This is my favorite Sunday of the year...the first Sunday of the summer! It's wonderful. And the fact that tomorrow is Memorial Day means that there really is nothing going on. I can't put into words how much our house needs that.
Honestly, the last couple of weeks have been crazier than I even imagined it would be. The hassles have been a little on the astounding side. Our computer died about seven weeks ago, and to be honest, we still aren't up and running from that. Two weeks ago, we were headed to take the kids to my mom's house before a wedding. That was when we discovered that our van wasn't working. Thankfully, we hadn't even made it out of our neighborhood yet, but it meant that not only did we all have to squeeze into the car, we were going to be running way behind schedule from unpacking and reloading. We might still have been able to make it to the wedding on time, but it turned out when we arrived that the university where the wedding chapel was located was graduating, so parking and access was limited. Of course it was.
Two days later Robert stayed home from school. For the most part his classes were over and he had a Navy commitment that day to complete a monthly commitment. As we were headed out the door, the Navy texted to let him know that the event had been cancelled. The problem of course, is that if he didn't get in to be tested that week, he would be out of compliance and lose his contract. When he pointed it out to them, they wanted to know why he hadn't attended the test just a couple of weeks earlier. He had not because he had been to one earlier in April...the later one would again have made him out of compliance. I was so frustrated and frankly, peeved. He has had to miss school repeatedly in order to complete these tests, and school/graduation should be a priority for the Navy...not just his parents! We had planned our entire week around getting him to the test on that Monday. They finally agreed to schedule one on Thursday. Of course we had to replan things on our end because we were down to two cars, and I had to work on Thursday. I couldn't take him to my mom Wednesday evening because it was his district track meet. Again, everything would work out, but it just felt like one hassel after another. As this was getting settled, Robert and I went to the garden center in town where we have purchased the flowers and mulch for our front yard every year we've lived here. For no explainable reason, they didn't have any this year. There had been a problem with their mulch delivery and the flower selection was very poor. This meant we had to drive over 30 minutes to another place to buy what I wanted. Again, just another hassel.
The next day Robert went to school and I got an early start on the planting. I had to finish by a certain time because I had to take Thomas to the dentist to repair the tooth that had broken a week earlier. To be honest, no one will ever understand how stressed I was about Thomas leaving that evening. Andrew had to teach a class that evening, but I'm grateful he was home in time to take Thomas to check in and departure. Because he had to get out of school earlier, he never received his trip tshirt we paid for (a ridiculous price, I might add). We are still working on trying to find that.
We still haven't had the van fixed. Why you might ask? Well, of course it isn't that simple. There is a chance that it might be covered under warranty from the March repair of over $1500.00. Of course, they can't determine that until they see it, and that was fixed in my hometown due to the timing of things then. To have it towed there will be nearly $300, and there is no guarantee that it will be covered. We could also increase our tow coverage, but that is going to require dealing with it and we just haven't had an opportunity. In the meantime, I have lost complete confidence in the van and have decided that we need to purchase a different vehicle. We want to trade in the van, but can't until it is fixed, so we can't purchase another vehicle until we fix the van.
We have planned for months to take our "vacation" next weekend. We are going with friends to visit some other friends. The timing stinks for the other family as well, but because the friends we are visiting cancelled another trip they had planned in order for us to visit, we HAVE to make this trip. We can't travel with five of us well in the car, so we are looking at renting a vehicle. The best deal Andrew can find will require us traveling nearly an hour to pick up the vehicle. We can make it work, but it just feels like it is one more things to handle.
In addition to everything else, I have of course watched my youngest child being confirmed and my oldest child graduate. I have attended two other graduations for family and friends, and attended several graduation parties. I have driven to my in laws' house to bring them back for graduation, and then had Andrew and Robert take them back. I was probably a lousy hostess while they were here because I wasn't cooking or entertaining much. I was mostly trying to figure out how to get things handled. And did I mention the poison ivy? I was miserable last weekend and had to visit the doctor before we left Tuesday. The drive over was miserable because of the weather, but we made it! My father-in-law was not pleased with the arrangements, and there was a point in time when we weren't even sure he was going to get in the car and come back with me. It all worked out eventually.
I also feel like I haven't slept well in over a month. Our weekends have been crazy, and our weekdays crazier. With the weather getting warmer, it has been more challenging for me to sleep comfortably, and this week I've barely slept at all. The last time I really felt like I knew I would get a decent sleep, we had a major confrontation with Robert and to say I slept poorly was an understatement. I don't remember the last time I felt like I got a decent night of sleep. I am stressing about this trip this week, I am stressing about the vehicle, I am stressing about the computer and the band data that needs to be recreated. I am overwhelmed, and living in a house with people who are equally exhausted.
I know this post is long, and whiny, and full of first world problems. There are so, so, so many people dealing with problems far greater. I am surrounded by a family who loves me, and we have the money to pay our bills. The end of this school year has just been full of a great deal of emotion, and unexpected events. We are at summer though, and I am praying that I can change my perspective enough to appreciate and enjoy my daily blessings!
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