Flower shoe day

Today, Hubby and I got to go to the Flower Show. We were kind of excited about this for a couple of days. Not only did my Horticulture Society member inlaws give us tickets, they also offered to watch the Bookieheads for the day. Hooray!!

The day started off well, as days go. I got up early enough to get the house in reasonable order for company, even got the nasty slipcover off the couch in time, and the kids dressed to their socks. Nana and Pop Pop arrived.

And then things started to unravel.

It was the shoe that started it all.

I couldn't find Oldest's shoe. This is kind of normal. Every day, I spend about 20 minutes looking for everyone's shoes. I swear I have them in my sights before bed each night, but somehow they disappear by morning. I checked the usual places: under the couch, in my office (I don't know why, but its a popular hangout for lost shoes) and the bathrooms. No shoe. Started checking not so usual places - the kitchen, the boys' room (why would a shoe ever end up there?) the playroom. No shoe. Nana is trying to help, but the science of finding lost shoes is best left to an experienced insider.

"Is this it?" She asks. No, that's Oldest OLD shoe. We keep them for rainy and snowy days, although at this point even Oldest's current shoes are not in much better shape.

"Is this it?" No, that is Surprise's shoe. I kind of want to tell her to stop helping.

In the meantime, I'm also trying to make lunch for them and finish getting myself ready and Hubby has advanced to the next level of Spore. "Can you please DO SOMETHING?!"

He sulks, and halfheartedly starts searching for the shoe.

The phone rings. It's the finance director from work. "No one can get into the server," he says. "We were wondering if you could take a look at it."

Maybe I am still asleep. Yes, that's it! I'm still asleep, and this is some kind of nightmare! I pinch myself. Nope, it's real.

"Where's Guy?"
"He's in transit." WTH does that mean? "He'll be here in half an hour."

Now I'm trying to get myself ready trying to find the shoe trying to make lunch and trying to remote into the server which is not responding at all. Pop Pop, who is always cold, especially in our frigid, unheatable downstairs, is parked by the back door, in the only sunny spot, like the family dog. Although I have water on for macaroni and cheese, Nana is getting ready to make peanut butter sandwiches....

"OLDEST CAN'T HAVE PEANUT BUTTER BEFORE SCHOOL!" I say. Too sharply, of course. Now both her and Hubby will both be sulking. "There's an allergic kid in his class," I explain. "They told us not to let him get it on his breath and hands before going to school." I have avoided peanut butter for months now, even on days when we're late and it would be so easy - it's not going to be my kid that ends up sending someone into Anaphylactic shock just by breathing on him.

I finally decide to put on the old shoes. Call finance director to tell them there's nothing I can do - the server appears to be completely crashed or has fallen of the network. I can't even restart it. They will have to wait for Guy. We get lunch done and Pop Pop takes Oldest to the bus. Whew! We're off. Off to a fun day!

Or not. Downtown is a nightmare, more of a nightmare than I remember. We can't find a parking space, and our chances are limited by Hubby's requirements. No on street parking (the car might get - OMG! a scratch). No open lots, because we might get locked in. Can't be further than 3 blocks away. WTH? He is getting more and more aggravated and snippy, not appreciating my helpful suggestions, ready to give up, but at the last minute goes around the block again.

We're farther than he wanted to be, but walking through China Town, where we had one of our first dates, is kind of fun. Or not.
"I'm cold. I'm not really not dressed for the cold," he whines.
"It's not that cold."
"This walk wouldn't be so bad if you would SLOW DOWN."
"I thought you were cold? Walking fast will keep you warm. And we'll get there faster." Good grief.

The flower show itself is OK, although every year it seems like there are more vendors and fewer flowers, but I get to add to my Inspiration Picture Collection for the Back Yard (past flower shows have inspired the rear Japanese garden, given up on and neglected once kids were born, this weird almost-arbor thing that was going to be a Japanese waiting bench until I lost my enthusiasm for it and now keeps falling apart with each windstorm, and a line of stumps from our old telephone pole that will form a raised garden...someday.) We also got some little bonsai trees, now drying out on the kitchen counter. Our moods improved, and we came home to happy kids and a Nana and Pop Pop that weren't as worn down as they usually are after a day with the kids.

But I still haven't found the darn shoe!