Christina says it's time to say good morning to the chickens. I get up and follow her. They've grown a lot. Now there's a screen on top of the container to keep them from jumping out. I bet soon they'll be outside in the coop.
The kids like to walk Daddy to the car. It's becoming a ritual. They walk Daddy to the car, hug goodbye, then step back onto the patio and wave to him as he leaves.
They keep asking if we can go for a walk, or to feed the ducks. Christina's even asked if later we can walk around and pick up trash. I tell them we won't have time for any of that today. I need to pick the cats up from the vet this morning. Once I meditate and we have breakfast, I start getting the kids ready to leave. When I dropped off the cats, I hadn't thought about needing to pick them up on a different day. It's really great it worked out that I have the Grandkids and the car that goes with them today!
My place is the first stop, to pick up the cat carriers. The kids find and start playing with the singing bowl, drum and Indian flute. I tell them we need to pick up the kitties first, but when we drop the cats back off, we can take some time to play.
At the humane society we go to the room where I dropped off the cats. They tell us we need to go to the vaccination room instead. This room is crowded and noisy. It's full. Mostly with owners and dogs.
Finally it's our turn. The lady takes us into an office, quickly explains how to care for the cats, then takes us into a room with cages and opens the kitten's cage door. The door is wide open, the kitten's pressed against the back of the cage. I''m afraid he'll bolt if I reach in for him! Heck, I'm worried about getting bitten. I don't have gloves on! I reach my hand in, he hisses once at me. It's a half-hearted hiss. Then, he let's me pick him up. That's the best he's ever been!
The orange cat's cage is one of the top ones. I can't reach far enough in to get her. The lady grabs her out and sticks her in the box. She has a cone on her neck that she's supposed to keep on for two weeks.
We're in the car going back to my place. The kitten's keeping up a constant meowing. Christina asks me to get it to stop, because it's annoying.
At home, we let the kitten out in the bathroom and the cat out into the living room. She's not happy about the collar or the really loud sounds Logan's making on the bowl and drum. I make myself an avocado sandwich to bring with us for later.
Now, off to the fair! Christina's tap group is performing on one of the stages today!
I was hoping to get here early. By the time we got parked and found the place we needed, it's 1pm. Right on time for reporting in! We ran into one of the other Mother's on the way in. She's going to help both girls change while I watch the boys.
Now, it's a waiting game. The show Christina's in doesn't start till 2:15. We have to stay around here waiting for Christina's turn, then stay after that, till 3, to support the rest of the school. We sit, eating a few snacks and watching the dancers perform. The girl's routine was short, but good. They danced to "The Good Ship Lollipop."
Finally the show's over. It was fun to watch the different acts, but not as much fun with two hungry and tired kids. I brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids to eat and last night Tracye gave me money for rides. So, I imagine we'll eat then ride a couple of rides and play a game or two before going.home.
Christina has a bad case of the "Can We's"... "can we see the alligator?" "can we?" "can we?" "can we?" "can we ride that ride?" "Can we?".... She's not normally that way. I think it's just because it's been a long day and she's tired. The "Can We's" are making me tired!
The real "win" here is my new day pack. It's not quite as comfortable as the backpack (though maybe I just don't have it adjusted right yet,) but it's lightweight, has a hip belt, a chest strap, and has a cupholder on each side. I'm using a water bladder for my water (it's clipped to my pod belt.) Then I've got the kids sippy cups, in the cup holders. They can reach up and pull theirs out whenever they want. No more whining because the other one is drinking and this one wants water! No more stopping to dig water out of some bag! Win!
We're in the car on the way home. Traffic is almost stopped. I tell the kids the drive will take a while and this would be a good time for a nap. Logan's almost asleep anyway. Christina says she doesn't like traffic jams.... right before she falls asleep. I'm trying an alternate way to their place, bypassing the worst part of the 55. It's still slow going.
We've arrived. Daddy and the kids go play in the back yard. It's later than I normally leave. I use their computer to check Google maps and see what buses to take home. I keep thinking I might be able to go to one of the park and rides that has transit service to the fair, take the service to the fair and then ride the temporary 622 up to the Fullerton park and ride to meet the 460. It's convoluted, but since two of those buses would be express buses, it might be quicker. I'm having trouble figuring it out though.
OK. I think the nearest park and ride with the direct service to the fair is almost an hour away by bus... which means it's better to go one of the other routes.
The first option Google maps gives me is taking the 71 to the 42. I'm NOT going to do that one! I don't trust the 42 to be on time! The next option is interesting. It's mostly buses I haven't taken, ending with me taking the 62, which stops closer to home than my normal 460. I think I'll try that! It'll be fun to try a new route! I say goodbye to everyone and head off.
I'm meeting the first bus (the 59) at a bus stop I haven't been to before. It's at Glassell and Palmyra. The good news is that Palmyra's close to here and I know approximately where Glassell is. I just have to go down Palmyra until I run into it!
I'm at the bus stop. Thank goodness I remembered to write down the bus stop numbers! I'm not only on the right street, I'm at the right bus stop on that street and I'm eight minutes early!
It's 5 minutes after the bus was scheduled to come. I don't see it anywhere. I wonder if I missed it? Yet, I got here 8 minutes early and since the drivers get penalized for being early, the buses just don't run that early. Yet, if it didn't come early, where is it? Is it not running today? I wonder if I'll make the next connection? I check. I had a 15 minute window to make connections. I'll still be OK.
There it is! I see it down the street!
I'm finally on the bus! A full 10 minutes late.
One of the worst things about taking a "new" bus is figuring out when to get off. When the 59 pulled up, it's sign outside said it's going to the exit I need to get off at. That means it's the last exit for this bus, before it turns around and comes back. That should be easy to find!
I'm at the connecting stop. I made it with a whole 5 minutes before the 38's supposed to come!
Huh. Here's the 38. A whole 2 minutes early. I didn't have as much breathing room as I thought!
Two girls in their late teens both with mostly white on (maybe they work together?) are here on the bus they're chatting to each other, at the same time the one girl is on the phone to multiple people, trying to arrange doing something tonight. They both get off at the same stop I do. I'm having trouble finding the stop for the 62. It's dark and I haven't been here before. There it is! Around the corner! The girls are there too. They must have taken a short cut through the parking lot. The one's still on the phone! The other one keeps walking into the street to look for the bus. I check my schedule and tell her it's not due for another 15 minutes. She says she missed a bus that way and goes back to pacing back and forth into the street to look for the bus.
There's a dollar store here. I've been wanting to check out other dollar stores to see if I could find more water bladders. I'm debating if I should go look. I don't want to miss the bus! I decide I have time to look, but not time to purchase. If they have some, I'll have to decide if I want them enough to take a later bus, or want to come back tomorrow to get them. I head off to the store on my scooter... and... it's closed! I guess they're just closing, which is why their lights are on. I feel cheated! Oh well, at least I know I can take the 62 back sometime to check it out! I ride my scooter back to the bus stop, fold it up and wait for the bus.
At home, the cat's gotten her collar off again. I'm really tired and just want to go to bed, but I also want to give the kitten as much time as I can without the cat in the bathroom. So, I start re-heating the stew from earlier in the week and lay down on the couch to watch cartoons.
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