The center of the storm

Pretty much nothing has gone right today and yet everything is managing to pull together. In the middle of the chaotic storm that is today I actually feel calm. God, I really hope it lasts.

Lincoln needed to get an early start down to a job in Connecticut this morning and I had to get into the office early as well. We managed to get the kids up and out the door by 7 a.m. and I took them to their respective daycare places. The kids were great and extremely helpful. Lincoln left a little earlier than I did and while I was packing everything up Hannah helped Jake finish his breakfast and brush his teeth. Lincoln bribed Jake with a "home lunch" instead of a school bought lunch so even Jake kept his usual "I hate school" whining to a minimum. Both of them are scheduled to be dropped off at 9 a.m. so showing up almost 2 hours early could have been a problem but both places were fantastic and I handed off the kids quickly and efficiently. I love great daycare.

My boss, who is on a plane all day today, sent me an email at 6:30 this morning that could have screwed up my entire day but luckily we've got such great employees here in the office (and due to our email addictions they were all answering emails at that time of day) I managed to get it taken care of before I even left with the kids at 7 a.m.

Traffic wasn't too terrible even though by the time I got on the road it was 7:30 a.m. which should be the peak of rush hour traffic. It's school vacation week so traffic is always substantially lighter during this week in February (likewise for April vacation). On my way in I spoke with my Receptionist and found out she'd be out today. She has been fighting off a terrible cold all week and finally lost the battle this morning. Once again this could have screwed up my entire day but luckily I was able to find coverage.

I got to the office and handled everything that was absolutely critical in a timely fashion so at least if something major came up I wouldn't be buried. We have a new mom working here (a longtime employee) who emailed me about a daycare issue this morning so I volunteered to babysit for an hour or two in my office but she ended up finding someone to watch her daughter. I was actually kind of bummed about that.

I also woke up with a completely random rash on my arms. Lincoln thinks it's hives from stress but I think it's the fact that I completely overdosed on fabric softener the other night when I washed my sweater. Yesterday when I wore it the smell of fabric softener was so strong it actually gave me a headache. Luckily my office is very isolated so no one called me out on the Fragrance Free Workplace rule. When I was in high school I used to break out in hives if Mom used scented dryer sheets so I'm really thinking that's all it is and it's even fading as the day goes on.

While I was dealing with an employee issue in my office I received a call from Hannah's babysitter that Hannah was fine but two other people in the house were throwing up. I didn't need to get Hannah but she thought I might want to. Luckily one quick call to Gail and that was all taken care of as well. I love having Lincoln's family close by.

In addition to all that I just have the usual last minute chaos having to do with two big work related events tonight and Saturday but even though some of the issues would normally send me through the roof I'm actually finding them easy to deal with today. I'm feeling very Zen right now.

Okay...lunch break is over....I hope this sense of calm continues.