Last Whine Fest

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

Comments

[Janet]

I think you have every right to "whine" a bit. And I'm using your word, not mine. I'd be such a mess if all that was happening to me. I think you've handled things beautifully and I hope you'll be able to get your life back the way you want it soon.

[Caroline]

For most of us, when life kicks us in the guts, it makes a proper job of it! Its not what happens, but how you pull through that matters, and you sound more than a little OK if you can laugh at yourself! Moving is one of the most stressful things we can do to ourselves, bar dying or marrying, so moving continents gives you bitching rights! You behaved much better towards that store clerk than I would have done! And if we don't complain about shoddy goods, the standard will never get better.
Congratulations on making it through to the other side with dignity intact!

[Anke]

Oh TJ....challenges, challenges, challenges to still see the little beauty in life...lot's of 'get through' energy from Germany!!! There will be other times, hang in there!!! Hugs, Anke :)

[Mark]

I feel for you, TJ. I'm sure it was not so much fun while it was happening, but we've all gone through moments (or days, or weeks) like this, and it's that shared misery that makes your posts so authentically funny. I Hope all is getting back to some semblance of normal.

[deb]

Hello!

How interesting to read your blog. Hubs and i lived in Germany for three years and consider it the best three years of our life. We would go back in a heart beat. We lived in Kaiserslautern. Hubs was in the military. Germany was like a breath of fresh air to us. Things will get better my dear. Just hang in there. Hugs! deb

[German Gems]

Goodness, this is far from whining! I have read my share of blogs that make this look an easy day at the complaint department. You always seem to find the rainbows. You've made great progress in a short time.

[TJ]

Thanks for all the lovely comments you guys. The kid at the store was actually really great. The funny thing is I may have to go back AGAIN! The replacement TV seems to have a problem. Dang I might have to post more about this...

[Chris]

Okay, I know I'm late and you may not read this, but you go right ahead and share all of this. You aren't being self-indulgent. Or, I should say, we all indulge ourselves a little whine but we often pretend we aren't. This is all very stressful. I am glad you trust us enough to let us know.

Electronics suck. I know this because my computer is un-usuable because of a cable that exhorbitantly expensive and I"m not paying.

Rock On!

[Mary]

Awwwww TJ....Life gets crazy, doesn't it? Why can't everything and everybody just cooperate? You are not being self-indugent just putting your life experiences out there. I hope your little guy gets to liking his school better...as a mother I know that isn't easy either. Take care and enjoy your weekend!

[Nicole Hyde]

I just found your blog the other day and have thoroughly enjoyed rummaging through the posts. As an expat Canuck now living in Denver, I certainly understand what it means living in a country not your own and have found such inspiration in your posts. You are back home now and I will enjoy checking in to see the new art and new posts (and will try not to feel too homesick for my own country as I read along).

Wishing you all the best ... in art and in your new-again life back home.

[Jacqueline]

Can totally relate to the bursting out in tears in the store! Sometimes the simple things are getting way too complicated when they are piled up with the othe 'simple things' in life.

There is a point where we all just break up. It is just embaressing when that happens somewhere around strange people... :-)

Wishing you well. Miss you though here in Europe! :-)

[Your friends in Twickenham]

I read this with tears of laughter streaming down my face - interrupting Chris as he attempted to watch a film. It could only be you!!

Hope you're settling in slightly better now.

lots of crazy love, F&C.

[Kat Sloma]

Hi TJ. I'm trying to get caught up, have been missing you all in blogland. I'm so touched by what you wrote about your friend, asking for her knitting bag. So glad that you found time to create a bit for yourself. Much love to you. Email me anytime.