Dad had a bad day. What a day Dad had.

OK, Mom. But geez, it has been a day and a half.

Yesterday ended, and today started, with me trying frantically to clean as much as I could before the appraiser came at 8:30 this morning. I was trying to clean, shower, get dressed, get J settled with breakfast and get him dressed, and get out the door. I was hoping to get J to school early, so I could run back home and pick up a couple more things before the appraisal.

Ha. Then there was the great yogurt throwdown. J has taken lately to wanting to bring something for snack at school. I guess some of his classmates bring their own snacks rather than eating what the school provides, and that's fine. Today, though, he wanted yogurt. I told him no, yogurt needs to stay cold or it gets yucky. He said he liked it yucky. I told him yogurt had to be put in the refrigerator and there wasn't one in his class. He then started howling that he WANTED yogurt, and there was a refrigerator in his CUBBY. I tried to be patient and gentle and remember that he wasn't doing this to push my buttons. That lasted for all of about three seconds before I snapped. *SIGH* So the day started off with a screamfest over yogurt.

We left later than I'd intended, and J was in prime dawdle mode. I was antsy thinking I might not even make it home by 8:30, much less would I be there in time to pick anything up or clean anything, and I was short with J. (Yeah, today was not my best parenting moment.) But we had hugs and kisses before I left, so that was good. Still, I felt guilty for being abrupt with him. No one tells you in parenting classes that guilt is a huge part of becoming a mother.

I made it home by 8:27, resigned to not getting any more cleaning done. 8:30 comes and goes. No appraiser. 8:45. 9:00. Still no appraiser. I was thinking of leaving for work - tonight is my late shift, and I was supposed to be at work by 10:00. Finally at 9:15 he got there. He'd gotten stuck in traffic (I can relate to that) and hadn't had my number to call and let me know. So he did his thing and was finished by about 9:40 or so. I tried to schedule this on an off time, so I wouldn't have to take extra time off work, and damn if I wasn't going to end up late to work anyway.

I head out the door, and as I'm toodling up the highway, it hits me. I had a conference call scheduled for 10:00. It's 9:51 at this point, I am NOT making it to work by 10:00. D'OH. I called my buddy and asked him to call my client, apologize for me, let her know I was held up, and tell her I'd call back to reschedule. Turns out she thought the call was at 10:00 Eastern time (her time), so she was already miffed. *SIGH* I called and got her voice mail. I'll have to try again.

Then work is a three-ring circus, as always. I'm crazy busy trying to dig out of all the stuff on my desk when we get word that a co-worker has passed away unexpectedly. She had some outpatient surgery this morning, and came through that fine, but died in recovery. They're not sure if it was a heart attack or blood clot or what.

And I thought my day was bad.

Godspeed, Doris. Things won't be the same around here without you, and you will be missed.