We're stuck in the doldrums of February. All that pretty white snow has melted and turned the ground into mush. The grey clouds have rolled in and unpacked their furniture—they're clearly here to stay a while. And it's been just cold enough to make being outside (should you find a not-so-muddy patch of ground) a bit uncomfortable.
But life just keeps thumping along, so I'm trying to keep up. The car was due for the 60,000 mile service. When I called to inquire about it I said, "So what am I looking at here?" The nice man in service gave me a price, which caused me to chuckle. Although the price is important, it is also unavoidable, so why even bother to put much thought into it? What I'm interested in is HOW LONG WILL THIS TAKE? Three hours, my friends. Needless to say, I've been avoiding this appointment.
So today, faced with an empty schedule, I got all crazy and called to see if they could squeeze me in. And they could. And I went. With two mobile children under four. And you know what? It wasn't too bad.
I freely admit that sometimes stuff like this stinks no matter how hard you try. But sometimes, I think if you can will it to go well, it does. Today was one of the latter.
After we dropped off the car, I popped everyone in the stroller, and we walked about a mile to the mall where there's an indoor play area. We played. We walked. We took a bathroom break. We bundled up and walked to Panera for bagels and then settled into Chipotle for the rest of lunch. Why not go two places? We have three hours to kill.
Over lunch, as Shep surveyed his bagel, fruit cup, and quesadilla, he looked up with a big smile and said, "This is the best lunch ever. Way better than lunch at home."
From there we walked to Target and then headed back to the dealership 15 minutes later than our car was due to be finished. Which, you know, is probably good since it was another 45 minutes before our car was ready. Which, bless them, the kids hung in there for.
It didn't pour buckets. There were no (big) tantrums. We checked a big "to do" off the list. And I think we actually had more fun than we would have staying at home.
A good day. But, now that I think about it, how could it not be when you start the day with a certificate of commendation for making the bed?