My MIL very graciously offered to take the kids for a while to give me and Scott a break from them. I'm very much enjoying it! But Friday Caly had an orthodontist appointment. My MIL was going to meet me half way to her house (1 hr, 15 min. away) but called to say that she'd hadn't slept well and only got a few hours of sleep. I didn't want to reschedule the appt since she was getting spacers. There needs to be a full week between getting the spacers and getting her braces put on, and if I rescheduled this appt, I'd have to reschedule the other one. So I said I'd just go get her. So I drove to MIL's, then to the appt, then home to let Caly get some ibuprophen, then back to MIL's. On the way there was a traffic jam on the interstate so it added about an hour to the trip. Then I drove home. On the way home I got pulled over. No, I wasn't speeding. But my tags were expired. I couldn't find the current year's proof of insurance when he asked for it either. I found last year's and the year before's... but not the current one. So I got a ticket for the expired tags and not having proof of insurance. I don't know how much it'll be. Some counties will let you bring in your paperwork to show that you're all current and they'll let the matter drop or you have to only pay a small fee for processing. Other places just use it as an opportunity to heap on the fines and make some money. Either way it's in a different county from where I live so I'll have to drive back there next week to deal with it.

Sooo...

My total time spent on getting Caly for her appt. and taking her back:
6 hrs, 37 min. in the car.

My total cost:
$37 in gas plus an unknown fine

Her total time in the appt, including the time she was in the waiting room:
12 minutes

*****************
Other than that, the week has been good. We got Zaven off to Upward Bound on Sunday and the kids have been gone since Tuesday. I should have been all productive and gotten the house all spiffed up. Instead I've been relaxing. I did a little work each day, but not much. But I've been to the movies and out to eat with Scott, ran errands and things that would have been annoying with kids in tow. I also spent a little time researching some money making ideas on the internet. (Once I have something definitive, I'll post them here.) Mostly I've just enjoyed the lack of noise. It's not exactly quiet. Scott's still here and there's the TV. But there's no screaming or banging or squealing. Sigh. Very, very nice.