The Best Laid Plans of Moms and Men

Here we are, in "beautiful" Branson.

We arrived around 9:30 p.m. last night, a full two hours after I expected to be here. You see, it's a four-hour drive from my house on a good day, so I had actually packed the night before hoping to get an early start from work. Hubster was to use the electric cattle prod we keep for instances such as these to get the kids packed and ready on time to meet me at the office by 3:30 p.m., thus saving us an hour of driving time.

Oh hush. It isn't really ELECTRIC. Just battery-powered.

But then....

The kids slept later than their usual noon. Laundry had to be done and one certain female child who shall remain nameless hogged the washer and dryer so the male child couldn't do laundry. And then there was the obligatory shower which must be taken by both while gazing at bellybuttons to solve the problems of world peace and hunger while the world's supply of hot water becomes less and less because of All The Gazing And Solving And Laundry. And all accompanying primping, drying, shaving, etc. thereafter had to be accomplished before any thought could be given to actually GETTING DRESSED AND OUT OF THE HOUSE.

It is a 30-minute drive from my house to work. They were supposed to be there at 3:30so we could beat traffic going out of town. They arrived at 4:45. By the time we left it was after 5.

Smack-dab in the middle of rush hour.

In the rush-hourist part of the city.

I think I need say no more about that little escapade.

Nevertheless the first part of this little trip went well. We arrived at our hotel and got unpacked around 10 p.m. There are Sleep Number beds in this hotel and the kids had a blast playing with them trying to find "their own personal sleep number." Two of us went to sleep immediately, but I was awakened around 1 a.m. by the third, who insisted upon watching television while the rest of us tried to sleep. Unfortunately, I'd left the cattle prod at home. After threatening to bodily throw him out into the hall, he got the idea and shut the stupid thing off.

The next thing I knew I was being pelted with pillows. Seems my delicate snoring was a bit much for the other two in my party and it woke THEM up. A couple of times. I offered to get another room for tonight, but they said they'd tough it out for one more night and see how it went.

Oh, and I told them I'd drug them with sleeping pills so it wouldn't matter. :)

They refused.

Today we did some frantic shopping, went to see Mom at the cemetery and placed new flowers on her grave, had dinner, and made our way to the wedding.

But a funny thing happened on the way.

And I'll elaborate on that tomorrow.