I'm Late, I'm Late, For a very important date!

I am a get there early type of person. I was never able to master the art of arriving someplace perfectly on time. I was always early. It never bothered me, I like to be there a little early, I hate feeling rushed. My time is valuable and I recognize that other peoples time is equally valuable. I think it's rude and disrespectful to be late.



When you get married everything changes as you adjust to having merging two different people's schedules and "leave the house" routine. Apparently when Mike and I got married I learned that it's my responsibility to somehow ensure that his phone, keys, wallet, ID, and credit card are in my purse. He does not carry his credit card or ID in his wallet, I have stopped trying to understand why. I've had to adjust my "leave the house" routine to make sure that we are actually able to leave on time.



When Olivia was born that routine changed as well, there's the diaper bag, the baby essentials, the right stroller, toys, etc. Then as Peter joined our family the routine shifted again. Unless I get everything ready the night before it's almost impossible to leave the house in under 30 minutes. It's crazy.



But I can't even blame my most recent tardiness on my children. Yesterday we had an FRG meeting, it was on post at 5:30. The babysitter arrived at about 4:40. I was in the car by 4:50 but then I didn't see my military ID in it's usual spot in the car, I ran back into the house to look for it but gave up after a few minutes because I didn't want to be late. I was back in the car by 4:56 and headed to the meeting. I planned to go onto base using a different gate since I didn't have my military ID. I got to the gate at 5:18 (still doing ok on time). The guard was very understanding, I showed him my drivers license and pointed out that our vehicle was registered on post. He instructed me to hop out of the car, open all the doors and pop the hood and show him my registration. After he helped me open the hood of the car (I can never find that stupid lever) I began to frantically search through the glove compartment for my registration. Of course I have no idea where it is, the guard tells me he'll just call it in. The guard calls, apparently my registration is expired. The MP's (military police) are on their way. I continue frantically looking for my registration but find my military ID instead. Lovely, if I'd only had this 10 minutes ago I could have gone through the regular gate where they wouldn't have checked my registration. The MP's arrive, I think they take pity on me because I'm looking like the white rabbit from Alice and Wonderland. Apparently my registration expired the day before. The decided to let me go, warning me that I could be pulled over for an expired registration and could be given a citation and that technically the vehicle could be towed because it is not legal. I finally arrive at the meeting, only 15 minutes late.