Daniel Powter kind of day

Daniel Powter had a hit song last year with "Bad Day". It's been that kind of day.

Skip took the car to Frankfurt today. He normally takes the train, but as today is the anniversary of 9/11 and with the recent arrests in the Frankfurt area, I wasn't too keene on him taking a train that landed him in the middle of the Frankfurt airport on this particular day.

So Maddie and I took the train to school and I had to hightail it back home to host a Halloween Party planning meeeting, where I was the killjoy because the costume contest is now going to be a parade of costumes. The kids at this elementary school get cut from soccer teams and basketballteams, have to audition for choir and try out for school plays where there aren't enough slots. Does Halloween have to entail a competition as well for kids under the age of 10?

Then, my friend Joann kindly invited me to tea to welcome a new member of our community who has moved here from England. I was the token American. I believe there was a stray Aussie or two as well. So I took my bike to Joann's. I had my sunglasses when I left, but packed rain gear in my saddle bags, which I had to use on my way to pick up Maddie at school. Left my bike at my friend Joy's house because I didn't want to leave the bike at the school overnight. Picked up Maddie and went acroos the street for recorder lessons. Running in to the building for recorder lessons, Maddie trips and totally skins both knees and even manages to slightly bruise her face. FAR to upset for recorder lessons, absolutely hysterical, but I have an hour to get her calmed down before she has to audition for this blasted school play. I was abolutely gobsmacked (new word I've learned from my Brit friends--great isn't it?) as I couldn't run her home and get her cleaned up and bandaged as I didn't have the car today (which is usually not at all a big deal).

About 10 minutes before her name is called, she pulls it together, goes in and does a fantastic job. Every line is perfect and delivered with just the right inflection. I, however, am a wreck. The cards are stacked against her, as I am not in the inner circle of moms (many of whom are my friends and rather nice people) who are on the drama team and whose kids are guaranteed a spot in the play. I was never really in the "in" or "out" crowd at school, but I had a very real sense of what it felt like to be one of the "outs" today. I walked in to the audition room with Maddie and I felt like the geeky kid in some bad high school movie with all of the drama moms gathered in a circle to watch my child's audition. Maddie did great. I am going to need some recovery time. I think this says something about me--I'm not sure what

Rosie the bunny continues to do well.