I’m serious. I just wanna get off this merry-go-round I’m living on. I know, I know, be careful what you wish for and all that . . .
March was hell. I knew it was going to be busy. There is no getting around it. January and February are relatively slow paced as people do the winter hibernation thing, but everyone seems to jolt awake in March. Ok, so like I said, I knew it would be bad, but it was the unexpected that knocked March from bad to completely psychotic.
See, it kinda went like this. We started out the month wrapping up a family vacation in Florida. Oh poor me I know, but the reality is a week in Disney World with two kids under 10, my sister-in-law’s family and my in-laws (no matter how much I love them all) just is not relaxing. I’m not saying it wasn’t fun, but it definitely was not relaxing.
The day after we got back, I went right into Girl Scout Cookie Delivery mode (I’m cookie mom for the troop). This would continue for the entire month. 8 little girls (and their parents) sold 1,200 boxes of cookies. Including the 200 we sold at a blustery booth sale.
Then one of the unexpecteds kicked in; my husband’s uncle died. Not entirely unexpected, but sad none-the-less and from a practical standpoint time consuming. Yes that sounds cold, but I was prepping to leave on a business trip so extra time was not something I had a lot of. Oh and did I mention that in the middle of that, we lost Internet access (practically a death knell for two geeks who depend on it for their livelyhood) AND I had an allergic reaction to some food I ate?
Ok, so I go on the business trip, it is successful, but a lot of work. I don’t travel often, and I’m grateful that my husband is a good sport when I do, but, when I’m gone, some of the details slip through the cracks, the rest pile up on the island in the kitchen. So, the next week is spent trying to catch up from the previous weeks all while squeezing in the usual scout meeting, dance class and trips to the dentist (me and the oldest child) and, wrapping up cookie sales (does anyone have ONE more case of Thin Mints). I now had to collect and account for the 3,000 plus dollars that 8 little girls and their parents generated selling said 1,200 boxes of cookies.
Just when I thought I was heading for home, BAM! another one of those unexpecteds pops up when I do more than $1,000 worth of damage to my car’s suspension system driving on the dirt er, mud, roads around my house. No, I wasn’t off-roading, the roads near my house are dirt for at least one mile in all directions. This time of year, they get borderline impassible as the snow melts and the rain falls. The locals affectionately refer to it as mud season. I don’t have all wheel drive to be cool, I have it because I NEED it.
The good news is that in my state, this kind of damage is actually covered by insurance. But as I type, my car is back in the repair shop and frankly that really puts a hitch in my giddyup.
I know I should shut up and count my blessings, it could be worse. There is the friend who’s 3 year old neighbor is battling Cancer. There is the woman my husband works with who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and just today found out her grown son had committed suicide. There is the mother in town who has been hospitalized for depression 5 times since the beginning of the year. I feel for these people and I wouldn’t want to walk a mile in their shoes, but damit, I AM having a tough time. I’m totally overwhelmed. Stop this Merry-Go-Round! I want to get off!
