I have been thoroughly enjoying the lazy days of summer. We sleep in, stay in our pjs till late and generally don’t have all that many responsibilities. The calendar page of August has a lovely blank look to it other than the odd camping weekend and get together with friends. But it’s only natural that when we flip the page to reveal September, things start to look a little different. And I’m okay with that. 

Life has to go back to routine eventually and come September, I’m close to ready.

Flipping Ahead

Before school was even done for the year, our exceedingly talented and apparently very organized social media lady, Tanya, decided that she would arrange a meeting for all the blog writers in September. There was a lot of confusion as everyone piped in on dates and times but, in the end, I reconfirmed with Tanya directly to make sure I had the correct date and flipped ahead two months in my calendar to mark it down. 

Hobnobbing

Eight am on September 2. It was months away, but I already had some butterflies about the meeting. First of all, it was being held at 8 in the morning which was going to be a shocker to the summer me, who doesn’t use an alarm clock for 2 months. Secondly, it was being held in the school staff room which can be an intimidating place when you are a parent. It’s the room reserved for those elite folks who are highly educated and have earned the right to shape and mould the minds of our youth. I’d be hobnobbing with people like Julius and Gerry, Tym and Roy, not to mention the many teachers and staff members who are paid to work at ACS. I’d be the only unpaid member of the team who apparently writes on the school blog simply for the pure joy of it. But the reality is that I do still enjoy it (most of the time…) and since the meeting was still months away, after putting it on the calendar, I also put it out of my mind.

Until this morning.

Flipping Out

I woke up to the pleasurable sounds of my youngest two playing with their duplo in the kitchen. I stretched lazily, rolling over to see that the clock flashed 8:07. Oh my, later than normal, but since we had nowhere to be, I planned to enjoy a slow start to the day. I had checked the calendar last night and knew that tomorrow was the 8 am meeting, and only days after that, school was starting and we’d be back to waking at 6:30am. I reached for my phone to check my emails, took a sip of my tea, which my wonderful husband had left by my bedside, and sat bolt upright, sloshing tea down the front of my pjs. 

Message from Tanya Kieneker:  Hello! Just a quick reminder that our blog coffee time is this morning at 8am at the elementary. I’m leaving in a bit to pick up scones and the coffee will be ready! It’ll be short and sweet I promise.   Tanya  

What?!!!!

My mind did somersaults as I tried to process this information. Is it possible I slept so long that it was now September 2? I had been lazy lately but even my foggy, morning brain quickly dismissed that as unlikely. As I tried to mop up my tea, I bellowed to Aiden to run to the calendar and check what was written on there.

September 1 — blank.

A day late and a dollar short

My first inclination was to jump straight into the clothes lying on the bedroom floor and rush out the door. But instead I sat frozen on the edge of my bed, picturing myself walking into the staff room, the domain of these professionals, my hair sticking out in every direction, sleep creases on my face and a look of panic in my eyes. Never mind the 20 minute drive or the fact that Caleb took my vehicle to milking so I’d be hitch hiking. The choices left to me were painfully obvious.  As I lay back down in my puddle of cold tea, I felt no chill as my cheeks burned with humiliation.  I threw the covers over my head and envisioned the entrance I was supposed to make with my head held high and no trace of the quaking in my boots that I felt inside. Instead I was a day late and dollar short. A no show. An unorganized mom who can’t even manage her own schedule, let alone her kids. I tried to “hang with the big dogs,” but all I did was wet myself. It doesn’t bode well for the year ahead.

Message to Tanya:  Please accept my apologies for missing the meeting. Here is blog entry number 1. Krista 

Apparently it’s blog time again. I may not be able to get myself to the team meeting but darn it, with my track record, it’s obvious I’ll never run out of things to blog about.