Outfit Count: FIVE

Insane. If not for my pathological preparing, I would have quit. When I fully wend through the ins and outs of how today happened, it sounds terrible. I did get caught out at one point, and an esteemed friend was mildly disgusted, but you know what I say to that,-- "I live to fight another day."

Before I let you know how this went down without hitting the fan, I feel like I need to tell you that since I have joined the full time work force, my husband handles the morning school drop off and I handle the afternoon pick up. It is working so far and is an important caveat to my survival. So this morning I had 5:30 AM run followed by a 7:00 AM meeting where I needed to look professional. I met my running group  at our usual Tuesday spot, a local college where we park by a bus stop with a heated bathroom. I knew I could make it work for me. I ran with my running group, then tried to stand around, VAINLY hoping that they would all leave. My game plan was to sneak my bag out of the car after running 6 miles in 49 degree temps (farenheit) so minimal sweating. Move surreptitiously to the bathroom beside the bus stop and change into professional clothes and a full face of makeup. However, my friend Marshall smelled a skunk. "Why are you hanging around? Are you about to get going?"

I was forced to confess that I was about to get completely ready for a meeting in a public restroom at 6:30 AM at a bus stop.  He was clearly appalled, and I was not surprised.  BUT, don't we bathe too much. It wasn't like it was July and I had sweated out half my body fluid. It was a chilly morning and I changed in a bathroom to get to my next meeting. No biggie. BUT, as I stood in the bathroom peeling off damp running clothes and changing in to my favorite winter outfit, I did feel a little off kilter.  As if maybe, my behavior was not quite within the realm of normal, and that maybe I should have cut something out so that I could shower in my own home rather than take a splash bath in a public restroom. Stuart Weitzman himself may have been looking down on me and whispering, "My 5050's weren't meant to live like this." But let's keep marching forward, I'm only two outfits in.

I made it to my meeting, and smugly mingled with people who showered in their own homes as if I were one of them. Then I was off to a school appointment and then on to my office on a college campus. It had of course begun to rain in a cold and aggressively misty fashion, forcing me to park and reach into the back seat for my alternate outfit: Sorrel Slimpack boots and a Burberry Brit waterproof trench the hood is KEY. This necessitated parking the car and extending my seat back far enough to reach my rain gear and change it all out in the driver's seat. Once correctly attired, I began the half mile walk into my office on campus where I engaged in business and internet surfing and office shenanigans until time for my afternoon appointment and the hookup line. My children were appalled at the amount of outfit changes in the back seat when they tried to squeeze in.  And, I could only remind them that it actually won't fit in the trunk based on the sports equipment that does not belong to mummy. It does not.

At home, I changed into my swim suit and yoga pants and a sweater and a down jacket and my sequined uggs as the snow was en route to Nashville. While the children swam, I swam a quick 2000 meters and hit the showers to change into outfit number 5 which was mercifully, pajamas.