Insert photo of Lindsay and I getting our free cars!

Well, I'm going to see Oprah!

Lindsay and I are traveling down to Chicago Thursday morning to be at a 7 AM taping. It's going to be on the Debt Diet program she has been doing lately. Not my ideal show, as there are no celebrities or free cars involved, but one cannot be too picky when it comes to Oprah tickets - those things are as rare as a yellow canary diamond.

But yesterday while I was frantically trying to reach people who were supposed to be at my house that morning for a playdate that had to be canceled because of some mysterious diarrhea-like activity in one nameless three-year-old boy, I mentioned to another mom that I was going and was going to miss the next MOPS meeting. I should probably also mention that this mom is not only in my small group that was coming to the house, but also in charge of this entire MOPS program - what would you call her? President? I don't know...

Her response was, "Well, you're going to miss a good meeting."

What?! Did she not hear me? I'm going to see Oprah! I'd cancel a tumor biopsy if it was on the same day.

But all I said was, "Oh, that's too bad. Well, I already have the tickets and miraculously found childcare at 5 AM so I'm going to go."

Which is true. Keith is going to be out of town and I had to really hussle in order to find someone to watch the kids for that long period of time and that early in the morning. Going to Oprah, as it turns out despite the free tickets, is not cheap.

I feel like she constantly thinks of me as a "bad" MOPS member.

News flash: I never aspired to be a good one.

A few months back I couldn't show up several meetings in a row due to one reason or another - I think mostly related to illness. And since the meetings are held two weeks apart - it had been a while since I had attended. She called to "check up on me" and see how I was doing, why I hadn't been going, etc. At first I thought it was very nice that she was making sure we were okay until it sort of came out that I hadn't paid this semester's fees yet and there were other women on waiting lists to get into MOPS and if I wasn't going to attend anymore than maybe I should drop out. And she didn't use all of those words exactly but in a equally awkward way, that is exactly what she meant.

So as you can see...I'm a bit jaded. A sorority is a sorority and having been in one in college, I'm used to it - but I was never prepared for the sorority that can be Mothers of Preschoolers - and I'm not bashing it because both of mine serve a wonderful purpose and many women, including myself, really get a lot of support through a very hard time in their lives. But like any other organization, it is flawed because there are people involved. But I keep going because I get a lot out of the speakers and the one or two really great people I meet are enough to make up for for small irritations. For example I would have never met Kelly had it not been for my other MOPS group.

But I digress, I'm going to Oprah!