Hellish Day

So, today not-so-little-R. had his first "follow-up" appointment with the pediatric endocrinologist.

We were supposed to follow up after three months, which would have been October. Yes, it is January. This is 85% the result of my own negligence, and maybe a soupcon of denial. But it is 15% the fault of a receptionist who said, "Oh, we're really busy, can I call you back in a few minutes" and never called back. Anyway, I pretty much expected to get verbally spanked for this, and also because I haven't e-mailed blood sugar numbers for 6-8 weeks and I'm supposed to do it every week. Before you report me to DYFS let me just say the numbers were great and I knew they were.

So I was dreading the appointment with my usual "They're going to think I'm a bad mother" anxiety. It was okay. I explained--although my explanation amounted to little more than "I didn't make the appointment in time"--and they very nicely said, "Oh, okay. Explanation." And the visit went great, and fast, and R.'s doing fine, etc. I didn't realize how much I was dreading it until I walked out feeling like superwoman. And it made me wonder how much more I would have enjoyed Christmas vacation without this hanging over my head.

On the way to the hospital I noted some serious flooding in a nearby town--we're talking park benches surrounded by water. I vaguely wondered what this might mean for our basement, then forgot about it.

When I got home from the doctor I indulged myself all afternoon with chocolate, lattes and reading. Around 5 pm I decided to be really productive and put in a load of laundry. And I stepped into the inch of water covering the basement floor. The sump pump just can't keep up. So I spent two and a half delightful hours wielding the wet-dry shopvac and watching water seep up through cracks almost as fast as I could vacuum it up. Conservatively, based on how many times I emptied the thing, I would say I vacuumed 20 gallons of water. I think it's slowing down now. But this really rots.

Upside: I threw away two garbage bags full of ruined stuff that the kids had left on the floor and I know from prior experience that we will never miss it.

Also: I figured out what I want to play on the mandolin above all else: "Back In The High Life." And I found the chords online.