Curse of the auction...

As part of the many things I've signed up for... being the chair of the auction committee is one of them. I don't what it is about this auction, but I will list for you the things that have happened to me or my co-chair, Nancy, since our assent to take over the throne (s):

• I fell, injuring my knee, resulting in crutches for four months
• Nancy's daughter broke her leg with the necessity of a hip to ankle cast and a wheelchair
• I broke a tooth with lots of heavy dental work to follow
• Nancy's husband got a terrible flu bug three times in one month
• Kaitlin was sent home from school on the brink of an ER visit with a ridiculously high fever
• Jimmy's Grandmother passed away
• The car breaks went out the same day as the oil filter... lots of squealing tires and burning oil smell. We all know noise or smell = $ in car speak
• I lost my precious iPod
• Nancy got stuck in New York because of a heavy snowstorm for almost a week
• I am breaking out in a mysterious and severely itchy rash that started on the palms of my hands and has now spread to the rest of my body

And yesterday? Well, friends let me tell you a story...

I stayed home from church because I was feeling burned out and on the verge of ill (Kate was sick, too) when Nancy called me at 10:30am. I answered the phone only to hear a terrible, earsplitting high pitched squeal from my phone. Because of the noise, Nancy and I decided to hang up so I could return the call on my cell phone.

Two problems with this solution. One, my cell phone does not work at our house and the second, Jimmy had the car with my cell phone (and purse) in it. So, being the resourceful lady that I am, I stood on a chair and used Jimmy's phone to call back. We had many conversations that started with salutations and never got to the meat and potatoes because of bad reception.

Poor Kaitlin was pulled out of bed to the tune of, "we have to go right now! It's important!" So important, that I was wearing this: unwashed hair piled on top of my head, sweatpants, mismatched hoodie, flip flops and no bra. Now, I know that image is stuck in your mind- have fun with it.

Kaitlin looked like a mini-Stephanie with her hair also askew and jim jams on her little body. Because I was only driving down the hill to talk, there was no need to change... right? Haahaa, that was laughable of me, huh? When I was having the conversation with Nancy, Jimmy's phone kept beeping at me. Now, I know what my cell phone is trying to tell me when it beeps. Apparently, Jimmy's speaks the same language. It was cell phone talk for, "I'm about to die, I'm about to die, I'm abou-" silence. Nice. And so on to the in-laws to use the land line. Fortunately for me, I did not get pulled over, because how I would explain my predicament?! I am sure that once I started with, "My grandma died and I went to the funeral yesterday and then I was so tired, Jimmy took the car and I have the auction, and I, I'm sorry about my hair, hopefully I don't smell too bad, I usually dress my child before leaving the house..." and so on and so forth. Good thing the curse of the auction hasn't spread to moving violations. I'll keep you posted how that works out.

Until then, heed my sage advice for mothers embarking on school aged parenthood: never show up to a meeting and send treats in when asked- that's it.