Super Mom to the rescue

Normally I have Tuesdays off. You would think that a day off is a day off-well, for me-it is a time to catch up. I work full time during the day selling insurance and work Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. So I can have Tuesdays off to catch up and the take the girls for their appointments. I do not even know what "down time is". I also have a farm and work on the wool from my sheep and write novels. I am the Queen of multi-tasking and am proud of it!

Normally it can be with one appointment, but sometimes they add up and the shuffling of them can be pretty intense. This particular Tuesday I had a million things to do to say the very least.

I called before to set up a ride for my daughter Jacqui to be picked up from her school and to be bought over to her afternoon appointment in Farmington with her doctor. I was planning on staying home. However, when I called-I found out that at this particular appointment, I had to be there. Well, I knew the maneuvering had only just begun with this request. I did not want to reschedule.

So after that call that morning I did the usual chores on my day off; straightened up the house, banked the fire in the wood stove, made sure there was enough wood brought up from the basement, cleaned the dishes in the kitchen, took the dogs out (too cold for them still to be left out for the day and their dog house is still under snow), made the usual phone calls on recent events and appointments to be made, and then finally was I able to get dressed and head out the door for my car to be fixed. I had called my friend Heather to see if she was able to rescue me-since there would be a lapse during the appointment that afternoon when Tiffy would be left home alone after getting off the bus. I was trying to call everywhere to help on that one.

I then headed out the door to Wilton after my car was heated up to have it worked on. I was finally having my driver's side window fixed so that I could open it. It was hard going through tolls (I would have to drive up and have my daughter in the backseat hand them the money- or pull over before hand to leave the window rolled down, a nightmare in the winter here in Maine-thank goodness I rarely used the toll way!) Also at the bank I would always forget when I wanted to drive to the window or the ATM and have to park on the side in frustration and actually walk in the old-fashioned way or walk over when no one was around to the ATM!). I was also having the oil leak fixed-I was sick of having to put in a quart of oil each week!). The removal of the snow tires would have to wait for later!

So I drove there and was given a ride back to my house to wait it out by Chris' wife, Moe.

When I arrived home I hunkered down and prepared for battle. I decided to pay as many bills as I could online-since I can never find the time to visit the post office and have no idea how much stamps cost now (cant seem to keep up with that. Also the cost of milk!). So I frantically tried to arrange the rest of the day and even called the school to have them remind my daughter of her appointment and that she was getting picked up there by someone else. After paying my bills, I decided to play online for a hour and found a whole bunch of songs to download onto my MP3 player-though I could not figure out how to make the actual connection between the two.

The night before I had to put my three kitties in a large cage so they would not have water or food before their surgery (they were being fixed Tuesday). It was rough passing them and knowing they were hungry and thirsty. Vet's orders!

They were to arrive between 1-2p. They arrived at 1:30p. The vet is Stephanie and she owns the Maine Woods Mobil Vet unit. They are veterinarians that actually come to your home. She works on pets and fiber animals (my sheep) for shots, nail clippings etc... (YEA!) She arrived with her assistant and her four year old son (who was adorable!). On the agenda was to create a sort of assembly line in my kitchen for fixing my two female kitties (Dot and Little Miss) and the male kitty (Trouble)-they were also to receive their rabies shots. Then my dogs Loki and Bart were to have their nails clipped.

I have to admit, I was very impressed with the whole process. She created a small sterile area and I was actually allowed to watch the whole process! Very interesting. Her adorable little son was wandering about and I gave him a banana to distract him. He wanted to go pet my dogs, but they are not that used to kids that little and were a little skittish of the boy! They growled and knew they were getting in trouble from me over that and hid under the living room table. The kitties were given shots to anaesthetise them for their surgeries and they were laid out and prepared for it. Living on a farm you get used to life in all forms; the good, and the ugly-though necessary. I make sure all of my animals are fixed and most are even micro-chipped (dogs and cats-not yet on the kitties). I had to be a part of fixing my two male rams with the elasticiser (long story and quite vivid and I am not even male-ouch!).

So, one by one the kitties were fixed. I was nervous since my kitties had gone into heat already. They were born in July in the same litter. They are my other cat Butterina's kitties.

While each was being fixed they had their rabies shots. Then we had to tackle the dogs for their nails to be clipped. In the winter they are inside-way too cold out to tie them up in the yard and their dog house is buried under mounds of snow! I cant even find the propane tank out there! We literally had to shovel an almost tunnel to get from the house to the barn. So their nails tend to get long. That was quite a feat in itself! The whole time I was getting a call from the school about Jacqui's ride waiting for her and no Jacqui. They finally had to contact the bus driver en-route to find out that she had forgotten and boarded the bus. I also got a call from my friend Heather who was able to come over and to watch the kitties in their drugged out and recovering state and to meet Tiffy as she got off her bus! Meanwhile, I was helping to hold down the dogs and calming them and talking on the cell phone and regular phone-depending which one I received calls from during all of this. Also, Moe was able to come over to pick me up since the car was done enough for me to use it. They had two people call in that day at the garage and Chris was doing all of the work himself! He was backed up that day. So by the time Moe arrived, I had managed to have my friend en-route to rescue Tiff and I was paying the bill to the vet and helping them clean up-Jacqui got off the bus. I ran out to the car with her and Jacqui and hoped that Heather would be at the house in time. We arrived at the garage and almost went to another car parked outside. I thought "boy, my car really needs a bath!" and it turned out that it was another car. I was able to take my car then and with them knowing I would be back there after the appointment to pay the bill. They knew me enough for that-good thing! I then went into the garage and waited while they backed it out and then drove off frantically to catch the 3p appointment. I called on the cell and informed them that I would be about ten minutes late-which I was and went right in. My daughter Jacqui has severe ADD and has been having trouble focusing in school.

After the appointment I called and found out that my friend Heather had showed up in time and then was able to drive over to the garage happily rolling up and down my window in glee to pay the bill. I had spent over $600 in all that day and came home very tired but happy that I was able to manage it all and nothing went wrong. Many close calls and room for potential tragedy-but all went well and everything that was supposed to get done-got done!

I came home and visited with my friend while she played with my computer and showed me how to download some songs and my pics to the MP3 player. I then made sure the girls had all their homework done and their chores. Jacqui to bring up the firewood and to take care of the sheep out the the barn and to bring the dogs out. Tiffy to clean the kitty-litter. I made supper and all was well in the world and I was able to rest in peace that night to battle another day!

This is just a small example of my usual busy Tuesdays...