I am 33 After All

So, we Sloans had a massive family crisis last week.  It meant getting to a funeral and funeral visitation and plucking a babysitter I had never used before out of thin air to whom I abandoned my child.  THIN AIR, I tell you. I rescheduled all of my work appointments to the following week and gave myself up to the family crisis.  I am not quite over it, but life is marching on, and it is now next week.  

All of my work appointments are rescheduled.  I know this, but somehow the click did not occur and it is Tuesday morning - a morning on which I do not usually work- and I have had a lovely morning.  I am feeling like I have gotten back into the swing of things.  I have had a great training run with the baby in the jog stroller(the Music City Triathlon is two weeks away at a new and exciting location), I did my weights workout, and had a great yoga practice while the baby napped.  I gave myself an intense conditioning treatment in the shower and stepped onto the bath mat in time to hear both my cell phone and my home phone begin to ring.  

I answered the phone in my towel and heard the administrative assistant at the offices of the non-profit where I work state calmly that my 10:30 appointment had now been waiting for one hour.  ONE HOUR!!  ONE HOUR!!  My hair is wet.  No makeup.  I have a 25 minute commute to my office.  I don't even know if my son is wearing clothes.  These appointments have already been rescheduled once, and they are important.  Not completing the testing for these two children on this day could mean delayed grade placements which will affect the rest of their education.  They were delayed once and cannot be delayed again.  

SO, I told Kelly that I would be on my way in exactly five minutes.  I pulled something to wear over Ivan's head and got two bottles ready.  I could not get in touch with my husband (of course), my mother was otherwise occupied and our babysitter is on a mission trip to Mexico.  I sat down to complete testing in my office wearing jeans and a tank top and flip flops.  My hair completely shower wet.  No make-up.  No moisturizer.  I handed off Ivan to Kelly, and sat down to work noticing that there is something crusty on my jeans.  Testing got underway and the student I am testing is delightful.  Fabulous social skills and completely enjoyable, but I  am just ridiculous.  

The thing is I am 33 years old and for as long as I have known myself, all 33 years,  I have had this un-fixable inability to maintain a calendar in the midst of a crisis.  I will show up at the completely wrong day or time or not show up at all, like today.  A consequence of knowing me seems to be that at some point I will show up for a past or future appointment or lunch date.  I've attended parties on the wrong night, gone to get my haircut at not even the remotely right time.  

I can't seem to kick it.  It seems to be tied into my emotions in some way, as if the only way I can really get it all out is to show up at your house in full party dress the night AFTER the big night.  Or, forget to come to work on the most important day of the year, and then have to barrel over like a bat out of hell in dirty jeans and flip flops.  The epitome of the unprofessional.