So, So Annoying!!

The tale about the most annoying week of my life!! Ended up being WAY longer then planned, so feel free to skip.

As most people know, I was a 911 dispatcher for just over the first 3 years of my marriage. Not only did we take 911 calls, but we also dispatched the law, fire and ems for the whole county. I loved the job, loved the excitement and adrenaline rush, hated the atmosphere, and hated being away from my first born for the first 2 years of his life. Not to sound cocky (I'm far from it), I was good at my job. They ended up wanting me to train. I trained only one person before I left on maternity leave and never went back. She was older and did not retain much of anything. I knew she wouldn't last. She went through several of us trainers.

Needless to say, she ended up filing a civil suit against the dispatch center after she was let go. I was subpoenaed for the trial. (I'd only been subpoenaed once before for a murder trial that ended up not going to court.) I was so mad about it, I didn't want to go, didn't really care about the whole situation, but I had no choice in the matter. This was four years ago since I had trained her, and it just barely went to court. They called me the week before saying I would probably be testifying on Wednesday afternoon. So my plan was to go to Malcolm's soccer Tuesday afternoon and leave right after that.

They ended up calling me at 5:30pm Monday night, saying things were moving fast and wanting me to be there by 1pm Tuesday afternoon. That meant that I would have to leave that night, so that we could all survive the next day. I was having a very bad day and got off the phone and started crying. (Luckily I have a wonderful husband who holds me when I cry and helps me with whatever I need!!) I didn't need this on my list of things too! ( I was in the middle of laundry, building new bookshelves, organizing boxes from the storage unit that we are getting rid of...etc...I was busy!) I had just laid Winston down for a nap. So I quickly packed, Matt fed the kids and ran an errand for me, and by the time Winston was up, I fed him and was out the door by 7pm. I drove in the dark, all by myself, with 3 kids for over 2 hours. Luckily Malcolm enjoyed my ipod, Quinn had his blanket, and Winston was entertained by his brothers most of the time. They were angels!

I got a call the next morning (after waking up nice and early to be showered by the time the kids were up) saying things were moving slow, and they would like me Wednesday morning, bright and early. Wasted last minute driving, Ugh! Then I got a call Tuesday night, they wanted me Wednesday afternoon. Then after waking up nice and early Wednesday, you guessed it, they were still moving slow and instead of needing me right after lunch, they might get to me by 4pm. I had to draw the line there. I was very nice (I'm rarely rude and mean, it's hard for me, but in my head I want to be), and told her I really needed to know, I have 3 kids, one a nursing baby and people I'm depending on to watch them. I've already called them a hundred time to change the time too, and I didn't want to do it again. She ended up saying she'd tell the lawyer I cancelled my babysitters and couldn't be there until Thursday morning. They would like me there by 9am.

The day came and I had to be up and out the door by 8am with all 3 kids ready so my Grammie could watch them. (Thanks Grammie, you really are the best!!) I set up the play pen for Winston, told Grammie all the boys needed was the TV on and they should be satisfied. Malcolm requested popcorn, so Grammie did that too. I sat outside the courtroom listening to my ipod and playing solitaire for just about 2 hours. They came out on a break and said the plaintiff was still on the stand and they probably wouldn't get to me until "right after lunch", so I could leave and take care of my kids. Good thing since Winston wouldn't take the bottle, so I was able to feed him. (Even though he was totally content despite it. He's an angel!) My mom took over the older boys, and I went back up just after 1pm. They thought I would be on about 1:30, but I didn't end up testifying until 3:30pm. Ugh! I was really wanting to go home that day, but after such a long day (week), I decided it would be better to just get up and leave Friday morning. (I can be a sleepy driver and catch myself closing my eyes at times. Scary!)

It was such a waste of a whole week for me! I was stressed the whole time and my eczema traveled up my wrists and up my arms. (Shortly after Dad died, I started getting eczema on my hands, and it flares up with stress.) The best part of the week was coming home to a totally clean, organized house, with all the laundry done and mostly put away, and all the camping gear out of storage. I love my husband...he knows just what I need! Thank you Matthew, I couldn't have married a better man!

(I was so stressed all week, I didn't even take any pictures!)