Day One

It started out fine. I didn't over sleep, got the kids off to school like I normally do. Then at about 6:45am I got ready to get myself out the door. I had to be at the elementary school at 9am, so I left at 7:30 to give myself AMPLE time to make it, in case of traffic or getting lost. Well, there was some traffic, and I did get lost. Thankfully my husband drove for a living for almost 19 years, so our cars are stocked with Nassau and Suffolk County maps, as well as a Manhattan map, not that I'll ever drive THERE.

I navigated the highways with no problem, even when it looked like the cover to someone's BBQ came flying at me while doing 60 MPH. Thank GOD it went under my car. I had a mini heart attack right then, but I managed to keep it together and drive on. The worst part of the trip was in the actual town that the school was in. I don't have a GPS, so when I printed out the directions off of Google maps, I didn't realize there wasn't a specific number for one of the exits. Well, what was a 30 minute cushion became a 5 minute deficit. I called my boss to let him know I was lost, what street I was on and that I hoped to see him within 5 minutes. What a wonderful first impression!

So then it was time to learn the ins and outs of taking class pictures with kids ranging in age from 5 to 9. The toughest part of this job? The frickin' kids don't listen! OR, they CAN'T because many of them have a difficult time speaking English! I'd say the population was 80% Spanish. I didn't realize I'd be brushing up on my foreign language with this job! AND, I always thought I was a loud mouth, but get a gym full of rambunctious 7 year olds and the 5' tall woman can't get anyone's attention.

It was exhausting, both mentally and physically. I swear I am in more pain right now than I was after my half. When you're running for 2 1/2 hours, you're moving. This was a lot of herding kids to individual photographer's lines, getting them in height order from tallest to shortest, setting them up on the risers, standing around for the next class to come in. I think my joints took the brunt of the effort today and my muscles were what hurt after the run. I just want to crawl in bed right now (7:30pm) and go to sleep, but my son is at jazz band until 9pm, and Dad's at work, so I need a vat o'coffee, STAT!

To top the day off, we were breaking down all of the equipment and when I was folding up one of the light stands it slid shut and caught my thumb, giving me the biggest blood blister I've ever seen. It started gushing immediately, so I had to head off to the bathroom for something to stop the bleeding. So, I started and ended the day off with a bang. Surprisingly, he wants me to come back tomorrow and Thursday. I guess he really did appreciate my nice penmanship! Thank God in heaven I only have to drive about 10 minutes to get to this school the next two days!!!

I was gone until 4:30pm and my kids were already home a few hours. When I got in the kitchen, this was waiting for me on the fridge:

He has "the handwritin' of a serial killer." Quick, what movie???
 

I had called Charlie when I got to the school to let him know I had made it, finally. I was a little bit upset because I was not early like I had planned to be and now I was starting off on the wrong foot. He tried to talk me down a bit but I was just SO annoyed. He was still home since he goes into work late today, so he left me this. When I got home and thanked him for the note, we discussed what happened this morning and he thought I was crying. I wasn't THAT upset. If I had been out circling the town another 5 minutes and STILL hadn't found the school, THEN maybe I would've been crying.


Pray for me.