Late to Work and a Surprise Contest

3.24.2008

Hope everyone had a pleasant weekend. This pretty much sums up how mine went:



That was the closest we could get to having the three of us in the same picture. Guess which one got into the Easter candy?

He thought the eggs were pretty fun for shaking and making noise until he discovered that it was chocolate bouncing around inside



Aside from helping ease Jack down from his sugar high, I did do some sewing, finishing up a custom order that included a Mama and Me full apron set with yummy Chocolate Lollipop fabrics and a "semi-surprise" mini hobo bag (we narrowed down the fabrics together and I made the final decision--Kristyn, DON'T LOOK!!)





Yes, the weekend pretty much flew by, and I was completely uprepared to get back into the swing of things today.

This morning I had a lively e-mail discussion with a friend over the best excuses for being late or absent from work, when I realized it was time to take Joey to school and couldn't find my car keys anywhere. I wasn't sure if one of the boys had absconded with them like the time my wallet went missing and I discovered my driver's license and credit cards hidden under a couch a full week after stumbling across my empty, chewed, and discarded wallet, or if I had set the keys down someplace unusual. Sure enough, though, after searching the entire house and cleaning out half the car, I remembered that I had put them in the cup holder of the stroller when we went for a walk this weekend. We ended up being only about 15 minutes late, but I decided that losing one's car keys is not a good excuse for being late to work or school. It's much better to have the flu, because it doesn't make you look irresponsible, and you're likely to get sympathy along the lines of, "Awww, yeah, there is an awful bug going around."

Probably my silliest and most embarrassing excuse for being late to school, however, was when I was in graduate school, 9 months pregnant, and realized 20 minutes into my 40 minute commute that I had left my uber-important term paper at home. So I turned the car around, went home for the paper, and headed back to school. When I showed up to the class, everyone erupted into laughter and applause--they had assumed I had gone into labor and were very surprised to see me at all. I never did have to tell them why I was so late, come to think of it...

So, if you've managed to get through all of that, I have a little contest for you. I've revealed some of my best and worst excuses for being late--what are yours? I'm going to have a little giveaway, and what you win will be a "surprise surprise" (as in, I haven't decided yet what it will be, but the better the excuses, the more inspired I'll be in cooking up your surprise). Post your best excuse for being late--the funnier and more embarrassing the better--and I will pick the winner one week from today. Please make sure that there is some way for me to track you down, either by attaching a link to your blog/shop/website and/or an e-mail address.

Ready, set, go!

UPDATE: The contest has been extended until Friday, April 4th, at which time I'll pick a random winner. Thanks for playing!

Kim

14 comments:

  1. Best excuse I have ever used... I was a about 4-5. I had lost yet another coat and my Mom asked where it was... so of course being an imaginative child I say "An Eagle swooped down and took it Mom. It must have thought it was a worm!" As we all know eagles love coat shaped purple worms. ;) Only a child could come up with something like that and think it would be believed. LOL

    That a great contest! I can't wait to read what other people write. GL to everyone. Oh, and I am Goldie on the forums just in case you decide you like my excuse best. ;)

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  2. Well, today I was late to work because my husband's physical therapy went long. Boring.

    I scoffed at a co-worker when he showed up hours late because he had no clean underwear--but have now had the same happen to me. When you only have time for one load before bed, clean towels seem like the priority...until you check the unmentionables drawer and discover it's empty.

    And ever-popular around our house is when I can't manage to get my daughter out of the van. My arms are just short enough (and her legs fast enough) that she can evade me for quite some time...I've had to call for husbandly reinforcement more times than I care to mention.

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  3. "I traded my gas powered car for a solar powered one. I should've known it wouldn't work in Seattle!"

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  4. Those are all great! I can't wait to read more!

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  5. I'm so sorry I'm late...the line today at Costco was horrendous!

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  6. My worst "late to work" story occurred the day that I showed up late for work because I couldn't find my car keys. That sounds like a completely boring story until I add in the fact that this was such a common occurance and my boyfriend (at the time) thought I was so absent-minded with my keys that he bought me this little clapper device. The way it worked is I would clap my hands and the device would beep so I could find the keys. Only thing is, I spent almost an hour clapping all up and down my apartment that day and never heard a thing. I finally got a ride to work from a friend and was very late. So later on I got home and continued to look for my keys. I thought maybe I had left them at the movie theater the night before. Called the movie theater...nothing turned in. Went to the movie theater to look personally where I sat...nothing. THREE days later after having to get a ride everywhere (my spare key was...yes my friends...INSIDE THE CAR) I was sitting in my living room in a nasty old chair with big floppy cushions talking to someone and all of a sudden I hear an almost silent beeping. I knew immediately what it was. So I start clapping...I'm clapping...where the heck is it?!?! I pull up the cushion of the chair and wedged under the cushion, in the crack between the arm and the seat of the chair are my keys...worthless key-beeper-finder-thing! Not loud enough for this girl who loses her keys in the worst places...

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  7. Probably my best excuse is that I'm a Menlove, despite the fact that I married into the family at some point in time one of them adjusted my internal clock forcing me to be late to everything.
    (The M family is notorious for always being really late)

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  8. hey, nice to 'meet' you! your blog is way fun - and your colanders put my dinky plastic ones to shame.

    our best 'late' stories usually involve poop. sad, but true, because then there is the last minute clothes change scramble, etc.

    http://kirstencan.typepad.com
    kirstencanblog@gmail.com

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  9. My best excuse I ever had was "oops, we were supposed to change our clocks last night"???

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  10. I was traveling and forgot to pack an extra bra...forgot a few other things as well. The strap on the bra I had, broke...late for the meeting, but was "held together" with a safety pin that took an entire hotel staff to locate.

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  11. Sorry I was late but...I tripped over the cat on the way out the door, forgot I left the hair straightners plugged in, and tripped over the dog on the way back out again, my car had no petrol, I had no cash, eventually... filled her up and got stuck behind a tractor all the way in, and then forgot where I was going.... so sorry im late :)

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  12. I'm so happy to have a cat and I dog. I use them in my excuses all the time: I was at the vet and Brian (our dog) didn't want to cooperate, Mr. Poon (our cat) fell behind the washing machine and I had to move everything to save him...and I have a long list like that!

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  13. Thanks for all the great excuses and stories, everyone! I'm going to go ahead and close the contest now, and I'll post the results sometime tomorrow.

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  14. Love your blog. A great balance between family and crafty things and this retro material (bag) is to die for. I love reading Etsy blogs and I have put yours in my "blogs to read". Love the kids too!!!

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