Friend R said that this week was going to suck, as well as next week. Perhaps he's right, or perhaps he's wrong (knock on the plastic that comprises my desk), but I think I just needed to, actually, make it through yesterday. Things are starting to look better. Not perfect, mind you. But better. Yesterday evening, in the span of a few hours, I lined up childcare for Thing Two on Friday, figured out a way to get Things One and Two cared for from 7:30 until 8:05 when their school starts, and I potentially found childcare for Thing Three for the week she's off. The money issue is still an issue. It always is. But once I had managed to line up a few things, I felt okay. I felt almost good even.
If I were an X-Man, this would be my mutant power*: to roll with things. At some point, though, my mutant power fails me, much like Professor X's would in a stand off with Magneto. I can only roll with four or five big things at once. When details and elements start snowballing, and when there is a looming deadline for dealing with such details, I start to crumble. I get particularly cranky. Then something happens, something falls into line, and I'm okay again.
This is what happened yesterday, where I had reached my absolute limit in terms of Dealing With Crap. Friends One and Two were, of course, right there even though I bickered (like a moron) with Friend One. This prompted Comic Hero (Friend One's boyfriend) to say, "I wish I had what you guys had. You're so invested in each other." This was funny in a way, since we were, uh, arguing when he said it. But it also made me think a lot about our friendships, who we've become as a group and with each other. We are remarkably close. I talk to both Friend One and Friend Two every day. I know the small innerworkings and minutiae of their lives. They are like family. Maybe that is my mutant power--having close friends.
So, life is back to normal. Normal isn't fabulous, but it's manageable. Kari and I have decided to take a road trip for Thanksgiving, destination unknown, but I know we'll have a great time. I'm writing, writing well, and making some headway on a short story. Thing One made me a lanyard yesterday, I think as an apology of sorts. At home, I cooked the Things pasta and red sauce, broiled fresh zucchini from the garden. We cuddled on the couch and watched My Neighbor Totoro together, and then I read to them and put them to bed. So, equilibrium has been reestablished, and all is well.
*tm
*I think I have, like, two or three mutant powers. Is that possible? What would Stan Lee say?
TM,
All mothers are heroes. Our Super Power is that we survive. And a handful of days each year, we transcend survival and thrive.
Peace,
A
Posted by: Alana | August 30, 2006 at 11:51 AM