Aggregate \Ag"gre*gate\, a. [L. aggregatus, p. p.]

Formed by a collection of particulars into a whole mass or sum; collective. To bring together. Syn: To heap up; accumulate; pile; collect.


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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Times (they are a) Changing

Having kids has significantly altered the "road trip" for me. Aside from additional snacks and potty breaks I am now packing for three. My husband still packs for one - that hasn't changed at all. He often brings his one tiny, half-filled bag to the top of the stairs at the last minute and sets it next to my open, still being filled, melee of a pack job. Seemingly out of pity for my situation he then asks if I need to put anything into his bag. Ughhhhhhhh. Of course, the children's bags are packed, (BY ME!!!) waiting at the door and have been there since last night.

Thanks to Murphy's Law something gets left behind. More often than not it is my something. My shoes, my bathing suit, my mittens, my makeup, my hose, my snack, my gift certificate et cetera. It seems no matter how many lists I make, or how much attention I pay, my efforts are insufficient to get everything into the vehicle without fail one really important item sits at home awaiting my return. Awesomesauce.

Anyhoo we set off to a wedding this past weekend. Prep was particularly harried because Mike was home for roughly five minutes in between trips to Vancouver and the cesspool hot tub needed to be drained and refilled. This has to happen at above freezing temperatures, so we needed to wait till that happened. We had guess-timated the time for refilling and cleaning, but really underestimated the unbelievable amount of time it would take to drain it. Seriously, it took the better part of an hour.

The wedding ceremony was at 4. We were in the truck by 11:30, which would put us in town by 3:00 and we could check-in to the wonderful Cinnamon Bear Lodge, get dressed, figure out what I left behind, and get to the church on time. Fwhew. Then to the party. At least that's the plan.

As I wrestled Isla into her crinoline, straightened my hair and found my shoes it occurred to me that, possibly for the first time in 5 years everything I had meant to pack made it on the trip!  Our picture perfect family rolled up in front of the church (where Mike and I had been married 7 years before!) into rockstar parking. We had 5 minutes to go...wait, why was there still rockstar parking? We pulled the poppets out of the truck. I re-checked the invitation. Right day? Check. Right location? Obvious. Ummm, what the crap was going on?

The church was empty except for one or two women. Seeing our faces they asked where we were going. "A wedding" I answered, then "what time is it?". "5 to 5" came the answer. Wheels began to turn, something familiar began to claw at my brain...then there it was - the time change. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

How could we forget the time change?! I mean, by the time we were on the road it was already too late we had lost that extra hour, but everytime we drive past the Mountain Standard time change sign my husband is forced to point it out like he has Tourette's. But, for whatever reason, it didn't happen this trip and was so far off the radar I don't even know what to say.

I felt like such a heel. Still do. At least there was still the party, and we were right in time for that!

11 comments:

  1. Haha "melee of a pack job" describes the rush of organizing a road trip so well.

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  2. The labels alone in this post make me laugh: Ebarrassing, fail, stress...love it. At least you looked good?

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  3. OMGash.. Oh how I have done that..not same situation but messed up time thing.. At least you made the party! Great post, made me laugh :)

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  4. Carlo - Nice to know that my melee is your melee, especially since you are such a road trip aficionado!

    Jamie - Yes I cringed a little when I saw how many of my tags were applicable! And yes we did look good, I am actually having technical difficulties today hence the lack of pics :S Oh the irony!

    Aly - I must confess there is comfort in knowing that you know my pain/humiliation/awkward entrance after the fact! The party was also where we had our reception, they even served cupcakes like we did!

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  5. I'm the BC boy, I should have known better...

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  6. Awwww, hunny - but the cesspool is a Hot Tub again :) So there is that.

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  7. I had to laugh at how you describe packing for you and the little people in your life. Because I'm always the one packing and making up the lists of things to grab, I always get pestered with the 'where is the....' questions from Dave when we get to our destination.

    An old friend was once a DAY late for his final exam in university (Mike should remember him from high school-Steve Smith), so don't feel bad. :) The time zone REALLY exists so that funny stories can be told. Tricky time zone indeed. ;)

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  8. That is too funny! I could definitely see myself doing the same thing. :)

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  9. As you know - I laughed so hard I had to have you share this story with a friend last night. Loved the "my husband is forced to point it out like he has Tourette's". So like Glen!
    Thanks for the great writing of an experience all mom's share on many levels.

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  10. lol!!! ok this made me feel better! I am not alone in my world of embarrassment. Thank you for sharing! I feel a bit less red-faced. ;)

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