Just as I predicted, these last couple of days have been hectic and tiresome.
This is my life, and I wouldn’t expect anything less. I was made for hectic and crazy apparantly.
Yesterday Matthew celebrated his fifteenth year on the planet. He had requested steak and shrimp for dinner, and a cookie cake. I had ordered the cookie cake, made a grocery order to include his requested meal items. . . and the store was out of shrimp. I’m not sure how that happens, but it did.
So after work yesterday I went to pick up his cookie cake, found some shrimp, and stuff for salad and baked potatoes to go with dinner. I came home and made the meal, we opened presents, and all of a sudden it was 830pm and I was done. I was absolutely exhausted. I’m not 20 anymore, and even trying to get a little extra sleep here and there doesn’t seem to be helping me this week. I was in bed before 10pm, and when my alarm went off at 515 I said fuck that noise, and went back to sleep until 730am.
And then there was work, and then time to take Matt to get his spacers put in to prep his mouth for the braces he will get next week.
I thought spacers were a much bigger deal than they were. It took longer for the contract to be printed, signed and for me to write the check than it took for the spacers to be put into his mouth.
Matthew, my child that is ever conscious of the money that’s spent on him, asked how much I wrote the check for.
Y’all, braces aren’t cheap, even with insurance. I’ve been stressing about this decision for months, and my options for paying for the work to be done. I’ve always said since the day that Matthew was born, that no matter what my child would not go without. I even used braces as an example when talking to his father fifteen years ago, never dreaming that the example would become real life. I told him in a heated argument one evening, “If the kid needs anything – diapers, food, hell even braces, if you won’t help me, I’ll stand on a corner before he goes without being taken care of.” He looked at me incredulously. And then realized I was 100% serious.
I was being dramatic, of course. There’s a million things I could do before I had to resort to standing on a corner. But the point was, I will always find a way to take care of my children.
So, I weighed my options and came up with a plan, and implemented it. I killed like three birds with the stone I threw with the implementation of the plan, including being able to pay the full balance for his braces today after the insurance payment. Matthew’s dad did contribute of course.
Regardless of how it came about, I was able to mark this off of my to-do list. I was able to make sure my kid was taken care of. I make shit happen. I don’t half ass anything. Why take care of one thing, when you can take care of several?
I’m particularly feeling a different set of lyrics from Fire from the Gods song Another Level today.
“You cannot beat me you can’t push me to the floor
Cause I’ll lash out like a savage when my back’s against the wall.”
Put me in adverse conditions, put me in a place that I don’t want to be in, and sit back and watch me kick ass and take names. I’m sure it’s some type of defense mechanism. When I feel like life handed me yet another shitty card, I find something to counteract the shitty card. I draw a new hand, and make life better than it was before. Thus the sudden ambition to make my writing dreams come true, among other things.
It’s just what I do.
In other news. . .
Sophia got a promotion, and I am so fucking excited and proud of her. I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but Emma made a big business decision recently, too. She quit her day job and is going full time into the cooking business. I’ve got my writing career under way. It’s amazing to me that the two women who have held me up over the last couple of months are making progress in their business lives as well. It’s like the three of us are in sync, and I love it. I’m proud to call them both my friends, and excited that we’re all making big things happen.
I also have had some promotional ideas for So, This is Real Life. I have to finalize the ideas, but look for that to be coming soon. I talked with Sophia about my ideas. I talked with Oliver briefly about needing a decent photograph to submit with writing pieces – not only does he do fashion design, but he’s a photographer as well. If I can bring my friends in on my endeavors and get them some income from it too, all the better. My writing has never been about just me. It’s all the pieces that make up what I have to say, all the people that contribute to my life.
I got an idea at work today for a submission piece, typed it out and submitted it once I got home from taking Matt to the Orthodontist. Crossing my fingers, I think this one is pretty damn good, too.
Things are pretty fucking amazing in my world right now. Hectic and crazy, sure. But amazing as hell. I love this life of mine. I love living it. I never know what tomorrow will bring, and it’s absolutely fabulous. I have my steadies – I follow a pretty regular schedule, I can bank on some clusterfuck or another at work, my kids are forever hooligans. . . but then there’s the surprises. The forward movement in my writing career being the big contributor currently. I don’t know what success is around the corner in that regard, and I wake up every day wondering, “What’s next?”
I wish I would have done this sooner. But at least I’m doing it now. Regardless of the catalyst, I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and everything happens when it’s supposed to.
Happy almost Friday. Take the time to celebrate how far you’ve come, and recognize what you’ve done to get there. A lot of our roads haven’t been smooth and paved, and I’m proud of anyone that navigated their way to smoother travels. Celebrate the fruits of your ambitions.
So, This is Real Life 