On the edge

I'm pretty good with stress. Stress and I, we go way back. So when big things come along, I'm ready to take them on. What's our action plan? I'll make a spreadsheet! Do I need to order snacks? But I find that during times of stress, it is the little things that drive me over the edge.

My mom came up for the week to help with the kids, and probably to check up on me and make sure I'm not actually losing it. She arrived on Monday and I was hosting my book club that night. My plan was to pick her up from the airport and drive straight to pick up some cupcakes I ordered. Well, I took the wrong exit, and had to drive all around town to get back to the bakery. It wasn't that I was lost. I knew exactly where I was since I was headed toward Yogurtland. Anyway, at this point, I'm sure my mom did think I had lost it. But she kept this to herself. She was being kind. I think she feels sorry for me.

Later in the week, we got home from some errand and the dog had chewed my shoe. Not a Jimmy Choo or anything, but a very nice kiwi green leather flip flop that I quite liked. So I call Jeff, who says "why did you leave the dog in the bedroom?" (I should back up for a moment. Our dog chews things, so we have a long process of leaving the house which involves closing all of the doors. But because of a long story which I won't go into, I decided I would be nice and let her be in the bedroom while we went out.) Anway, back to my helpful husband. Thanks, Jeff!

Then the phones went out and I had to have the phone company come out "anytime between 8am and 6pm." And the kitchen sink is leaking. And we have a wasp nest on the front of the house. And why is it that all of these things are happening right now? Don't the gods of all the annoying shit that happens know that I'm dealing with something big and I don't have time for this? I know, I know, maybe life is trying to teach me a lesson about what is truly important, blah blah blah. And I get it. Sort of.

So what does any former project manager do when things get stressful? 1. Freak out and cry a lot about how everything is going to hell. Then, 2. Organize! I now have wonderfully organized dressers, closets and my entire office! Jeff is even in on it, installing drawers in our kitchen cabinets and shelves in the laundry room. I always could get those engineers to do what I want.