07.30 – No minivan so we all pile into the Mini. After the usual choir drop off, younger child & I do the usual reading in the car, and then once I’d sent him up to his classroom I waited in the lobby for elder child so I could take him to his track meet.
08.15 – He finally appears as if we have all day to get there.
08.40 – We fight our way through the traffic out to the university grounds & of course they are doing construction on the road right in front of the field – it’s a total gong show! We find parking, which happens to be two cars back from the school van & we notice a slightly stressed looking teacher, that we know quite well, hauling tents & boxes & first aid kits etc. out of the van. She is also talking to a colleague on the phone about the cost of parking for the day & telling him not to move from the spot he’d secured next to the field. It’s turns out that hot teacher is sick & he coordinates these events for the kids so it had completely screwed up their schedule. I go to the machine to get the number so I can do pay by phone.
08.50 – We are both still trying to pay for parking. The app asks for time by minutes & she is going to be there for 8 hours. Neither of us has had enough coffee to do the math. My app is having a meltdown & I can’t pay at all. So I cut a deal with the teacher, I offer the services of elder child to help her carry the stuff if she wouldn’t mind me not walking to the field with him so I don’t have to pay. We are just about to part ways when it becomes apparent that there is no transport back to school, I will need to pick him up – as if having to drop him off wasn’t stressful enough to work out. I email younger child’s teacher asking her to him know he will need to go to after school care – I had left my Wonder Woman costume at home with going the salon today. I tell elder child I will be back for him as soon as I can but his last event is not until 2.30pm so it should be fine.
09.10 – A very quick stroll down a short stretch of the park so that the dog can do what she needs to do, then it’s off to the pet salon for a bath – this is the nearest I will ever get to a mother/daughter spa day.
09.30 – I leg it home to change out of runners & dog walking jacket & grab some water & snacks before I head off to my own salon for a complete transformation.
10.10 – After taking before pictures they begin toning my hair to get the red out & I feel like my head is on fire!
11.30 – I now have pale yellow brassy hair. They cut it a bit shorter & re-style it so it doesn’t look like a bob anymore, dry it & take pictures.
12.00 – Second stage of bleach out. Purple goop is pasted all over my head & it stinks.
13.00 – Once the purple goop is rinsed out they dry it again & take pictures again.
13.30 – Purple accents are added using foils & I then melt under the dryer for 10 minutes.
14.00 – Rinsed again, dried & styled so the back can be shaped & a cute little hair tattoo is carved into my neck.
14.30 – 4½ hours later I’m done & they take pictures of the awesome result… which I love… love… LOVE!!
14.50 – I suck up the $17 parking because really what’s an extra 17 bucks on top of what I’ve just forked out in the name of funky hair? It’s then straight out to UBC to pick up the athlete.
15.10 – Elder child has had a fun day & immediately gives me a ‘WOW MUM’. He loves the new look. Next stop the pet salon.
15.30 – The traffic is insane & thank god for after school care because poor younger child would have been left to god & good neighbours by now. We pick up my girl who is all fluffy & beautiful again smelling like roses. I put the window down for her & she sits waving her hair around in the breeze like something out of a Loreal advert… well she is worth it!
15.40 – Last stop, school. Younger child is never keen on leaving after school care & I still don’t get why. Maybe it’s a playing with your school friends but not actually in school properly thing. I eventually extract him & sign him out.
16.00 – Home! However, it will be short lived as elder child needs to do his homework, change into hockey strip & eat dinner in an hour.
17.20 – We’re on the move again, but only out for 5 minutes to the hockey field.
17.45 – Hubby’s returns home to a new wife & really likes her!!
20.00 – Tired busy boys in bed & I have a new look to celebrate… cheers!
louiselindley 