Details of Crazy

It’s been a month. Life got crazy…and here is where I detail the crazy.

Last month we all exhaled from Christmas. And in our neck of the woods, Christmas came with every known virus you could think of. Everyone we knew got hit with at least 1 awful sickness. Some people got many. Have you ever read Stephen King’s “The Stand”? Hello super-flu! If you haven’t read it—your an idiot. You need to read it. ALL of it. Yes, all 1,436 pages.

Then there was my son’s birthday. At Chuck E Cheese. I was pleasantly surprised at the experience because usually CEC reminds me of every gross, germy, money-sucking, child-overrun play establishment. And this one serves beer. But this CEC was clean, orderly, and helpful. However the weeks leading up to it were murder. “How many more days till my party?” “When’s my party again?” “I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL MY PARTY!!”

His father wanted to buy him Transformers this year. He wasn’t having any luck finding them where he lives. I volunteered to help him out. Only to find out—it took me 30+ minutes to transform ONE of those things. Now he owns 5 of them. His father wrote me a check and was surprised I was willing to help him. Generally I steer clear of anything money-related with him. For the past 7 months he has been employed and Child Support Enforcement has been sending me regular checks. Yah for money! I thought…give him a break and help him out.

Bam. Unemployed again with a text telling me he’s sorry but the check is going to bounce. Hey Lucy, wanna play football?

Lastly, the weather has been kicking my ass every joint in my body. My rheumatologist would say it’s not the weather when I feel this bad. It’s the disease. And it means we need to do a better job of managing it. One thing I haven’t really tried is exercising. Who wants to exercise when the day after it leaves you in a ball of hurt?! Can I get a hell-yeah!?

In January our YMCA was offering half off their joining fee. When I calculated what I pay for a babysitter to “save my sanity” for 2 hours once a week, I realized the YMCA monthly fee was LESS. This Y has a rock wall, a heated pool (about 78), a HUGE hot tub, and indoor track, a Tween center, an endless supply of nautilus/running/biking equipment, a huge playroom, and a boat-load of classes. Drop the kids off and get time to myself while exercising. What could be better?

Here’s the rub: the day after I exercise—ball of hurt. And that’s where I am today. But I can’t give up.

So, please pass the anti-inflammatories, and the ulcer medicine (from too many anti-inflammatories).