Complete and Utter Disorder

On Thursday last week, I took Pookie to Girl Scouts. We arrived at exactly 6:30. Perfect! I thought. But for some reason, all the moms were lined up quietly working on paperwork on one side of the room and all the girls were at the far end of the room deeply engrossed in a project. Wow, I thought. They really got this going quickly tonite.

I stayed to fill out my cookie paperwork and then went home. I planned to return to pick Pookie up a little early because I wanted to chat with another mom. At 7:30, as I prepared to leave, the boys (and their daddy) convinced me to stick around a few minutes to fight to the death in a light saber battle. I complied. Until about 7:43 when the phone rang.

"Karin?" the Girl Scout leader asked. "Our meeting is over."

What? I thought it ended at 8:00.

No. Girl Scouts is from 6:15 to 7:30. Apparently I was on Boy Scout schedule time. I would have known that had I looked at my calendar. Which I would have done had it not been buried under a pile of miscellaneous things on my sideboard. (Remember how pretty it looked last fall?)

Later that evening, I called the babysitter I'd lined up for Saturday morning. Evidently, I'd forgotten that I'd promised Pookie I'd take her out first thing Saturday morning to sell Girl Scout cookies. And I'd forgotten Meiner's HipHop lesson that started at 11:00 on Saturday. There was no way to run 12 miles in Forest Park Saturday morning while selling cookies and carpooling to rap school. I rescheduled the babysitter to Saturday afternoon.

I would have known had I looked at my calendar. Which I would have done had it not been buried under a pile of miscellaneous things on my sideboard. (Didn't it look really pretty last fall?)

Hmmm...I seem to be repeating myself. Somehow my ability to organize my life and my schedule has become impaired by my complete and utter lack of organizational skills.

I spent all weekend attempting to come up with a new plan of attack. An orderly means by which to live my life. A desk/calendar/message center that rivals the closet (you know - the one that stays organized and works that way for more than 3 months --- OK, who am I kidding? One that works more than a day. Or more than just in my mind!)

I have a new plan. One that involves moving the sideboard, buying a few filing cabinets (no luck at Good Will this morning. I'm off to check Craig's List. Cuz if this doesn't end up working, I didn't need to have spent a ton of money on it!), and revisiting the calendar. It may even possibly spill into hooks in the kitchen for backpacks, in- and out-boxes for all family members, and an over-all overhaul of the kitchen area.

I'll keep you posted. Nonetheless, something has to give. Cuz I don't enjoy being the mom that makes all the organized Girl Scout leaders and their punctual parent helpers stand around up at school waiting for delinquent me to show up to pick up my kid half an hour after the meeting ended.