Sometimes the day gets away from you

Some days it's best not to have plans.

On those days, the best you can do is have a general guideline of where you'd like to go and what you'd like to do, but you agree to follow the current and let the flow of the day take you where it needs to go. We do this in the name of family, work, civic responsibility, etc.

Yesterday was a bit like that.

After getting my daughter off to school, I went to vote in the Virginia primary before heading to work. Like much of the country, the weather was windy and cold.

When I arrived at work, my calendar was magically full of meetings. Not just meetings, but working meetings. The kind where I can join via a conference call and continue working on other things. The kind where we're not talking about doing things, but actually doing things. And, in a few cases, the kind that had me as the discussion leader.

They were scheduled straight through lunch. No breaks. I had to arrive late at one of them in order to use the restroom.

Oh, I haven't mentioned that I skipped breakfast. My energy levels dipped to 4:15 a.m. levels by 1 o'clock. Luckily the one o'clock meeting ended after only 15 minutes. I could grab lunch before the 2.

But the cafeteria only had fried food. Eating a meal only from the salad bar was out of the question. So, I had to chance leaving the building.

By that time, it had been raining for a couple of hours and the temperature was nearing freezing.

A quick trip to Arby's turned into a long wait in the drive-thru for a sandwich and an unsweetened tea...I could've eaten a large curly fries. When I returned, it was 5 minutes after 2. My next meeting had started.

We had 4 points to cover in that meeting. When I arrived they were still discussing point 1. When I left at 3 for my next appointment, we were still working out the kinks regarding point 1. You know what a mix of guilt and relief feels like? Well, I do.

At 3, I was supposed to be at Virginia Blood Services, where I was donating platelets again. Normally, I donate at work, but they called and I felt compelled so I scheduled an afternoon appointment. I drove there, knowing I would be 15 minutes late, only to discover that they had moved into a new building that was only about 3 minutes from my office. Oh, boy.

I arrived at nearly 3:30. They did not hook me up to the machine until nearly 4. The procedure takes 76 minutes once it begins. I read old issues of Time magazine and last week's Richmond Style Weekly. They gave me Fig Newtons and water. I had finished off the iced tea on the circuitous drive to the new building. My blood pressure was nice 108/71, but my pulse, at rest, was 90. Lovely caffeine.

At 5:30, with numb lips from the anti-coagulent, I headed home. I would have just enough time to eat before we set out with Gabe for the middle school he'll be attending next year. They were having an open house for parents and kids, introducing them to the school and what middle school life is like in this particular program.

Arriving home, in the rain, in the dark, at 6:15 with only a roast beef sandwich and a couple of Fig Newtons in my system, I was starved. Everyone had eaten. I had kid leftovers of a small bowl of mac & cheese and a bowl of steamed broccoli.

Monica called from school at 6:20. She had stayed after to work on an orchestra presentation. They were performing at the open house at 7. She didn't have her informal performance polo with her and she would like to have it by 6:30. We live 15 minutes from school. We hurried and arrived by 6:45.

From that point, we listened to a variety of presentations from students, teachers, and administrators. We heard music from the orchestra and later, the band. We had Q&A sessions with students, went on a tour of the building with the kids, and had a long conversation with Monica's orchestra teacher.

We made it home at 9:30. Monica was starving. By the time we settled down, cleaned up and went to bed, it was well after 11.

Some days fly by and you have no control. Yesterday felt that way for me.

But I am glad that I didn't have to play rugby in the mud.