TWO CALENDERS

I've been running two calenders,one in my office and one in my briefcase. I've told other people to not do that. Marilyn also runs a calender for her scheduled clients. It is a full sized appointment calender and is usually almost black from the number of names and notes written in it daily.
We've been wanting to go on vacation all summer but farming, irrigating, our son's wedding and any number of other responsibilities have prevented us from lining up more than 2 days in a row to go do something. We finally got it done. We were going to leave Saturday and come back Wednesday night. A short pre-harvest jaunt. Refreshing. The calenders were cleared. My wife has had a little lilt in her limp (knee surgery) since we got this arranged. She was to say the least, excited.
Yesterday was four days from leaving and I'm sitting at our county board meeting. Someone asks the Chairman, (me) what time is the public hearing for the budget on Monday. "9:00 AM" I say, then I think to myself "We're supposed to be golfing in Wisconsin on Monday at 9:00."
My mind has a 'turbo' setting. When in turbo, I am capable of running 3 or 4 different thought patterns all at the same time. So while I was saying something like "Hearing no discussion we will proceed to vote." I was actually thinking the following all at the same time.
1. That can't be right, we won't be here Monday, I promised my wife a vacation, we were going to rent a room with a jacuzzi, go golfing, tour a cheese factory, where's my calender? (the little one I carry in my briefcase to meetings so I can bring home the dates to my big calender) (don't do this...use just one calender)
2. Hmmm, sure enough it says Monday, 9:00 AM, Budget hearing. "All those in favor say Aye."
3. Maybe I could just skip the meeting. I'm chairman. You can't skip the most important public hearing of the year. That's why I'm Chairman. For times like this. "Those opposed say NO."
4. Which one of these gentlemen seated at this conference table would be willing to go into the next office and call my wife and make up a story that made it sound like Cliff is so depressed by what he just learned about an emergency meeting next Monday that he was just too distraught to call her personally. (I know it's been on my calender for 2 weeks but now it's an emergency) They could tell her "Cliff said don't come in to the courthouse, he'll be alright.....he thinks."
5. The kids have borrowed my shotgun. Good.
6. Yep...I'm in trouble.
Sooo all of this is virtually racing through my brain and I do what any man would do, I say, "Okay, it's break time, we have a hearing scheduled at 10:00 this morning so be back in your seats by then." Aside to our County Clerk, "may I use your phone?"
My side of the phone call: "Hi Marilyn." "How's it going?" "Good" "Uh we have a problem." "Well yes, as a matter of fact we can't go on vacation, how'd you know that." "Oh, I guess we have been married a long time." "Uh, we have the annual budget hearing on Monday that I didn't have on the big calender at home and I can't miss it." "Sure we can reschedule the trip." "Yes we can talk about this when I get home."
"Why yes I do have my little calender with me." "You want me to do what with it?"
We deserve each other. We've deserved each other for almost 35 years now.