It’s just life!!

One aspect of sods law, with which I’m sure you are all familiar, is the irritating tendency for several events to come at the same time. You can bet your bottom dollar that once you have booked something – even if it is months in advance – several equally important or interesting committments will conspire to muscle in on that very date!! On these occasions organisation on the scale of a miltary campaign is required. Absolute precision with everything dove-tailed and great attention to detail is required. The ability to write comprehensive lists is an asset – shopping lists for different shops in different towns, multi-personnel action lists and ‘to dos’ as long as your arm! Such was our weekend with 7 house guests, a rite of passage ceremony, a luncheon party for 30, tickets to a Barn dance and a daughter to get packed and ready for a week-long school trip. Life can be exhausting and exciting in equal measure!!!

Sometimes it all works out in the end!

Sometimes ‘sods law’ events can have an upside. Last week I two appointments, one at 2.00 and another at 6.00 – not enough time to go home in-between. I have a brother who lives quite close to the first appointment and always seems to be ‘around’ when you call him so I decided to go and see him between the appointments. I didn’t arrange this before as I expected that he would be ‘hanging loose’ somewhere in the vicinity. As luck would have it, he didn’t answer his phone!! I drove around a little expecting him to reply but when he didn’t I was stuck!! I had spotted, while driving, an old museum/gallery in the park that we used to visit as children and decided to go and have a look. What a trip down memory lane! Strolling through the park where we had played all those years ago and up the magnificent steps into the gallery was very poignant! What a joy to have a whole hour to wander around – I learnt so much about the history of the gallery and something of the city in which I had been born and grown up. We all need a trip down memory lane occasionally! (For anyone interested in the gallery it is Cartwright Hall in Lister Park in Bradford!)

The best laid plans!!

This week is ‘walk to school’ week. Wanting to help the environment I decided to try and do this with my daughter. We got up early in readiness. As we were about to leave I noticed she had forgotten to put her shoes on! A few minutes later, now suitably shod, we locked up and set off. ‘The pom poms’ she yelled. There was to be cheerleading at the football match after school. So , we unlocked the door collected the pompoms, locked the door and set off again. A few minutes later it transpired that we had forgotten a telephone number she had been detailed to find on the internet for the local cinema in her role as ‘school councillor’. Unlock, retrieve number, lock again and off at last 15 minutes later than planned. Now we had to hurry (the school is a mile away!) Half way to the school we had – yes you guessed it – forgotten her drink bottle – (it is now necessary to drink water steadily throughout the day to ‘hydrate the brain’) no-way, she would have to have a dehydrated brain today!! We finally arrived out of breath and late!! How many initiatives can you cope with in one day!!

Admit your shortcomings!

OK, so I’m going to a business meeting – with food (no need to cook dinner!). I check the train times but haven’t got my specs on so I read 17.57 – it was actually 17.51!! I miss the train but there’s another in 15 minutes so not too bad – but – that’s the slow train!! I arrive in time for the meeting but miss the food (just a couple of dried up sandwiches left). On the way home the trains are less frequent so I have a long delay and the station is very very cold. I’m also very hungry but all the kiosks are closed. Aha, I spy a vending machine. I check in my purse and I have exactly 50p in change – the cheapest item is 60p!! The moral of the tale is – wear your glasses!!!

When everything goes wrong!!

Saturday was a good one! My youngest daughter had a ballet lesson so unpacked her bag, folded everything and returned it all in readiness for the lesson. My husband then took the bag and drove off to collect her from orchestra and deliver her to ballet. I had an application deadline to meet, so I went on to the computer to do this. After 20 mins I had a call to say that the bag was empty! I went into daughter’s bedroom to find a neatly folded pile of ballet equipment!! I agreed to meet half way so that I didn’t miss my submission dealine on the application. Well, I expect you’ve guessed – the form refused to submit – a website error!!! 20 minutes of frustration later, my daughter missed her ballet class, I missed my deadline and to cap it all the car broke down and is now sitting at the garage!! Can you beat this one?