Anything that can go wrong....

This was an extremely frustrating afternoon/evening for me.

Today was the first day of parent/teacher conference at my school. I don't have to stay for the full time, so I can dictate my own hours at the conferences. In the past, I have gone from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on both nights. This year, I decided to be there from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. instead.

However, Will needed a ride home from school at 2:45 because he had his baritone today and can't carry it all the way home. I left work at 2:30, in such a hurry that I failed to grab my cell phone out of my coat pocket, which I left at school with the rationalization that I wouldn't need it until later that evening.

When I arrived at the junior high at 2:50 - no Will. I waited impatiently for 5 minutes, then went in search for him, repenting of the mistake of leaving my cell phone at work.

I discovered that his band (symphonic) had an after school rehearsal today! How did that fail to get on the calendar?! I quickly conferenced with Will and agreed that he should lock up his baritone in his band locker and walk home. He then informed me that Helena has been desperately trying to call me and get a ride home from the High School.

WHAT?!

Helena ordinarily gets a ride home from a senior on Thursdays. How did she get stranded at the High School?! I quickly drove over to her school, nervously glancing at the clock. It was 3:10 p.m. It takes 20 minutes to drive back out to my school.

When I turned the corner onto Caveman Blvd., I saw Bill's work truck coming the opposite direction, with Helena in the passenger seat. I realized immediately that she must have called her dad for a ride when she was unsuccessful in reaching me. Great. That must have been more than a slight inconvenience for him.

We all returned home to discover that Helena had decided to stay after for help with her math and had assumed that we could all shift our plans easily to accommodate her.

So. After thanking Bill for coming to the rescue, I headed out at 3:30 to try and get back to my school with enough time to eat something from the PTA dinner before opening my classroom at 4:00. I thought I would stop at Maverik in Lehi and get an icee. I hesitated, thinking maybe I should just grab a 50 cent soda in the faculty room, but decided I really could use the icee after my wasted trip home. Bad choice.

Right after I pulled into my parking slot and stepped out of the car, the Ford F-150 in the parking stall next to mine started to pull out... and swung too wide. He hit my car!

GREAT!

I quickly realized that he didn't to any severe damage. Just a little buffing from a body shop and all would be well. I was willing to just exchange insurance info and hurry on my way, but, of course, this was an anything that can go wrong kind of day. He (the truck driver) insisted on calling in the police for an official report because the truck he was driving was a work truck. AURGH!

I got to wait there for the policeman to arrive and do his thing.

I finally left the Maverik parking lot at 4:00. Yeah.

So there you have it. A super long post about my frustrating afternoon!

I ended up having lots of parents come to see me and it was a good evening... at least until I got home again.