I begin this post with a warning. This is a completely selfish sort of whine-fest, so unless you're bored totally out of your mind or you have some kind of stalker interest in me, you may want to breeze right on past this one.
We've got an infestation of praying mantids (apparently, that is the correct form for the plural of mantis) in our living room. Our christmas tree came with some egg sacs attached as an added bonus, and once inside in the balmy temperatures of our living room, they decided it was spring and crept out to begin life...all several hundred of them. At least they're not black widows, as we had a nest of in the corner of our living room several years ago. That was makings for a horror movie. This is just a little bit annoying.
I called mom on my way home the other day because I was about to burst into tears whilst driving 65 down the interstate (I never go over the speed limit, you know. Nope, never. Uh-uh.) I can't explain it other than I was just feeling so SAD. My friend Jamie had a very similar experience, though she ended up sobbing in her kitchen over some unidentified reason and the makings of supper, completely baffling her husband. Jamie attributes hers to adrenalein let-down. She's a college music professor and just finished the year's busiest month of concert after concert, on top of the normal bustle for families this time of year. When you're going so fast with life getting crazier and crazier and then stop on a dime, that throws your system all out of whack. Well, that explains her breakdown, maybe, but not mine. I'm still going pell-mell, just on the verge of out of control. Guess what I've done this holiday season? I am proud. I sent in two boxes of storebought holiday cookies, with the price tags still attached, no less, for Q's school party rather than slave over making some only equally delicious homemade ones. I have given up on giving E's teacher a handknit holiday gift and bought her a ready-to-go gift card to a bookstore. I turned Jamie's lovely hand-knit scarf from a birthday present (December 12) to a christmas present, or maybe a New Year's presnt. I let the kids put up ALL the holiday decorations, including the mantle, which has always been my domain. I'm going to totally wing the YRUU (Unitarian Universalist Youth Group) class I'm teaching tomorrow - NO idea what I'll talk about (I'm not so proud of this one and am starting to worry). I'm letting some things go, see?
On a totally different topic, but still in the whine-fest mode, I am officially renaming today, December 17, "bad customer service day." The firewood guy never showed up or called back, so we have only a minimal stack of firewood to face this horrific SE US winter. This could end up a serious hardship, you know. We tried to eat at Chili's tonight after driving through the lights in the park. The hostess, started out looking like she was surely of at least average intelligence but ended up not knowing the difference in a 10 minute wait and a 20-25+ minute wait. As we had three children with us who were hungry and on the verge of breaking down, we walked out and went to Sonic...which left a diet coke and a plain double cheesburger out of our order, which in turn meant we had to wait for the missing burger to be cooked.
Grumble.
But yes I know it sure could be a lot worse. I've got my tummy full now and my wine glass full, er, nearly empty, and I've got my cozy living room full of tired children watching TV and praying mantids. What more!!??
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