2. garlic bread

3. my pillow

4. when you play a song so loud that when you sing along it actually sounds like you can sing on key

5. coworkers friends who are willing to chauffeur me to and from work while my family is away

Grace in Small Things is a social network that Schmutzie created to wage a battle against embitterment.

2. an organized storage room

3. a new photography magazine

4. tank tops

5. being master of the remote

Grace in Small Things is a social network that Schmutzie created to wage a battle against embitterment.

2. finally finishing the editing of my paid photography gigs so that I can focus on my brother’s wedding photos that I took back IN AUGUST

3. the way Liliana pronounces hot dog “hock donk”

4. a friend who babysits for you and then leaves herself logged in to Facebook (not that I’d take any liberties with someone’s Facebook status. nope. not me.)

5. spending time with someone (or a couple someones) and realizing how much you missed her (them) while you were in your own pathetic little world of hermitville

Grace in Small Things is a social network that Schmutzie created to wage a battle against embitterment.

2. iced tea

3. the width of the screen on my work computer that allows me to view all of the eleventy hundred tabs I have open in Firefox

4. the ending of one “work week” and the beginning of another

5. fresh new mascara

Grace in Small Things is a social network that Schmutzie created to wage a battle against embitterment.

This morning we were out the door at the LAST POSSIBLE SECOND, as usual. Noah had warned me that he had to park on the other side of the parking lot because some douche-bag lovely soul had parked in the stall beside us, but not ALL THE WAY in the stall beside us because they were WAY OVER the yellow line and it’s NOT THEIR PARKING SPOT TO BEGIN WITH. So, since he couldn’t park in our spot BECAUSE OUR BIG HUGE VAN COULD NOT FIT, he parked in an empty parking spot on the other side thinking, Who is going to need to park here at 3:00am on a Wednesday morning?

Apparently somebody DID need to park there at 3:00am on a Wednesday morning, because when I went to drive everyone to school/daycare/work, the douche-bag lovely soul whose spot Noah parked in had parked RIGHT BEHIND US. Yes, RIGHT behind us. I could not get out. The girls and I turned around and went back inside. I woke Noah from his slumber and told him what was up. I made sure to let him know that I wasn’t mad AT HIM (I wasn’t), but that HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM.

I couldn’t call anyone for a ride because a) I don’t call people, b) I didn’t know who to call, c) my friends that work at Kaylie’s school are already there and therefore could not come and get her on their way because SCHOOL HAD ALREADY STARTED BY THIS POINT. So, I called a cab. I’m classy like that. Kaylie was STOKED. “I get to ride in a cab? Can I say ‘Take me to my school, please’? Can I pay?” I got Noah out of bed to watch Liliana and Kaylie and I walked to the corner store where I had asked the cab to meet us (BECAUSE NOBODY IS EVER ABLE TO FIND OUR PLACE) and took some cash out of the (HIGH FEE) ATM to pay for the cab (BECAUSE WE NEVER HAVE CASH).

Kaylie was “only” 20 minutes late for school. I didn’t think to ask the cab to wait for me, so I paid him and walked Kaylie in to school. DID I MENTION THAT I HAVE NOT BEEN SLEEPING WELL LATELY? AND MAYBE THAT’S WHY MY BRAIN IS NOT FUNCTIONING PROPERLY? I walked Kaylie to her class and then started my walk home. It’s not that far. I did it in just under 30 minutes except for the fact that it is WINTER here already and in my haste to meet the cab I forgot to put on a coat and it was a COLD WALK HOME. No coat, no scarf, no mitts. Seriously. NON-FUNCTIONING BRAIN.

When I got home I asked Noah to go take a look at the van to see if he could maybe get it out. He came back in about 10 minutes later and said, “We’re free.” NOW WHY DIDN’T I JUST ASK HIM TO DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE? I was too scared of hitting the car that had blocked us in. Apparently Noah did not have that same fear. He didn’t hit the other vehicle, but he wasn’t scared to. Alrightythen.

BUT WAIT! THE STORY IS NOT OVER YET!

I bundled Liliana up again (I HATE WINTER COATS) and took her out to the van, loaded her up, clicked the button to unlock the other doors, and went around to the driver side. It was locked. Apparently I had hit the button to LOCK all the other doors, right before throwing my keys on the passenger seat and closing the door. BRILLIANT.

Thankfully, I had my phone in my pocket and called Noah to COME OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW WITH HIS KEYS AND LET ME IN THE STUPID VAN. He came outside with a grin on his face and let me in the stupid van.

AND THEN WE LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

2. space heaters

3. Noah helping me get the girls ready this morning

4. realizing that sometimes quitting is a good thing

5. two freshly bathed sleeping children

Grace in Small Things is a social network that Schmutzie created to wage a battle against embitterment.

2. a text message from my dad

3. Full House

4. yoga capris

5. a clean house

Grace in Small Things is a social network that Schmutzie created to wage a battle against embitterment.

2. oatmeal

3. an email from a friend who “gets it”

4. listening to Liliana talk on the phone

5. working 11am to 11:30pm and actually enjoying it

Grace in Small Things is a social network that Schmutzie created to wage a battle against embitterment.

2. watching Liliana and Kaylie trick-or-treat together

3. peas

4. being less scared than Noah wile watching The Ring (and yes, I watched every single second of it)

5. sneaking my kids’ Halloween candy after they’ve gone to sleep

Grace in Small Things is a social network that Schmutzie created to wage a battle against embitterment.