I've got way too much to catch up on here.
Friday and Saturday were major shopping days, with lines at the registers, something we try to avoid. We try to have the staffing so that a customer will only have to wait for the person in front of them to get checked out, but when all registers are running and the people keep queing up to leave, there's little we can do to change the situation.
Then, after my Saturday shift, der Grampa and I headed to the Eastern Shore to pick up the Grandlads, to get them out of Magic Mommy and Magic Daddy's hair for a few hours. The plan was to pick up the lads by three-thirty, so we could go to the bookstore, the movie theater, and dinner, then meet MM and MD at their camping trailer here in Rehoboth.
What went awry was that a ditzy aunt of the Grandlads had decided to take them fishing. Yes, she had been told that they had to be back by three, but she lost track of the time and then decided it didn't matter, they were all having fun.
She didn't get the lads back until four-thirty.
The cascade had started.
It took the lads an hour to get ready to leave with us, what with showers (they had swum in the lake) and changing clothes and arguing with Magic Daddy about how much money they could take in their wallets, which led to a meltdown on the part of William the Younger. So we left maybe two hours behind schedule.
First, the bookstore, an abbreviated visit. The good news was that William, who is having trouble reading, found a book that he read aloud to der Grampa with little prompting. That book is now William's.
Second, the movie theater, for Shrek the Third. The next showing of the film was sold out, so we had another half-hour to our schedule added. (The film is not a disaster, but the series had better end with this one.)
We didn't get out of the theater until nine-thirty. Add another fifteen minutes to get to the steakhouse for dinner, and it's getting very late for the two lads. They enjoyed our dinner together, however, and their manners are improving. Onwards then to Rehoboth - a good ninety minutes drive.
That's the catch with living here in Delaware - going from one place to another can mean driving for a while. The grandlads slept in the back while der Grampa drove and I rode shotgun. We returned the lads to their Magic Parents at about twelve-thirty.
I usually set my alarm clock three hours ahead of when I have to be at work the next day. I realized this wasn't going to work for me this time, and cut my prep time by an hour, so I could be at work by eight.
I made it through work just fine, somehow. But when I got home, it was nap time.
And that is why I've been E&T.
