Not My Week.

I apologize in advance, that there is nothing positive nor uplifting about this post (except for the cute Emmy pictures at the end :-P.)

This week didn't start well with the having to say goodbye to my Nick again.  I hate goodbyes.  I became entirely too comfortable having him home with us, almost to the point of forgetting the eight months that we'd already spent apart.  It's crazy how the mind can protect you from pain (perhaps this is why women are capable of going through childbirth repeatedly.)  My "sweet" girl added insult to injury in her decision to pitch a giant fit on the way home from the airport.  I guess I did a poor job pretending that my nerves weren't already shot; she clearly picked up on my bummer mood and was attempting to out do me.

The day only worsened when I got a phone call from a "restricted" number (which is typically Nick's office phone), but this time it was a hysterical Lancer spouse on the other end.  Her grandmother, that she had not spoken to in 4 years, had died, her estranged family had not informed her until after the funeral; and her husband, who she's considering divorcing because of an affair he had on her last summer, is not answering their Afghani cell phone.  Yep, I fit that all into one sentence.  She hoped that I could make arrangements for him to call her.  If only I had the direct line to Afghanistan that she thinks I have, I would be one very happy woman.  My pity party quickly turned into a phone therapy session, and retreating to my, now empty, bed was postponed.

I woke up late the next morning, which meant I had to swing into high gear to get us out of the house on time.  Emmy fought me tooth and nail as I tried to ready for "preschool."  At which time, the dogs assumed their favored positions in only my most stressed out moments: Molly pulling on one pant leg and Darla humping the other.  Overstimulated doesn't begin to describe the feeling.  Then, I accidentally left the door open to the garage when I ran to the bathroom which led to my adventurous child tumbling down the steps to the garage floor.  She was unharmed but shaken.  That made two of us.

If only I had time to crawl back in bed to start the day over, I would have.

Later, as I was mindlessly listening to Christmas music, in an effort to shake my funk, and zooming to my next appointment, I got a speeding ticket.  Lovely.

Just after I finished updating mom on my terrible-no-good-very-bad-day, and genuinely believing her when she said that things could only get better, I ran over a squirrel.  The sight of any road kill makes my heart hurt, but the thought of being a squirrel murderer was just more than I could take.  I had just committed involuntary vehicular manslaughter; which made me a criminal behind the wheel twice in one week.  So, I lost it.  And then I called Kris.  Thankfully God nudged me to call her for a very good reason, because she offered me great insight.  Kris helped me to realize the very distinct possibility that the squirrel was terminally ill and I just expedited his inevitable demise.  I could live with that.  Even though I will forever be haunted by the rearview mirror image of that sweet little squirrel plastered to the road.

Later that day, while Emmy and I were having a lovely dinner with Lindsey, Molly, Kristy and Greyson, I get another phone interruption.  It's from the previously mentioned spouse whose dog's eye is now protruding from her head.  She didn't have money to pay the vet bill because her frisky husband has left her name off of their accounts.  I spend another hour on the phone with her later in the evening as we recount the dog crisis and revert back to her family's unsavory behavior in the wake of her grandma's death.

The rest of the week has been without a break between SSG Josh Powell's Eagle Remembrance Ceremony, Darla's overdue teeth cleaning, catching up on everything I let go while Nick was home, and Christmas and FRG meeting preparations.  It's all been way harder and more complicated than it should be.  

Two of the envelopes with crash memory bracelets inside that I mailed to our family members arrived torn open sans bracelets.

We had the greatly anticipated Video Teleconference Meeting/Holiday gathering yesterday for our soldiers and their families, and we had a whopping 8 people in attendance (and two of them were Nick and I).  So glad I was up all hours of the night getting ready for it. 

No sooner had I plopped down on the couch after our less-than-stellar meeting, did my phone ring.  This time with a new mommy spouse who is having a hard time shaking the baby blues, which isn't being helped by the fact that her nephew drowned 3 weeks ago.

And now my child has her first fever.

Thank you, Lord, for keeping me humble.

Emmy helping me decorate our downstairs tree.

 I got some great advice to decorate a small tree that Emmy can't reach to risk pulling over on herself.

Emmy takes after her Papa Odell with fantastic morning bed head 'dos! :)