my internal clock is outta whack.

this is the only explanation i have for the whackiness i feel at this moment.

it all started when i decided to wear white shorts today.
let's start first with the "white" part.
yes, i know you're not supposed to wear white after labor day.
but i coupled it with a purple top and a brown sweater...doesn't that make it fallish enough?
second part to address:
i was wearing SHORTS today. sounds groovy right?
well, it is. and i know i shouldn't complain about this wonderful weather i'm having. in fact, i'm not complaining about it. i love it. but i think my internal weather clock is all messed up with this perpetually-nice-weather-junk. every morning i put on some jeans and a shirt and a sweater...a very fallish combination in my opinion....only to be dripping in sweat by noon and wishing i had decided on a better clothing ensemble 4 hours earlier. my face is one giant zit from all this sweat (gross, i know). i feel all weird that the Holidays are coming because the weather hasn't even felt a glimmer of "crisp" outside. how can you eat "apple crisp cobbler" if it's not "crisp" outside? i don't want to think about eating warm apple pie in 80 degree weather.
and now with this fall back (even though it's not even fall here yet with all this 80 degree weather stuff) stuff, i'm starting my day bright and early at 4:00 am...because that's what you do when you are out of whack. you wake up even earlier than you would've before you fell back...and all of a sudden become the early bird who is not only getting the worm, but the whole worm farm.

anyway.

so my day started with some not-so-good karma as i headed out with my white shorts/brown sweater combo.....to my first stop: gas station. well, as many of you moms know, getting gas isn't just a leisurly activity anymore, where you think about your family, what you are going to get done that day, and what you think you might give Harold and Bertha for Christmas. no, no, no. it is now a multi-tasking-one-man-band event for your little tots. you see, you have to keep those kids entertained who are strapped down to the now-stopped-vehicle so that you dont' have to suffer long stares and embarrassment from other people hearing the yelps, whines, and screams of your bored child. and so, i was busy doing some entertaining when i heard the gas knozzle "click," letting me know that it was done. so i finished "wheels on the bus" gave Ellie one more "tickle" and one last "goochie goo" and went straight for the handle.

i've always been a little over-zealous.

you see, the click must have been from my neighbor's knozzle...because mine was still going...full force. SPLAASSSH. SPRRRAAAYYY. GASSSPP. (and maybe a four letter word...maybe). yeah, i got soaked in gasoline. smelly, icky, gasoline.

i mean, really, i wasn't expecting the whole "never been kissed" scenario to actually happen just because i wore some white shorts. give. me. a. break.

so, i nervously looked around to see if anyone noticed (or if anyone DIDN'T notice is more like it), and hopped into my once-clean-car....and then was almost suffocated by the intoxicating smell as i debated whether or not to go home and change...you see, getting out the door is a feat in itself...we were now out the door, almost to our destination....did i really smell that bad? oh well. it's only an hour. who cares.

so stinky-gasoline-marci takes Ellie into Target to do some post-Halloween shopping and grocery shopping. Ellie wasn't too pleased with the experience. i'm sure she was having trouble breathing with all that gasoline she was inhaling. poor thing. so i hurried as quickly as i could with some of my little red-lined treasures...and went to the cashier. by this moment, Ellie was d-o-n-e. how did i know that, you ask?
well, i think the lollipop Ellie chucked at the cashier's face, which then landed behind the cash register, was a pretty good indication of her done-ness.
to top it off: my wallet was left on the drivers seat of the car after my gasoline incident, instead of being in its designated spot in the diaper bag. "um, sir, can you suspend my order, after you wipe that stickiness off your face, while i go get my wallet, p-p-please?"

yeah. not the best string of events.

luckily, i came home, plopped the kid in her crib for a nap and some alone time,  and regained composure by gawking over the sexiness of Jude Law in the Holiday while eating a whole jar of Trader Joe's Salsa and a bag of chips all by myself (second time this month).

when Ellie woke up, i was recharged and rejuvenated (thanks Jude) and decided to make us a little comfort food for dinner: spaghetti. well, as i tried to slurp my noodles as politely as possible, i looked over at Ellie, who was not politely eating her food, but rather smashing it with her fingers, throwing it on her lap, and simultaneously inhaling it through her mouth and nose....and all with a big smile on her face.

the thought came to me then...like a pile of bricks whacking me on my outta-whack-head: i need to be more like Ellie and enjoy the mess...because sometimes, the mess is the best part.

xoxo