I Am Escaping!

ROAD TRIP!!!!

By a wonderful set of coincidences, my friend Kimmie is driving up to Maine from Massachusetts today. (for the day. Driving back tonight. She does this.) AND X happens to have tomorrow off. (as well as his regular day off, Sunday.)

SO, at my request, X is picking up the kids tonight after he gets out of work, and I am going back to Massachusetts with Kimmie for the weekend! Coming home Sunday.

Kimmie is a driving freak. She thinks nothing of this following sequence: Driving from Massachusetts to Maine today, back tonight. Sunday morning driving BACK to Maine, and then BACK to Massachusetts, and then going to work on Sunday afternoon. She is more than willing (and is, in fact, EXCITED) to do this for me, because she knows that my anxiety disorders, depression, and agoraphobia will NOT permit me to drive down to MA & back myself (not to mention my car is not the most reliable).

So anyway. We're going back tonight so we can have a full day to play tomorrow. On the books is a trip to the Boston Museum of Science to see the Freaky Body Exhibit. (It's *actually* called Body Worlds 2: The Anatomical Exhibit of Real Human Bodies--but our unofficial title is more accurate, I think.) We also have to make it through a family dinner at her parents' house, but we'll get through that okay (she is thrilled to have me going along, as she *was* going to have to suffer that one alone).

The only fly in the ointment right now is that yesterday morning I agreed to have MarkS after STAR today until 9:30 so his mom could go to some thing her friend was putting on. So now my own kids are getting picked up at 7:30, but I'll have MarkS until 9:30. And then after he leaves, we'll be leaving for Mass. I tried calling Mary, but couldn't get ahold of her, and her voicemail is doing freaky things. I was hoping that she could maybe go to *half* of her friend's thing (It's from 6-9) so I could leave earlier, and also so MarkS doesn't have to hang out here without my Mark (which I'm sure will be uncomfortable for all involved). I'm not holding out much hope for it, though, because Mary has a tendency to push the envelope on friends helping her. Like, I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't show up until 10 or 10:30. I mean, I don't mind helping people out occasionally, but when YOU call and ask someone to watch your child, and a pickup time is agreed on, and there isn't any money involved, your friend is just doing it out of the goodness of her heart, then you'd at least try to be on time, right? Nope.

Anyway. I'll work that out.

So right now, I'm in a mad dash to get a bunch of laundry done and get the house at least semi-clean so I won't come home to a complete hellhole like it is right now. Also need to figure out *something* I can wear there (I have NO DECENT CLOTHES, not even for RURAL MAINE, much less BOSTON) and pack etc. AND I'm trying to get a little work in on Kira's costume, since I have less than 2 weeks until the parties start (and actually there's one this Sunday the kids have been invited to, but that's X's problem). Oh, and I have about $50 to get me through the whole weekend. *This* should be interesting.

Off I go. mk