I think it’s pretty safe to say that every week is a hard week right now. Not always for the same reasons, but this season of life can be pretty tough sometimes. And summer. Oh, summer. Just one more week.
I spent Monday trying to get a lot of things around the house back in order. I try not to let clutter and messiness bother me in summer when everyone is home. But the calendar days are creeping by and I’ve been getting really excited about setting up my fall candle fireplace, actually keeping rooms relatively clean most of the time, and finally having space to breathe. I know it’s really just a mental block that I need to get past, but I have the hardest time concentrating or being productive if anyone else is at home with me. I can’t wait to get back to my early morning quiet times, filling out my bullet journal regularly again, and being able to actually enjoy the decorative blankets and pillows staying in the places I put them for more than three minutes. 🙂
A good chunk of Monday morning was spent making a huge batch of mango curry. It’s kind of a labor intensive meal that I can’t make for dinner because of Greg’s mango allergy. So every fall I usually make a big batch and freeze a bunch of servings for my future lunches. I usually do it after school starts, but Caden loves mango, and soups, and spicy food, so I thought I’d make it early this year so he could have some too. I’m trying really hard to start caring about the meals I make again. I slacked off SO much this summer. Plus, we were just so busy! It’s hard to make healthy and wholesome meals when people are constantly running out and about. I plan to be much better come fall! This was my start.
Last week Shepard told me he really wanted to go to Mod Pizza before school started, so we planned a date for Monday night. It was the busiest I’ve ever seen it. I apparently keep going to restaurants on Monday nights, expecting that’s a quiet night for eating out. But I’m starting to think everyone thinks that and also goes out on Mondays!
We went to Orange Leaf for dessert. Greg and Caden went to Culver’s for dinner and then to the second Lord of the Rings installment. There ended up being some crazy rains and storms that flooded half of Madison that night. Fortunately, Shepard and I got home before the worst of it and the guys had almost no visibility, but made it home safely.
Tuesday we had the vet in the morning and the sucky day that followed (my last post). The cats are still relatively healthy. Jack lost another pound and is recommended to have more blood work done, though I’m not sure it’s an expense I want to take on right now. I couldn’t deal with giving them an answer while I was there, but we’ll see. Rory just lost a tiny bit more weight (they’re both still technically overweight) and has an infection in his foot, which he got two shots for. But overall, still very healthy and happy 13 year old boys!
I finished a batch of dolls on Tuesday. I went with a back to school theme and included a couple more book dolls. I was going to hold off to post those until mid September when the promotion happens, but I haven’t heard anything else about it lately, so I decided to just go ahead and list them. I need some sales!!
Then Wednesday – the longest day ever. So, Greg had surgery scheduled and needed to be at the hospital in Madison at 9:30. I asked my mom to get the boys by 8 and she was there early, Caden was still in a horrific mood and refused to get dressed, Shepard refused to stop watching a Minecraft video I never really gave him permission to watch in the first place. Everyone was on edge and stressed and upset. We finally got the boys on their way and then got ready to leave because we had to drop Greg’s car off at Toyota to get his recalled airbags replaced. Except we went outside and my car wouldn’t start. Because OF COURSE of all days, that was the day it would die. Just like two years ago when it randomly died on Caden’s birthday and I was stranded in the Dells after Cranberry Fest. We both tried to start it multiple times and ended up needing to just leave it, cancelling the airbag appointment, and taking Greg’s car to the hospital.
Everything with the surgery went well. It was just a long day. I was expecting to have the freedom to at least wander around the hospital while he was in surgery, but apparently they really want you to stay in the surgical waiting room. Back in college I worked in “the coffee shop” at Meriter and was hoping to have lunch there to see how things had changed and spied around to see if anybody I knew was still there. But I never had a chance to do anything more than get a coffee in the new actual coffee shop next to the waiting room. The receptionist kept telling me that things were progressing quickly and to stick around. I was called to the consultation room to talk to the doctor and then proceeded to wait another 45 minutes. I was told it would be a max of 15 minutes after that before I could go into see Greg, but it was another hour because he was too sleepy yet. I was glad to hear things went well with the surgery, but I was just so tense and couldn’t relax enough to do anything more than constantly scroll through my phone. I know it was not at all about me, it just wasn’t the way I had expected the whole thing to go. Plus I had the car problem at the back of my mind, trying to figure out how to handle that without getting Greg involved.
I was finally allowed to see him in recovery, but he was still super out of it, so we had awhile more to wait until he felt better about leaving. We got back home around 4 and I got Greg settled then immediately called AAA, hoping for a tow to the car repair place across town. Except when the guy showed up an hour later, he didn’t have a tow truck with him. All the tow trucks were on the other side of Madison helping with the flooded vehicles. Of course, the AAA guy (whose job is normally office work, but they didn’t have anyone else available to send) turned the key three times and it turned on. Just like that. He didn’t even get into my car or open the hood or anything. It just worked. So he left it running, I grabbed Annie, we drove it to the repair shop, and then I walked her back home. I took a five minute break at home and then went to Walgreen’s where I waited an hour for Greg’s prescription. And then we finished the day watching a movie. It was such a long day.
Thursday ended up feeling even more stressful because I was so worried about what was going on with my car. They called me early to ask how he had gotten it started and then I didn’t hear anything the rest of the day. I had hoped to spend the day working, but I couldn’t concentrate AT ALL. I also thought maybe I’d spend time watching tv or something with Greg, but he just wanted to play games and didn’t really seem to want me around. I finally went to Walmart in the afternoon to get some things, took Annie for another long walk, and we watched another movie. I was just so mad at myself for my inability to set things aside and just get to work. I have so little focus these days and I hate myself for it.
This morning Greg took pity on me and called the repair shop to see what was up. And…they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. So just like two years ago, they spent over a day turning it on and off and on and off and never had a problem. They also ran a bunch of diagnostic tests and everything was fine. So I got my car back and just get to go back to living in fear of the next time this happens. I was dreading a gigantic repair bill, but this is stressful in its own way.
Originally, we planned on going to a Verona dog park today with my mom. But, I think the park we wanted to go to was flooded. Or we’d at least be driving through the flooded areas to get there. Plus it was raining today anyway. So we compromised by having lunch at Ponderosa since we haven’t been there in so long together. It was nice! Then I took the boys back home and we’ve all kind of been doing our own thing since.
I guess the good news is that I survived this week! Greg did too. His recovery is going more smoothly than he had expected, which is good for all of us. I’ve been feeling a tiny bit overwhelmed suddenly taking over all responsibilities, but I have no right to complain after Greg took over everything for months after I broke my ankle. He’s a much more patient and giving caretaker than me.
Anyway, I guess that’s about it for the week!
