September 20, 2013
Usually I am a fairly glass-half-full kind of person - positive and truly able to find a reason to be grateful in nearly all situations. I stress (ad nauseam) to my kids daily to be thankful for everything. Case-in-point # 1 Mom forgot to switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer and it's game day and your jersey is in there. Thank goodness it is moisture-wick material and it is 100 degrees out. It'll dry in no time, be grateful. Or case-in-point # 2 it's a school day and you have no clean clothes? Thank goodness God gave you a floor to throw all your clothes on! If you can't tell what's dirty, your friends can't either.
Lately I find, myself, well, a little annoyed. In ancient times, they would have called me vexed - ooh, or nettled. I don't think my annoyed attitude stems from anything big, just lots of silly, little things. But I can't seem to figure out why I am in this frustrating funk.
For instance having to decide at the age of 40+ whether to prefer pimples or cold sores each month. What the heck's that about? Excess hormones? Am I pre-menopausal? If I have to revisit my teen years, why couldn't I have been given increased libido? I do suppose that has more long-term consequences so maybe I should keep my mouth shut on this one.
OK, here's another. My husband had a (a-hem, throat-clearing sound) "business" trip and had to drive to South Bend, Indiana for the Notre Dame vs Michigan State game. Yeah right. (Insert eye-roll.) He didn't want to make the trip in his Jeep since it:
a) is loud.
b) is bouncy.
c) gets terrible gas mileage.
d) has a soft top that could be damaged by hail or wind or any spontaneous Midwest weather element.
e) all of the above.
Yes you are correct, e. He borrowed my car for 4 days so I am stuck with the Jeep. I mean, I get to ramble around town in a rad, 4x4, 2-door Jeep. I hate this because it:
a) is loud.
b) is bouncy.
c) gets terrible gas mileage.
d) has a soft top that could be damaged by hail or wind or any spontaneous Midwest weather element.
e) all of the above.
Oh, so close! My answer is:
f) all of the above plus other Jeep owners wave hello at you and, when you don't reciprocate, you get called unfriendly by your 12-year-old.
Excuse me, I was unaware of the Jeep ownership laws. But I guess it is a law. I suppose I will have to wave at everyone now to make up for the bad Karma.
Or I have another. Some sort of paired bird-creatures have taken up camp on my deck. Either turtle doves or morning doves or some plain, undescriptive doves or they may not even be doves. They live on my deck. They can't or they choose not to fly, I don't know which. They hop up and down the stairs. One regurgitates food into the others mouth. And they lay droppings everywhere. Yes, absolutely disgusting. What used to be a morning coffee haven for me has now gone to the birds. Literally.
All of these things do have bright sides. Even in my "vexed" mood, I can see this.
The Jeep is cool - at least to all the pre-teen-somethings. I get 4 days of being "Cool Mom." And it is quite charming to have some kind of hippie, kindred spirit connection with absolute strangers that happen to carry Jeep registrations.
The bird thing. After watching in horror as the baby was blown off of our deck in a 70mph thunderstorm, only to find her sitting on our bottom steps the next morning, cooing and cooing for her mama and then the mama half-flapping in to nuzzle her - yeah, it was kind of heart-warming. Proof in nature of the special bond between mother and child. There, I'm not completely heartless.
And I SUPPOSE if I'm battling zits at the age of 40+, the lines and wrinkles might be hindered for a time. Maybe my "virtual" age will be increasingly younger than my real age. I was carded the other day when purchasing my Rum Chada.
I'm digging deep here but yet, I still can not find the positive in cold sores or clothes all over the floor. Oh well, I guess we can't be all zen all of the time, some sense of realism is probably a good thing.
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