Busy Tuesday

I think all of our energy for the week was used up in one afternoon. I had been working on a proposal at work for the past several weeks, with some late evenings to get to where I needed to be for a presentation yesterday afternoon. As I am gearing up to start the presentation, I happen to glance at my phone and saw that Sarah had called me 4 times and texted me twice, within a span of about 5 minutes. The battery in the van died and she was stalled at the back of the school, where she was in the pickup line to get Jonah. Had it been any other day, I could have left to pick her up, since my office is not that far from the house. The problem was, even if I left immediately (as I couldn't because of the meeting) I wouldn't have been there in time to pick her and Jonah up, then have to race immediately home to meet Mira's bus. Every school afternoon, Sarah has to have all of the stars align - she has to pick up Jonah at his school, be home within 15 minutes or less to meet Mira's bus at the house to get her, and if the weather is not cooperating, turn around and pick Eli up at his school. If there is one little hiccup, say like a dead battery, the schedule crumbles. So, Sarah had to call the bus company, who in turn called dispatch to contact her bus directly, who offered up the idea to drop one of the other bus riders off first, in order to give Sarah enough time to get back to the house. Several phoen calls later, they had the drop-off sequence sorted out. Great - but it didn't solve the problem with the van, so Sarah and Jonah had to walk back to the house and leave the van at school. I finished my meeting, left early to pick up a battery, went back to the school, and switched the batteries out. Then, the door wouldn't shut on the van - I spent 15 minutes trying to figure out why the passenger side sliding door wouldn't close, but it finally gave and I was able to finally get it back on track. The van is 10 years old now and is slowly showing its age. I then rushed back home to change, leaving Sarah to fend for dinner with the kids, as I had committed to a corporate softball practice early that evening. Sarah was fried already as I was walking back out the door. Despite all of the craziness yesterday, Mira was in good spirits, up until this afternoon, where she was wailing at one point - probably just hungry but possibly just tired, as she had a bunch to eat, then completely cashed out early in her bed. Our busy week will continue tomorrow, as we have a neurology appointment in the morning.