Ok. One can choose to look at the bright side of every situation, right? Let's see how I can flip these situations to make them a bit rosier, shall we?
Yes, my head was in a right sorry state yesterday. So much so that I not only took DayQuil, but also liquid Tylenol. For anyone who doesn't know me well, I don't take medication. I think the last time I took pain reliever was when Corinne was born. Maybe a headache or two since then, but really? It's a rarity. Anyway. I'm double dosed on foreign chemicals, the kids are in the van, I put my last $20 in the tank, and we were off to Disney on Ice.
The rosy part here? The fact that the medication was working enough for me to stop crying? Or the fact that I BY CHANCE googled the directions to the Allstate Arena (where I THOUGHT the show was at) and realized BY A FLUKE that it was actually at the United Center. Um, yes. That was a miracle. (FYI, my mother-in-law was meeting us there and she had bought the tickets for us).
About 30 minutes into our drive, I realized a major issue:
I spent my last $20 on gas. My credit card is practically full, thanks to recent gas price increases, and I don't own an ATM card (I am soooo 20th century. I know. Also? My phone is not a camera. You may guffaw now...). You can see the situation I was in, right? The situation as in SCREWED because Chicago is not the city of friendly free parking, nor was it sunny so that we could have walked from a meter spot (if one even exists in that area). So, in the pouring rain, I tried to reach MIL. Finally got through to her as we were driving past the United Center!! Dream that she is, she met me in the pouring rain at the gate to pay for our parking.
Rosy side here: 1. my big red van. Again, my gas guzzling monstrosity is easy to spot in a crisis and my MIL could find me in the rain in Chicago. 2. My MIL. She's awesome. I mean, it was RAINING HARD, folks...
The show was cute. Adorable, even. Corinne was smiling from the get-go, Evan was clapping his hands and pointing the directions that the Incredibles were telling the audience to, and Justin had pizza and a snowcone. All were happy. I must say, they did a really cool job with the sets and costumes. The Incredibles were supposed to be visiting Disneyland so we got to see icy versions of our favorite Disney rides. And now? Now we all want to go back to the Magic Kingdom!
Unfortunately, my medication was wearing off by then. We scooted through the rain and hopped in the van.... Annnnnd.... Got Lost.
Notice the capital letters on "Got Lost?" Yes, that would be because I was driving with 3 kids in a huge honking van in Chicago in the rain with a pounding headache and only 1/4 tank of gas and NO money and honestly? I WAS LOST.
Rosy side? Ummmm... Corinne fell right asleep, so that alleviated my headache just a touch. Evan was reading his Waldo book and was silent. And Justin was
helpful! So helpful, actually. He was calm and looked for signs. He isn't able to really read the city map yet, but was the watcher of all stoplights so I could scan the map and try to figure out how in the heck I got turned around trying to find the Interstate. It's nice to have an older kid, you know?
The rosiest side: We made it. I found a street I knew which led to the highway and we made it. We didn't get in an accident (like so many people did yesterday...) and we didn't get into traffic. We didn't get stuck in the flooding roads, though we definitely went through some areas that were dangerous. And our basement
isn'
t getting water!
In case you didn't know, the Midwest is getting some serious water this week. So much, in fact, that my kids' school is CLOSED due to flooding. I do believe, in all of my 32 years of living in NE Illinois, that I have never experienced a closure of schools due to flooding. Thankfully, there isn't any rain falling at this moment. But the sky is overcast and we are, I believe, due for more rain today... Here's to hoping that the water holds off another couple of days until the rivers and lakes have a chance to go down.
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