Road Blocks

It was not a fun afternoon in the land of JellyBelly.

I hustled out of school to get to the lab for my Peak +3 blood work -- quite the feat since the dismissal bell rings at 3:15pm and the lab closed at 4pm. There were more than a few surprised teachers when they saw me leaving right after school (although there are quite a few that leave early as well, I get trapped in my classroom until at least 4:30pm).

I drove like a maniac to the lab which was only about 7 minutes away. I was lucky to find parking in the garage not too far away and then I booted it to the lab.

Guess what greeted me when I arrived?

"Please be advised that this location has new hours: 7am to 3pm."

I almost broke down and cried.

Instead of having a breakdown in the lobby I took out my phone and called the customer service number. I was told that there was another lab in my city that closed at 4pm, but it was already 3:40pm and the drive was at least 20 minutes away. There was no way I could make it.

So no Peak +3 blood work for me.

I tried to contain myself until I got in the car (and I had to pay $3 for parking for less than 10 minutes!) and I broke down when I got Mr. JB on the phone. I decided to drive towards my  house since I didn't know where else to go. Mr. JB convinced me to pull over since I was crying so hard and it wasn't safe for me to be on the road.

Not my finest moment.

We decided that I call PPVI to see what they thought, but the nurses were all busy and it was almost the end of their work day. Then I got the bright idea of going back to my school to talk to the secretary. I really needed a mom at that moment and she pulled through.

Now, I'm not a needy person. Quite the contrary, I really don't like being taken care of at all. But as soon as I saw D, the secretary, I broke down and started to cry. She was incredibly patient and heard me out and said that we would find a solution. My biggest worry was that I would have to take even more time off to have the blood tests taken -- my principal is a stickler for rules and he doesn't like to let us leave early for insurance reasons (or at least that's what he says). 

So my school secretary suggested that I do the blood work in the morning. If I switched my planning time to first thing (mine is currently second period) I would have a bit of a cushion just in case the lab was running late. D thinks that my principal will also like the slant that I would be "saving the school money" by not taking the afternoon off to have my tests done. Also, coming in a bit late is better than leaving an hour early.

I think that I could've figured out that solution on my own, but I was so wound up that I couldn't think straight. Mr. JB also reminded me that having a crazy class doesn't help with stress levels and that we're pretty much down to the wire before my surgery. I only have six full teaching days until I go on my leave!

I was lamenting to Mr. JB that it seems like there have been so many road blocks in our lives. I know that this one wasn't huge, but at about 3:45pm this afternoon it seemed insurmountable. There are so many times that I feel like the Lord is mocking us, or at least testing us to see what we're made of. I try so hard to be positive, but this afternoon was truly a test for me.

Again, I can't wait to be in Omaha. All of this preparation for surgery is going to make a laparotomy seem like a party! A party that involves surgery and pain killers, but a party nonetheless.