Punkin informed me of what her "good animal" is.
"It's a heppo-pa-non-nus. He's blue, and he's a big fat one."

Wanna guess what a heppo-pa-non-nus is?

My good animal, as Punkin further informed me, is a Monkey. He's not purple, though. Everyone knows monkeys are orange and brown.

The "hospital office" is one hour and four minutes from where we live. This drive, although not a short one, is still preferrable to driving to Lincoln Park in Chicago, the other office where Dr. Carol sees patients. Unfortunately, Dr. Carol is only at the hospital office once a month, during the day. These appointments cause Hubby or I to have to take time off of work.

Of course, our daughter's health is worth it, and truth be told, there are some days when I don't actually mind leaving work early. I just REALLY hate the drive. One hour and four minutes there, waiting in the waiting room for about 15 minutes, waiting in the examination room for about 10 minutes, 3 minutes for Dr. Carol to "look for Elmo" deep in Punkin's ears and ask us to come back in two months (cause now the tubes have fallen out, and are sitting in her ear canal and we should keep an eye on that) then another hour and four minutes (if I'm lucky) back home in traffic with a tired and sometimes cranky toddler.

The last time we had to drive to see Dr. Carol, Hubby and I played hookey and we both went. Usually, I just take Punkin, there's really no point in BOTH of us missing work for this trivial, yet important appointment.

We received a confirmation call for the appointment late last week. Oh joy. I could hardly contain my excitement.

I considered playing hookey again yesterday. I would have had the morning to myself after dropping Punkin off at daycare, and I could take her to the appointment that was *very conveniently* scheduled (that's sarcasm dearies) for the middle of the afternoon. I opted to be a responsible little worker bee instead. I rationalized that if I had the morning to putter around all by myself, I would feel even less enthused about making that one hour and four minute drive, waiting in the waiting room for about 15 minutes, waiting in the examination room for about 10 minutes, spectating for 3 minutes while Dr. Carol "looks for Elmo" deep in Punkin's ears, asking again if we have to come back in two months, then another hour and four minutes (if I'm lucky) back home in traffic with a tired and probably cranky toddler.

After filling up the gas tank in the car for our trek, I picked Punkin up from daycare. It was just about her standard nap time and the teachers had kept her awake for me. She, of course, fell asleep about 10 minutes into our little road trip. I sighed, a little envious of her nap, and resisted switching the radio station every time a commercial came on.

We finally found a parking spot and arrived at the hospital office with about 5 minutes to spare before the appointed time. The set up is a little different here, and although there may not be a nurse or receptionist there to greet you, someone always appears within a minute or two. Since the office is at the hospital, there are always people milling about.

We had been sitting there for about 5 minutes and still no one appeared. A little voice in my head told me to call and check the messages on ouranswering machine at home. Something I never do. Sure as shinola, the automated voice tells me "You have ONE new message" and suddenly I hear a chirpy yet brusk and impersonal voice telling me "your appointment has been cancelled. You can call the office to reschedule."

My mind split off in two different directions. One half said "Ok. Let's go home. No biggie." The other half said "Shit! I drove all this way and no one is here?! They called me AT HOME to cancel? They have my phone number atwork! Do they think I gave them the work number just for grins?! Why the hell would they call a WORKING MOTHER at HOME to cancel anappointment for the same day?! I can't be-LIEVE this! My daughter is so tired, despite her little car nap, she is going to melt down any second and I'm pretty wiped out myself... do they think I ENJOY driving all this way?! No way in hell am I making another appointment! THEY can call ME next time! What good is their "confirmation of appointment dealie" if THEY don't abide by it! If I had cancelled the appointment, they would have charged me twenty dollars! Shouldn't they pay ME now? I should at least get reimbursed for my mileage, don't you think?"

Of course, I didn't say any of this out loud. There was no one to listen to me rant, and Punkin wouldn't have understood.

I called Hubby to let him know what was going on. (He would have come with me, but he was playing hookey at the Auto Show. When he made the plans, he didn't realize it was the same day as the appointment.) He echoed all of my thoughts exactly during that phone call. There wasn't anything either of us could do, so I bundled a confused and fussy Punkin back into her coat, walked back to the car, buckled her into her car seat and drove the hour and four minutes back home in traffic with a tired toddler. Yes, she napped on the return trip as well.

That little internal tirade combined with the monotonous road trip made me even more sleepy. The up side is that the half of my brain that went "No biggie" took over once again. It takes energy to get all worked up over something like that, and I just didn't have the energy to waste. Even after I realized that if I HAD stayed home, I would have been there for the phone call, and I would not have had to waste the time driving all the way there for nothing.

I did call their office this morning to reschedule the appointment and I was very pleasant to the receptionist. There is no point in getting angry and upset with her, she didn't leave the message. I did, however, explain what had happened, and asked that they, again, put my work phone number in their file with a note indicating that I preferred to be called at work if they need to cancel any future appointments. She indicated that she would do that (and I believe her), and rescheduled the appointment for near the end of March, once again in the hospital office.

Since the next appointment is so far away, there is a good chance that the tubes will fall out on their own and we'll never have to make that one hour and four minute drive, wait in the waiting room for 15 minutes, wait in the examination room for 10 minutes, sit for 3 minutes while Dr.Carol "looks for Elmo" deep in Punkin's ears, ask again if we have to come back in two months, then drive another hour and four minutes (if I'm lucky) back home in traffic with a tired, cranky toddler again.

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