the wait

well, i did get to read a lot today.

mr smear made such a scene when we left the house this morning (he didn't want us to leave him behind), the nanny accidentally locked us out and i left the obligatory black pen behind. we arrived just in time to buy some new ones (which we'd later discover we didn't need), stood in a long queue for security, then another long queue for a ticket. then they seated us on one side of the floor for a while, time passed, and then they moved us to the other side.

the ticket numbers. were. random. for the longest time (two hours) we sat in their uncomfortable metal seats, trying to amuse ourselves (reading, sharing memes, chatting with other people and their kids), and each time a ticket number was announced we had to pay attention because there was zero predictability. i doubt the psychological toll on hundreds of people per day is taken with malicious intent, i'm sure it's just wild negligence.

until we handed over our documents, i had no way of knowing if i'd been given the right information and i was really nervous that we were missing documentation that could take weeks to procure. fortunately, everything was in order and the one item that was missing i could write by hand (with their pen!). then we sat down for another hour (more of the same) until we were called to hand the approved documents to someone else.

when you've paid one and a half thousand rand for an application, wouldn't you expect the R20 sms update package to be included?

just saying.

another half an hour's wait for the fingerprinting, and we were finally out of there!

to celebrate, we went to balducci's for an amazing meal. then we went grocery shopping. then we came home.

gd ran a salt bath, once she was done mr smear and i jumped in (we tried to convince him it was too hot, but he insisted and he was fine). tool songs, rubber duckies and a hot soak: just what the doctor ordered.

i went straight from the bath to a haircut (backwards, much?), the assistant's head massage was great until she stuck her fingers in my ears (???), and i picked up a couple of forgotten items on my way home.

over the course of the day a number of bureaucratic items accumulated: i have quite a few documents to submit to my former employer, and the CRA sent us an ambiguously-worded message so we had to call to clarify. *sigh*

bedtime wasn't very smooth - mr smear wasn't listening or taking my threats seriously so i ended up putting him to bed without a story. he obviously wasn't happy with the situation, but it was a fascinating experience talking him down and witnessing him play out the exact scene we were in with a couple of his stuffed animals (one got punished, but apparently redeemed himself later). the finale was mr smear explaining to me that if he behaves well and tomorrow night has a story-time, i can either read him a story or tell him one, but i can't do both. and he insisted that i choose - he wouldn't let me get away with "whichever you prefer" :P

i've got a busy, busy day tomorrow. hopefully a relatively early night will help.