UGH!

This has been a stinky morning. I am having to readjust my attitude. The boys teachers asked them to wear gloves and tobagans because it MIGHT (MIGHT being a huge word - because this is afterall - Alabama) snow and she wanted them to be ready - they told me this FIVE MINUTES before I was to take them to the bus stop. So I am running around here looking for tobagans and gloves (afterall - this is Alabama - who wears those things?) and finally found them....as I am backing down my mountain of a driveway I see the boys new football - rolling, rolling, rolling down the hill...and I hear screaming and wailing from them because they are scared someone will run over it and pop it if it lands in the street. I told them they should have put it in the ball bin and went on to the bus stop. More wailing. I knew that ball would roll over to the neighbors yard and be waiting there...or land in the bushes. No problem - and it may teach them to put their stuff where it belongs.

So I get to the bus stop and am trying to get them onto the bus dry (it's gullywashing here) and I step in a massive mud puddle - up to my ankle...cold, COLD water. They get on - I go home and as I get home I do not see the ball at the bottom of the hill - I tell you I LOOKED. And a horrible thing came to me....it is raining so hard and we have a fast moving stream of water running along the street now - oh - my - giddy - aunt - All I could think is that ball landed in the stream - so I follow the stream praying that the gutter has a small little opening into the drain pipe so the ball will not have gone down the pipe. It's not there. And there is a HUGE opeing plenty big for a football to go down. I feel sick and sorry and regret not stopping and getting it. So I am getting all teary about what the boys are going to say when they get home and how sad they will be.

I am soak and wet with a muddy foot and I turned into the driveway and sitting right next to the driveway on a clump of pine straw - is the football. How did I miss that? And my heart is lightened. And I am sorry I was so cranky about getting the tobagans and gloves out. And I wish I could do it ALLLLLL over again.

Growing up is hard.