If a DSL modem connects in the woods…

…and no one’s there to see my IM’s…am I really on the internet? How sad is it that I haven’t been able to get online at home in over a week, and when I finally get back on, there’s no one online to share it with! Ah well, such is life…

What a day. If I ramble, forgive me, but as I said in my earlier post, I’ve been up since 4:15 this morning, and it’s now almost 1:00 am – but who needs sleep when they have the internet, anyway?

Here are some of the things that I did on this very long, weird, but oddly productive day:

  1. Got up at 4:15 am to take Megan to school by 5:45 for her Williamsburg field trip and *still* managed to be 10 minutes late for work. (yes, I came back home and fell asleep)
  2. Drank on the job – with the boss’ permission! You gotta love Cinco de Mayo! And you gotta love a boss that makes margaritas to celebrate it (ok, so maybe ‘love’ is too strong a word)…and before you ask, these margaritas were about as virgin as Anna Nicole…
  3. Installed my new kitchen light! (Ok, my brother did most of the ‘installing’ part, but I read the directions and helped figure out how to put it together – oh, and I caught the power screwdriver mid-air, one-handed when he dropped it from the top of the 11 ft. ladder!) All in all, I think we did a pretty good job. The light is up, it works, and my condo hasn’t burned to the ground yet. And hey, it even closely resembles the picture on the box!
  4. Got my new DSL connection up and running – and that one I did all by myself! I inserted that Quick Start CD and clicked “next” like a champ!

I had one of those “it could only happen to me” moments this afternoon. Before I tell the story, however,  I think a little background information is in order. I was slightly nervous about sending my daughter off on her field trip (3 hours away) to Williamsburg this morning. See, she was complaining of a sore throat last night, and was sniffling and coughing a bit when she got up this morning. Being one of those children who would rather have a root canal with rusty dental instruments than miss a field trip, she of course insisted that she was ok.  I just kept thinking about the cold I had a few weeks ago (allergies my ass, where did you get your medical degree, lady? Liberia??) and how miserable I felt the first few days after it hit. I was positive that I would let her go on the trip (3 hours away) only to get a phone call midway through the morning to please come (3 hours away) and pick up my sick child.  On top of all that were my usual paranoid mom-worries that she would somehow get separated from the group and be lost, or miss the bus coming home…I’m not the only one that has these, right??

So anyway, I let her go, but sent her armed with a cell phone, under strict instructions that she should call my cell phone if she had any problems. My phone didn’t ring all day. Now, to the story…

I was driving home from work, and suddenly it was bothering the hell out of me that my phone hadn’t rung all day – despite the fact that my cell phone never rings on any other day either. (Insert pity party here!) [More back story: There was this one occasion several months ago when my cell phone decided to freeze up, and I wasn’t able to make or receive telephone calls. To look at the phone I would never have known there was a problem, but I was expecting a call that particular morning, and when it didn’t come I decided to investigate, and learned that I wasn’t able to dial out, either. Removing the battery and replacing it fixed the problem. ] Part of me was just sure that my phone had frozen up again, while another part was just as sure that I was being paranoid. Why would it choose today of all days to freeze up for the first time since last October? So, I tried to make a telephone call, and what do you know – the call won’t go through! You’re not paranoid if they really ARE out to get you.

At this point, I am worrying that my daughter really did try to call me, and that I’ve missed her call. While driving 65 miles an hour down Route 100, I’m frantically trying to disengage and replace the battery with one hand. I finally get it done, turn the phone back on, and oh crap, I have TWO voicemail messages. My imagination is now working overtime as it takes me 3 tries to get to my voicemail without hitting the wrong button and disconnecting myself. Then, I am informed that I have 2 messages marked for deletion, and before it will give me my new mail, I must listen to *those* messages and decide what to do with them.  I quickly delete them, and am *finally* allowed to listen to the two new messages.

The first message was not my daughter, nor was it anyone affiliated with her school or Colonial Williamsburg. Relief. That turned quickly into annoyance with the caller, a recently ex-co-worker, when she proceeded to ramble on for what seemed like 10 minutes, keeping me from my second message. Why are you calling my cell phone to ask me a question about your last paycheck, anyway? [Call me at WORK, Candace! Oh, and just be glad I wasn’t the one who answered the phone the morning it was *raining* and you called to ask if we’d be open…]

Halfway (I hope she was at least halfway done rambling) through her message I skipped ahead to the next one. I could now breathe again. The second call had been from my brother saying he was on his way to my house. Here’s the funny part – are you ready for it? 30 seconds after I hang up from the 2 minute return call to my brother, my daughter calls. I guess she was waiting for me to fix the phone.

Oh, and she was fine, she called to let me know they were back on the bus and on the way home.

I sometimes hear that song “Semi-Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind and think, “Hey, that’s me”. Well, except for the crystal meth. And the casual sex. Ok, so really the song itself has no similarity to my life whatsoever. I do think that I have a ‘semi-charmed’ life sometimes, though. Things usually seem to work out pretty well in the end, but many times getting there is a huge pain in the butt…Anything that can, will, right?

Sorry for all the rambling, I guess I just missed you guys  (all 2 of you that read this thing!).

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