...and then everything went wrong
Tomorrow is my birthday.
I never celebrate it. No family get-togethers, fancy cakes or anything such. I never share the date of my birthday on social media for the reason that I hate being spammed on my wall with 345.677 congratulations from people who later, when we meet in the street, don't even say hi. So I simply deleted the date.
The reason I am talking about it now is because Andy and I had a quite modest plan for today, but our day turned out to be a total disaster.
My beloved talked me into a lunch in an American-Italian-diner-kind of place, so I said yes. I loved the fact he wanted to make the day different than the usual ones, but also the idea that I finally didn't have to cook today. The only other thing that was slightly special in the day was the fact that Rosie has turned 6 months on Saturday, and I bought some fancy balloons. The plan was to gently tie them around her little arms and legs, so she would enjoy moving them around while we record her in action.
As you can see in the photo below, this is how excited she got. Sometimes she makes me think she is already more mature than her mother. Also, the balloons deflated. Now this was the point where we should have gone straight back to bed and just sleep through the day.
The morning whizzed by very quickly. We started preparing for a long time it seems: Rosie's bag, toys, our clothes, make-up, hair. The problem with this was that mum was expecting us, as Rosie was supposed to stay with her a for a few hours while we have lunch and buy groceries. She also went back to sleep at a certain point.
We argued the whole time about being late, then realized we wouldn't have time to have the lunch. Well, you can say I was not entirely happy about that... As we packed up the bags, toys, pram, keys and the churchbell, we walked to the car, put Rosie and half the house into the car seat and the boot, and just when I was about to start the car, everything went wrong. Andy noticed that one of our front tyres was flat.
I quickly phoned dad to see if we could do anything. I gave up on the plans for the day completely; now my worry was how to get to work tomorrow. I was absolutely sure we wouldn't have a car for a good while now.
My parents were really comforting and told me to find the spare tyre in the boot while they get to us and change the flat one. Of course, we couldn't find the spare tyre. There was nothing in the boot.
Thinking that now we need to buy a completely new tyre as well, I took Rosie inside and changed into loungewear. Closing the gate behind us, Andy managed to lodge a wooden splinter into his finger.
Mum and dad arrived, and the boys went out to look at the car. Rosie was hungry in the meantime and sleepy again, so mum took over. As the boys weren't coming in for a while, I went to check out what was happening. They found the spare tyre in the car; turns out we have a hidden boot as well. And they also found a huge nail-like something that pierced the front tyre.
I rushed back in and phoned our garage. They were very friendly and told me they'd repair and change the tyre in an hour max. So I told them we'll be right there and hung up. As I walked into the other room to tell the news to mum, I saw that in the meantime, Rosie fell asleep.
We all sat down; at this point I was not sure whether to laugh or cry. My parents told us that if Rosie doesn't sleep long, we could still go and have the lunch, as they'd take her away for a walk by the sea. So I changed back into my diner-themed outfit. And removed the splinter from Andy's finger.
Just when mum and dad were about to leave, Rosie woke up. So they grabbed the bags, and went for a walk with her. We agreed to pick her up in an hour or two, as mum had to get ready for work.
Andy and I quickly jumped into the car. Hot seats and air. Scorching sun. No wind. No time either.
And heavy traffic. I can just never understand how is there heavy traffic in town at 1pm. Everybody supposedly works from 9 to 5. By the time we got to the garage, there was only a little time left to do the groceries. So I glamorously walked into Lidl's in my 50s style outfit with the shopping trolley. Hungry. Fed up. Sulking.
The highlight of the supermarket was a little boy staring at me with his eyes and mouth wide open until his mother pulled him away.
We did the shopping and realized there wouldn't be enough room in the car for the groceries, pram, car seat, tyre and the three of us. Fiddling around with the things, somehow we squezzed everything into the car and rushed to the garage to pick up the fixed tyre.
We sat down and waited. And waited, then waited some more. I was at the point of asking what was taking so long. It was really nerve-wracking, as my mum would be late for work. In the meantime, my phone battery died of course, so I couldn't contact them either.
Finally, they replaced the tyre and we rushed off to get Rosie. They were all fine, and we got there on time. Again, we packed everything (I don't even know how) into the car and left off.
Well, at least the traffic was better on the way home. Rosie's behaviour not so much. She kept trying to get out of her seat and somehow slipped very low down, crying all the way home. She was tired. Have you ever driven with a crying baby in the back? Oh my goodness....
We also almost got run over by a white van who did not care about crashing into us while overtaking.
Just as we finally turned the last corner, she went quiet and as I glanced into the mirror, I saw that she fell asleep. Now, you never wake a sleeping baby. Ever. And this was the point I realized that in the middle of all the rush I left a parcel I was supposed to post today at home. I looked at the time and saw the post office would close in half an hour.
Quick decisions again. Rosie had to stay in the car for a little longer but the frozen groceries not so much. Quietly, we unpacked the car, grabbed the parcel and rushed to the post office. We got there just in time.
Despite all the evidence, Andy and I are extremely organised most of the time. This is why today was even more frustrating for both of us.
As we finally rolled into the back alley, Rosie opened her eyes. We went into the house, and as I walked into the kitchen, I almost burst into tears. Dishes, bags everywhere and still no food. No amazing lunch at Frankie's & Bennie's.
Standing there amidst all the mess, an old thought by Elizabeth Taylor popped into my head: "Put on some lipstick, pour out a drink and pull yourself together". I did not pour the drink but as I already had some lipstick on, I shut the kitchen door firmly. I put Rosie down to play and walked up to Andy. I asked him to get his camera and take a photo or two - this is our way to connect and have some fun.
I won't be having much fun tomorrow anyway, as I will be working all day. Another thing I realized at this point.
I wanted photos in front of the shut kitchen door. Consequently, I grabbed the deflated baloons as well. To hell with everything, I thought.
Well, we had a great time.
I also packed everything away and made us a great dinner. Life sometimes throws you a big curve but it's up to you if you straighten things out or not. As for me, I'm a big time straightener.
Until next time then! xxx