I make plans, God laughs

Written 8/23/2025.This has been a whirlwind of a week. Pretty much what I planned to happen got changed. In prior years, I would have been much more stressed about the situation. Maybe it’s being better grounded, but I was only a little stressed.My daughter went back to college this week. Move in was Wednesday, yes you read that right. In the MIDDLE of the flipping week. Couldn’t they have scheduled it for a Friday/Saturday instead of Tuesday/Wednesday?This was actually a change, so I had to change the hotel reservation.Next was my daughter taking the car to college. No issues with that. It was that my thought process was that either I or mom would drive out with her and then fly back. It’s simple, easy, and probably costs the same or less than taking two cars.That got shot down, so we took two cars out. I and my daughter drove her car, and her mom drove her own car. The good news was that since we had two cars, I didn’t have to play Tetris with fitting everything in one car. The day before we left, there was a huge rainstorm, so we couldn’t really pack as much as we’d liked because that would have gotten everything wet. So, we woke up at 2:30 am to pack the car. According to the radar, the rain was supposed to end and when we woke up, the rain had passed.Robert’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.In the middle of this, the tarp I use to cover her car got ripped (by me). This protected the top of the car because there is a leak, so when you drive the car after a rain, it leaks out of the header.We got everything packed and were on the road at 3:57 am. Three minutes earlier than target. That was awesome!I love driving early in the morning. There is no traffic and I just kind of chill with music or a book on my phone. I watch the sun slowly rise over the eastern horizon turning the sky from indigo to vermillion to yellow to regular day. I don’t even realize I’m driving until around 8 or 9 am.We arrived at 5:02 pm, so almost exactly 12 hours (eastern time zone). The extra minutes were because I topped off my daughter’s car right before campus so that she’d start with a full tank of gas.I would have loved to get her moved in at 7:30 or 8 am, but she couldn’t get her keys until 9 am. Luckily I had brought the trolley and her building had an elevator. So instead of 10 trips, it was 2 1/2. BTW, bungee cords for the win! With cleaning, shopping at the school bookstore (I got a cool pink polo shirt), we were off around 12:30 pm. Yes, my ex and I drove home together. We are fine together and chat the whole way. As long as we don’t talk about important stuff, we get along.We had at least 3 detours due to traffic and accidents and rolled in around 1:17 am. In the meantime, poor old puppy had decided to crap all over the house and my dog sitter cleaned it up (yes, I’m paying her a cleaning bonus, she deserves it).In the middle of this, I was planning get togethers with two people. Every time I thought I had it down, there’d be a change. They got resolved Thursday.So now I’m sitting here writing before meeting up with a new person at 5 pm. Am I nervous? Absolutely. But the only way I progress in my life is through being uncomfortable. I wish you the best uncomfortability in your own life :-DBlessings,RobertThanks for reading Robert’s Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it.Enjoy some pictures from the campus. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rslayton.substack.com/subscribe