Yesterday, I wrote a post about treading water.
Last night, my area had several major storm systems converge and emerge, spitting out tornadoes left and right, and dumping several inches of rain on us.
This morning, I woke up to an utterly flooded front yard and driveway.
Y’all, yesterday’s post was supposed to be a metaphor, not a prediction!
This is the last week that the kids sorta have school. I say sorta, because there’s nothing serious going on–just wrapping up, playing together, and doing some last minute in-town field trips (1st and 2nd grades go to a park on the opposite corner of town today, and 3rd grade is going bowling). Tomorrow, they’re out for the summer as of 11:00 a.m.
I’ve been having difficulty concentrating between trying to figure out how to re-set routines for summer, worrying about my aunt (surgery was successful, chemo starts this week or next), and trying not to worry about my mom’s other sisters’ dramatics.
Normally, I’ve got about five trains of thought going at once, and all on different tracks. One of them recently has been frustrated and disgusted with what state my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has let the house get into over the winter. And that particular train of thought has been derailing my efforts to write: I sit down, and the bits that make the words go are drowned out by the bits screaming at me to get up and deal with this mess, or that mess, or the other mess.
So, I’ve started working the FlyLady method again. Working for a week in each zone. Little bit at a time. My library (zone 5–where I started again last month) is (mostly) clean. Dining room is liveable (zone 1–first week of the month, and I have kids, remember), I can work in the kitchen again (zone 2–lots done, but lots still needs done in there). Bathrooms…I got sick last week. Both passing kidney stones and stress-induced CFS attack. I got a lot done, but not the floors. The master bedroom…I may actually be able to get that dealt with, with the exception of the closet that needs some work done and some storage things added. I’ll deal with the closet next month.
Next week, zone 5 rolls around again (living rooms). And, since my library’s still in maintainable good shape, I’ll be working on the family room. That one is going to be hard to maintain. That’s the living space the kids spend the most time in. Paper, crayons, color pencils, regular pencils, DVDs, and general kid-mess EVERYWHERE. All the time. Even after it’s just been cleaned.
But keeping that room presentable is going to be part of the kids’ responsibility this summer. Stuff they have to do before they’re allowed a chance at extras that might come with little bits of money.
And, with visible progress being made…the bit screaming about the state the house is in is starting to shut up and let the bits that makes the words go be heard.
Which is a good thing. Meg the vampire has been nagging me, and I’ve got word back from my beta readers on Gods and Monsters, and I need to run the edits through.
I lost about 400 words when my laptop decided to update and wouldn’t let me save, first. That was…Friday, I think.
My aunt, my mom’s second youngest sister (there are four of them–my mom is the oldest) was diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks ago. And went in for surgery this morning. Assuming they were on schedule, it should have started fifteen minutes ago. My impressions are that they caught it early–they don’t usually rush treatment if it’s not going to keep it from spreading. I’m hoping I’m right, but I’m playing Telephone, trying to get details from people who don’t understand the information they’re being given by someone who doesn’t understand the information she’s been given and won’t ask for clarification.
And I’ve gotten sick. Again.
I am about ready to scream. This has been a frustrating–and terrifying–couple of weeks.
The Godshead Tavern 