in the office sent her off to crazy land. (Even though all the doctors and nurses were incredibly low key and careful. It just doesn't take much for her.) H. is in the driver's seat for what happens next; it's entirely her call. The plastic surgeon went through what could be a possibility if she chooses. She was starting to disassociate a bit at the end, so we will need to have multiple discussions about it all. She's been through a lot, I can't blame her for not wanting more surgeries. The whole visit took less time than I expected, even with all the visiting, which is good, because our day wasn't done yet.
3:30 pm - Pile in the car and head back out west. This time there is traffic. Lots of traffic. I kind of wished I had bought a coffee for the trip. I had some tired people in the van, so put on our recorded version of The House at Pooh Corner, which I love. It's just so calm and soothing. Calm and soothing is not really what you want after a full day, late in the afternoon, while you're driving. (If you can find the audiobook version of Peter Dennis reading the stories, it is worth the effort. They are very well done.)
5:10 pm - Arrive home. Greet my older people who have been home all day manning the fort. Put some soup in bowls for K., Y., G., and L. for them to eat. Look at my phone for messages, realizing I haven't looked at it all day. Drink a glass of water. Tell the four eating soup to finish up, and get ready to go.
6:05 pm - Briefly say a few sentences to J. about the day so far, and head back out to the van with the four who just ate dinner.
6:20 pm - Drop off the four I have with me at either their midweek program or their youth group at church. Thankfully all in the same building.
6:25 pm - Leave to take myself to the other church site where my Bible study meets. Enjoy the Bible study and fellowship.
8:00 pm - Dash out of Bible study, get back in the van, and head to pick-up children at the other campus. Discuss K. signing out the girls so that I don't have to go in when I pick-up.
8:25 pm - Arrive home with tired children, who are then ushered upstairs to get ready for bed. I eat a bowl of soup.
9:00 pm - Tuck in tired children.
So, all good stuff, but boy, I'm glad I don't do this every day! Back to our more normal, low-key existence today.
9 am - Start dinner in the crock pot.
9:10 am - Leave for our co-op group.
11:45 am - Leave co-op, and head to the drive-through for lunch. No time to go back home if we are going to make the appointment, and no supplies to make a lunch for on the road.
12:15 pm - After having had to go back into the restaurant to correct meal orders, we were on our way.
1: 20 pm - Arrive at our appointment, 40 minutes ahead of time. Traffic was lighter than I had anticipated.
1:25 pm - Take everyone into Nordstrom's Rack, just down the street from our appointment. Mainly because I don't want to wait in the waiting room, and because a couple of children have been complaining about shoes being too tight. Find dress shoes for L., and sneakers for K., which fit and are affordable. For another week or so I can now avoid the daily shoe crises.
1:45 pm - Arrive back at our appointment. Now, I've spent a lot of time at this office with H., due to all her past surgeries. I'm friends with the nurses. We spend quite a bit of time catching up with each other. It's so nice to be somewhere I don't have to introduce myself all the time. When it's our turn to go back to the room, I leave G., L., and Y. in the waiting room. They have brought bags of activities. I go back with K., H., and R. I know the team members, so it's a pretty easy going appointment. Essentially, K. will finally have a bone graft after the holidays. R. is not going to have anything done right now. Structurally she is fine for the time being, and her medical anxiety is so high, just being in the office sent her off to crazy land. (Even though all the doctors and nurses were incredibly low key and careful. It just doesn't take much for her.) H. is in the driver's seat for what happens next; it's entirely her call. The plastic surgeon went through what could be a possibility if she chooses. She was starting to disassociate a bit at the end, so we will need to have multiple discussions about it all. She's been through a lot, I can't blame her for not wanting more surgeries. The whole visit took less time than I expected, even with all the visiting, which is good, because our day wasn't done yet.
3:30 pm - Pile in the car and head back out west. This time there is traffic. Lots of traffic. I kind of wished I had bought a coffee for the trip. I had some tired people in the van, so put on our recorded version of The House at Pooh Corner, which I love. It's just so calm and soothing. Calm and soothing is not really what you want after a full day, late in the afternoon, while you're driving. (If you can find the audiobook version of Peter Dennis reading the stories, it is worth the effort. They are very well done.)
5:10 pm - Arrive home. Greet my older people who have been home all day manning the fort. Put some soup in bowls for K., Y., G., and L. for them to eat. Look at my phone for messages, realizing I haven't looked at it all day. Drink a glass of water. Tell the four eating soup to finish up, and get ready to go.
6:05 pm - Briefly say a few sentences to J. about the day so far, and head back out to the van with the four who just ate dinner.
6:20 pm - Drop off the four I have with me at either their midweek program or their youth group at church. Thankfully all in the same building.
6:25 pm - Leave to take myself to the other church site where my Bible study meets. Enjoy the Bible study and fellowship.
8:00 pm - Dash out of Bible study, get back in the van, and head to pick-up children at the other campus. Discuss K. signing out the girls so that I don't have to go in when I pick-up.
8:25 pm - Arrive home with tired children, who are then ushered upstairs to get ready for bed. I eat a bowl of soup.
9:00 pm - Tuck in tired children.
So, all good stuff, but boy, I'm glad I don't do this every day! Back to our more normal, low-key existence today.
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