Busy Little Bee.
Yesterday was quite a long day!Due to persistent insomnia, I didn't sleep much Sunday night. So I was groggy as hell as I forced myself out of bed at 6:30 on Monday morning to take my niece to the Social Security Administration.
Having only a vague idea of where my niece was staying and an even vaguer idea of where the SSA was located, I had a rather lovely time turning around a lot. But eventually I found a) Brittany; and, b) the Social Security Administration.
We walked into SSA with two minutes to spare, and I was feeling pretty good about the day. I checked Brittany in at the extremely busy front desk, forgetting to mention that a) I wasn't Brittany; and, b) the actual Brittany is deaf. So after fifteen minutes of waiting for no particularly good reason, I went back up to the front desk and informed them of those facts. Both times I had been standing behind a rather longwinded lady who had to be interrupted so the kind of grumpy guy behind the window could ask in a loud voice: "What is it you want?"
So I informed him that he needed to page the interpreter. He looked confused, told me to go sit down, and he'd take care of it. Meanwhile, Britt's caseworker came out holding a sign reading her name, looking all the world like a particularly hairy version of one of those chicks who walk around boxing rings flashing what round it is. I missed it since I was talking to the guy at the front desk, and Britty wasn't going anywhere without me, so we ended up waiting another ten minutes for the caseworker to come back out with the sign.
He took us back to his cubicle and told us nervously that the computers were running slow. I found out later that actually the entire system had crashed. He rushed around in a huff for the next half hour or so, leaving Britty and I to talk. When he finally came back, he let us know that they had forgotten to schedule an interpreter. So bascially, the entire trip was a wash. It took another half hour or so to reschedule the appointment. The plus side was that he called the interpreter right in front of us, so we're reasonably certain that they'll show up next time.
I will give the SSA credit for this much: They didn't blame us for the mistake. I've become quite accustomed lately, to businesses blaming me for all their mistakes. See: Sprint, X5 Wireless, Verizon, etc. and treating me like some chump. In spite of the irritation of having had to waste time, in the morning (of all of the rotten times one can be conscious), it was extremely refreshing to hear the guy say: "We're really sorry about this. I can see the order for an interpreter on my report. Whoever scheduled your appointment was supposed to schedule an interpreter, and they just didn't do it. No excuses. I promise we'll get it right next time, and I'll take care of it myself right now."
So after that, we left for Columbus. Britt wanted to stay at her girlfriend's mom house for the day, so she could go out to dinner with them that night. However, the exit off 270 to her house was closed. We ended up lost for about 45 minutes before I finally dropped her off.
I went to my sisters' house in Crestline after that to drop some pictures off to them. I was complaining to Denise that I haven't seen Tyron in weeks, and she managed to get a hold of Jessica for me. So I jetted over to Jessica's house to get the baby. It's usually a 30 minute trip; I sped like the devil to get there in fifteen. I had to be in Mansfield to get Jasmin's son off the bus at 3:15.
All would have been well, except Ty's coat had just been washed and was still wet. I had to wait until 2:50 before the bugger was dry. It's usually a half hour to forty minute drive to Jasmin's house from Jessica's, and I couldn't drive like an idiot with the baby in the car. I was pretty much freaking out. But miraculously, I missed almost every single light, and made it to Jas' house with five minutes to spare. As an additional bonus, the bus was five minutes late arriving anyway, so I had time to get the house ready before the boy arrived.
When he did get there, he brought a friend. So I made Jesse and his friend Christian do their reading together, which, if you know Jesse, you would know is no small task. Ty was in serious need of a nap, and I was trying to make him agree to one, when another one of Jesse's friends drops by. I let the kid stay, though that makes the second time in a week I was scheduled to have one to two boys, and ended up with three to four. It was kind of crazy, though this time it was actually much smoother, and besides coaxing little man into a nap, I hardly had to do any work at all after homework was done.
How do people with large families manage? I can handle two eight year-old's and a baby, with only a minimal amount of weeping and gnashing of teeth; but goodness, add a third eight year-old, and it's a mess!
In any case, after the real adults got there and Ty and I went home, things should have gotten calmer. Little man went to sleep early, around 9:30. I knew that was a bad sign, but when he awoke at 2:30 I was really unprepared for the trouble that would ensue. It seems that he developed an ear infection over the course of the night. His two top front teeth are about to break through, so he's been crying a lot anyway. His mom and dad decided earlier this week that it was time to break him from the binky. Aunt Sarie disagrees. It's not time for a major life change, when I have a sick, sore baby overnight. It's really not.
Anyway, flash forward an hour-and-a-half, and every song I know sung three or four times over until my throat's sore, and Ty finally fell asleep. I didn't have such an easy time. I was up until six, and back up at eight when the baby naturally awoke again.
By that time, my little niece was here too. Ty's nine months old, and she's nearly four months. Though I should've been getting him ready to go home, I ended up letting them play together on the floor for a while. They had a blast!
He was in love with her from the start, though she was slower to warm up. He conked himself on the head with a plastic hammer a few times, and blew some bubbles to make her laugh. The latter bit was all it took. They’re quite in love now, and I think they will be for some time yet. I think they have the potential of becoming very close as they grow up, seeing as they’re so close in age. Like Jimmy and I used to be, with nine months between us.
All that playing, however, meant I was running late. Add to that the fact that I still take fifteen minutes to strap Ty into his new car seat, even though I’ve done it forty times by now. Also, I’ve never been to Jessica’s new apartment before, and I had no idea where it was at. I had a lovely time taking a lot of wrong roads, and turning around a lot, and even knocking on the wrong door once. But success at last came around
I came home, wrote this, am preparing to take a shower and then I will head back to
I think I may just pass out comatose for a couple of hours. That would be nice. It’s funny though, after the past 36 hours of insanity, my next 36 hours will probably pass so bloody uneventfully that I’ll be bored to tears. We’ll have to see.
More of my crazy week later! This is long past long enough anyway.
posted by Sarie @
12:32 PM
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