I get to work.

Put in about 2 hours. Then I get a phone call.

It's from my 14 year old daughter , calling from the front office of her middle school.

She had arrived at school with one sneaker with her new orthopedic insert in it, and the other shoe with its original insole removed, but not replaced by her other orthopedic insert. Just flat. And she ran in gym that way the whole time. Can I stop by at lunch and bring her her other insole? It's laying on the couch at home. Yes.

Then work for another hour or so.

Then I receive an email from my 9 year old son's 3rd grade teacher. You know that notice that eveyrone in class was going to memorize a 10 line or greater poem. And my son told me he was working on it at school? Well he told his teacher he was working on it at home. And today was the due date.

And

Earlier this week she assigned him a handwriting assignement, he never completed it and turned it in. He never brought it home. He still needs to do it.

And

I never sent in the permission slip for the class trip to the state capital next week. I emailed her back, assured her we'd make him do his homework and since I'm back in the 'hood anyway at lunch can I stop by and fill out the permission slip? Yes, the front desk lady in the school will have it.

So,

at about 11:15 I actually leave the office for lunch, which just isn't done any more, now that we're supposed to be trying to work 48 hours a week. I drive home. I get out a new pad of those nature-scene checks my husband just ordered with "Time and Tide Melt the Snowman" written in gothic lettering on them, as if that were a biblical reference, when really it's from Doctor Who. I pick up my daughter's shoe insole laying right on the couch.

I drive to the elementary school. The front desk lady does have the permission slip. I fill it out and pay the $10 check it asks for, although I don't really know why a trip to the capital costs $10. It's right here in town.

I drive to my daughter's middle school, and give the front desk lady my daughter's insole, she agrees she can have it delivered to my daughter's class. It occurs to me that I just handed the overworked, underpaid front desk lady of my daughter's middle school something that has touched my daughter's foot. Maybe I should have put it in a plastic bag or something. And by then there was like 2 1/2 hours left in the school day anyway. And PE as over. Futile effort.

I drive back to work and try to eat a cup of microwaved clam chowder between customers on the phone. I become convinced that while I'd stopped by home, I had let the dog out the back door and had never let her back in before I left. Something my husband has been accusing me of a lot lately, just because it really is true. I really do do that.

I finally excuse myself, drive 15 minutes home only to see my dog is inside. I give her a treat so she won't wonder why I drove home for no reason and then just left again. Then I drive back to work for about another 3 hours. I put in an extra 1/2 hour to make up for my doggie amnesia incident. I'm grateful no one asked why I needed this emergency break. I'd have been embarrassed to explain that one.

When I do get home, my husband has read my forwarded emails from the teacher about my son's missing home work, and he has left work early, intercepted my son at home and was already at the kitchen table making him do it. Thank heavens for that, because I wasn't looking forward to it. My son weeps when he sees me, but I immediately have to take our daughter to guitar lessons. Good bye.

I put about 3 more rows on my husband's scarf, from the waiting room at the music store. Then drive her home again.

At dinner, my husband says that when I woke up, before him, this morning, I let the dog out into the back yard, and then left her there and went to work. Her barking at our back, sliding glass door woke him up, and he let her in.

Remember when I didn't have a car at all? Or kids? Or a job? I don't.