The Grumps

My apologies for not writing more lately. It’s not that I haven’t had things to share, I have. There is a lot going on and I could tell you all about how the house buying and house selling is going and how Colin has started making choking and gasping sounds to indicate that he is playing happily by himself or even how I am winding down at work. And I’ve tried, Dear Readers, I really have. But everything I write lately comes out gruff and mad and cynical and, well, just really, really grumpy.

I think it’s the stress of all of these things that I’ve been balancing and how precarious they are in relation to each other. I wrote an email to my mother recently outlining the events of the next four weeks and she wrote back, “Uh, wow. Okay, well you have certainly planned everything very… close.”

In short: This week: inspections of both houses, negotiate, deal with that (including a one-day round trip to Indy). Next weekend: tow a trailer to Indy with half of the storage unit’s stuff to put in Indy storage unit, attend Littlest Sister’s high school graduation party, meet with potential babysitters. Back to Lex for last week at work. That weekend: tow another trailer to Indy with rest of storage unit stuff, attend Littlest Sister’s actual graduation, stay through Monday to close on the Indy house (hopefully). Patrick flies to Boston Tuesday to give a presentation. 4 year anniversary Wednesday. (Patrick is still in Boston, making this a non-issue.) Rent GIANT truck and load all remaining earthly possessions Thursday. Drive to Indy, take possession Friday. Move in over the weekend. Drive back to Lex to close on house the following Tuesday (hopefully). Back to Indy (for good) and frantically look for white coat and stethoscopes to start school on the following Monday. Eventually – finish the upstairs of the house and graduate med school.

There is no better option, as we all know. There is simply too much to do in not enough time with not enough money in the world to make things easier. In discussing this with my father, I said, “HOW do normal people do this? HOW??”

And he, in his infinite wisdom and financial security, said, “With lawyers and movers, honey.” So true.

So the planning of that has been a huge pain, but there have been other pains also. For example, Sunday was Mother’s Day – my very first one - and instead of relaxing and being gifted with jewelry or flowers or an iPhone, we worked all day long, me packing secondhand boxes and scrubbing cabinets, Patrick and his father doing something in the basement that required a lot of banging and loud discussion. I was glad it was Mother’s Day, as I used it as an excuse to take a break from work to talk to my own mother on the phone for a while. Who would fault me for that?

The inspection of our Lex house was scheduled for Monday, so we had tons to do that couldn’t wait. So, of course, as we were preparing, we found water damage in the ceiling of a bedroom and a huge leak from the kitchen sink. Naturally. Then, we had to vacate our house last night while they inspected and discussed from 4 – 7, Colin’s bedtime. We went to Louisville to pick up our beloved, banished dogs from my mother-in-law. At 8pm my phone rings and I jump for it, putting my negotiating face on, but learn that the inspector had canceled at 3:45 and would need to return Tuesday. Same time: bedtime, two days in a row. As if the rest wasn’t enough to make me grumpy, a tired, forcibly still-awake Colin will certainly do the trick.

And that is just the last few days. Can you blame me for being grumpy? Or, at least, can you forgive me for trying to spare you from it?