Okay, so I know I've posted about losing my grip before, but this is my blog and I'll whine if I wanna, right? I also apologize in advance for making my first post in two months a total bitchfest but I know my gentle readers (all three of them) will understand when they realize that I left this yesterday morning:
to come home yesterday afternoon to this:
Yes, it sucks, doesn't it?
I really did have an amazing time in Southern California--the trip was worth every penny and every "paid time off" day that it took. I flew in Thursday morning, had lunch in Laguna Beach, wandered around the Mission San Juan Capistrano for a few hours, and had dinner in Pacific Beach with Annike and Patrick. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were family reunion days and they couldn't have been more pleasant. Randy's sister Heidi did an amazing job of organizing everything and it was such a treat to spend time eating, visiting, hanging out at the beach and at home, reminiscing over old photographs and catching up with each others' lives. We need to do it more often.
Sunday evening, Annike, Patrick, Megan, and I headed down to Palm Springs and I spent the next couple of days leisurely driving down memory lane and hanging out in graveyards--another passion of mine that I've blogged about here.
I couldn't have asked for a better trip. Any thoughts of Georgia--and my white elephant house that I can't sell, my day job that pays too little and stresses too much, my night job (teaching freshman history) that sucks up every spare moment of my "free" time--were steadfastly squashed. It worked pretty well. Until I left my American Express card on the hood of the rental car and drove off without it. That should have been my warning. I called immediately and AmEx made arrangements to get me a temporary card so it wasn't a big deal, really, but it made it harder to shove the unpleasant things ahead of me into the back of my mind.
To be honest, none of the things that are pissing me off are big deals. The flight home, for instance. I didn't even flinch when the no-nonsense, middle aged, heavy-set African American stewardess responded to my request to take away my leftover Diet Coke with an immediate "I ain't got no place ta put dat!" I didn't groan when we circled Birmingham for over an hour while the thunderstorms in Atlanta cleared--I wouldn't voluntarily spend an hour in Birmingham on purpose EVEN AT 40,000 feet. Getting home almost two hours late and transferring luggage into the car in a driving rainstorm didn't bother me.
The property tax bill I got today that's more than last year's bill even though the county agreed the house is worth almost 40,000 LESS didn't faze me. When I tried to have a little retail therapy this afternoon and realized I was missing yet another credit card, I took it in stride. It torpedoed the rest of my afternoon since I had to drive all over creation to get it back, but I did get it.
My kids and grandkids are healthy, I am reasonably healthy and fully employed so what am I bitching about, right? Beats the snot out of me! I think I'm just tired of worrying about things over which I have no control, but that significantly impact my life. I'm tired of slogging my guts out at a job that doesn't bring in enough money to make ends meet and having to spend what precious little time off I do have working a second job. I busted my ass to get my master's degree and cannot understand why people in my field are forced to take the proverbial vow of poverty in order to work. I love my job--at least I think I still do--but I'm getting older with every passing minute and wish I could slow down just a little.
SO. I wish I could slow down, but I can't. I wish I could curl up with the In-N-Out burger and animal style fries pictured above, but I can't. I really wish my job paid me adequately given my education and abilities, but it doesn't. I wish Clayton County wasn't so screwed up, but it is. I wish I wasn't so weighed down with worries of every kind that I leave my credit cards lying all over two states, but I am. My mom used to say "if wishes were horses then beggars would ride." I think I like Burgess Meredith's quote even better--"you can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which gets filled first!"
Well, enough of this blah blah blah--I think it's time for chocolate chip cookies and National Lampoon's Vacation, don't you?
to come home yesterday afternoon to this:
Yes, it sucks, doesn't it?
I really did have an amazing time in Southern California--the trip was worth every penny and every "paid time off" day that it took. I flew in Thursday morning, had lunch in Laguna Beach, wandered around the Mission San Juan Capistrano for a few hours, and had dinner in Pacific Beach with Annike and Patrick. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were family reunion days and they couldn't have been more pleasant. Randy's sister Heidi did an amazing job of organizing everything and it was such a treat to spend time eating, visiting, hanging out at the beach and at home, reminiscing over old photographs and catching up with each others' lives. We need to do it more often.
Sunday evening, Annike, Patrick, Megan, and I headed down to Palm Springs and I spent the next couple of days leisurely driving down memory lane and hanging out in graveyards--another passion of mine that I've blogged about here.
I couldn't have asked for a better trip. Any thoughts of Georgia--and my white elephant house that I can't sell, my day job that pays too little and stresses too much, my night job (teaching freshman history) that sucks up every spare moment of my "free" time--were steadfastly squashed. It worked pretty well. Until I left my American Express card on the hood of the rental car and drove off without it. That should have been my warning. I called immediately and AmEx made arrangements to get me a temporary card so it wasn't a big deal, really, but it made it harder to shove the unpleasant things ahead of me into the back of my mind.
To be honest, none of the things that are pissing me off are big deals. The flight home, for instance. I didn't even flinch when the no-nonsense, middle aged, heavy-set African American stewardess responded to my request to take away my leftover Diet Coke with an immediate "I ain't got no place ta put dat!" I didn't groan when we circled Birmingham for over an hour while the thunderstorms in Atlanta cleared--I wouldn't voluntarily spend an hour in Birmingham on purpose EVEN AT 40,000 feet. Getting home almost two hours late and transferring luggage into the car in a driving rainstorm didn't bother me.
The property tax bill I got today that's more than last year's bill even though the county agreed the house is worth almost 40,000 LESS didn't faze me. When I tried to have a little retail therapy this afternoon and realized I was missing yet another credit card, I took it in stride. It torpedoed the rest of my afternoon since I had to drive all over creation to get it back, but I did get it.
My kids and grandkids are healthy, I am reasonably healthy and fully employed so what am I bitching about, right? Beats the snot out of me! I think I'm just tired of worrying about things over which I have no control, but that significantly impact my life. I'm tired of slogging my guts out at a job that doesn't bring in enough money to make ends meet and having to spend what precious little time off I do have working a second job. I busted my ass to get my master's degree and cannot understand why people in my field are forced to take the proverbial vow of poverty in order to work. I love my job--at least I think I still do--but I'm getting older with every passing minute and wish I could slow down just a little.
SO. I wish I could slow down, but I can't. I wish I could curl up with the In-N-Out burger and animal style fries pictured above, but I can't. I really wish my job paid me adequately given my education and abilities, but it doesn't. I wish Clayton County wasn't so screwed up, but it is. I wish I wasn't so weighed down with worries of every kind that I leave my credit cards lying all over two states, but I am. My mom used to say "if wishes were horses then beggars would ride." I think I like Burgess Meredith's quote even better--"you can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which gets filled first!"Well, enough of this blah blah blah--I think it's time for chocolate chip cookies and National Lampoon's Vacation, don't you?
1 comment:
I think we've all got the post-vacation blahs. And National Lampoon and cookies sounds PERFECT for how you're feeling right now...I wish I was there so we could go play! Keep yer chin up, it can only get better, we all love you, you are amazing!!!
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