Ok this really is the last woe-is-me post and then it's back to business as usual around here!
After I finally got used to the rental car, our new vehicle came on the scene which was promptly hit and run in the parking lot of an electronics store that sold us a defective TV. Of course we didn't recognize that the TV had metal marbles rolling around inside of it until the man who was going to install it on the wall came and broke the news. The hubs was in Florida so it was left to me to wrestle this giant flat monster back to the store that didn't have a replacement in stock. The moment the young man at the customer service counter told me that I'd have to go to another store was right when I realized I had forgotten my mobile phone. Suddenly it occurred to me that the preschool that my child is hating does not have any way to get a hold of me. This normally isn't cause to declare an emergency but since the move, my son has been going backwards in his potty training and in order to rescue him from the ridicule of the mean American children, I've been nearby and acting as if I'm on-call so I can swoop in for assistance if necessary.
So I'm sitting there in the electronics store and I lose it. I lose it as in tears pooling onto the counter and snot running down my chin. And the poor kid is like, "Ma'am it's just a TV." And it was right then and there that I realized that over the last 9 years I've gone from "Miss" to "Ma'am."
Suddenly I was hyper-aware of my gray roots that are coming in and the fact that I had drank wine AND plucked my eyebrows. My brows are now so thin that when the hubs returned from Florida he looked at me and made some karate sound effects. I have no idea what that means, but I'm thinking it might be a good thing. I'm sort of hoping I look so bad-ass that it's apparent to anybody who might mess with me that I'm going to reach into my pocket and pull out a fist-full of whoop ass.
My dad and brother came when our container arrived Monday. After several hours searching for the "bolt box" (literally the one box that contained all the baggies of bolts to put everything together) we found it re-wrapped and marked underneath the plain brown paper. Now who says Germans aren't funny? Thanks to the calvary, our big stuff is now assembled. Now it's mostly stacks of boxes everywhere.
Of course this is when the differences in my hubby's and my personalities kick in. We're in the 9th round and the time for jokes is over. I started out teasing him that I wanted to "carry on" my sewing machine when we flew here but now he's reached the point where he'd like to shove the sewing machine up my keester. I can't really blame him though because he wants to deal with the boxes by actually unpacking them and I want to deal with the boxes by picking up my tweezers and giving myself a new look.
There are a few rainbows in all this drama. Our new neighbors on both sides seem great. It's like we're the German jelly nestled between two slabs of nice American bread. Internet is now working at home. Our library card arrived in the mail. So have lovely gifts from friends (check out the little London bus on the table in the image above!) We've found a nice girl who wants to babysit. Everything is going to be fine.
But a sad twist in all of this is that a dear family friend is on her journey of passing over to the other side. I spent the day Tuesday making a short road trip spending time in the hospital with friends trying to catch up on what's happening to this woman we all love. And in the crazy way the world works I completely stopped caring about the injustice of the new dented car, the horrible quality of electronic merchandise and the fact that I look like an over-tweezed ninja. I can't stop thinking about how she was asking for her knitting bag. That at the very end, creating is what gives comfort.
So yesterday I brought my little man to an indoor playground where I sat at a table and worked in my Moleskin. Today I'm sitting in the coffee shop and trying to blog. I'm not rushing home to the boxes, I'm setting aside a little time to do what's actually important to me.
Thanks for hanging in here with me guys. All these personal posts are starting to feel a little self indulgent though. I'm pulling myself up by the bootstraps and bringing you some arty goodness sooner than later. Have a great weekend and catch you soon... xxx tj
