(no subject)

[altarflame]

I am feeling pretty overwhelmed. I'm doing things like eating a lot of ice cream and drinking a lot of wine every night, to try to breathe through it or something. I mean.

There's SO MUCH going on. IT'S FUCKING CRAZY. And Grant is out of state all week, and was out of state half of last week, and is like, NOT HERE, when he's "here", for the last few months - I am just so incredibly burnt out, in some ways. I could seriously use a break from being the one in charge of home repair; auto maintenance; all budgeting and bill paying; raising/educating/dealing with medical crap for five kids; cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping for 7 - while trying to go to school and be a writer....

Then other ways I'm doing really well.

I spent the entire day, today, doing things like sitting on hold with the school board while I tried to figure out Amazon's author page criteria and helped Jake film his K'Nex creation, or going through REALLY CROWDED stores for school supplies and uniforms with everyone while making appointments and realizing my scheduled things overlap.

Kathy's coming to dinner tomorrow night, for instance, but tomorrow night is orientation at Isaac and Elise's school.

That school, and Annie's and Aaron's virtual school both call me twice a day each because the home education office is dragging it's feet getting to me out of the pile, on all kinds of forms various people need.

I realized after the fact that I scheduled Isaac's gastro appt for a time I have class. But I also realized it'll be easy to get all his (NICU, appendectomy, ER) records from Miami Children's Hospital before his appt since Aaron's appt is at Miami Children's, first. Win some and lose some, eh?

I'm really worried about Aaron, he's so uncharacteristically lethargic and low appetite and needy, and has been for awhile, and part of me gets pretty freaked worrying that maybe my non-interventive pediatrician could be a bad thing in this case :/ He needs a lot of extra love. It's only 5 more days til his appt at the Infectious Disease office, is my chanted mantra...

Our van is making a NEW noise. And I am going against all the advice my mechanic father ever gave me, and blatantly ignoring it, because I can't afford to do anything about it for at least another couple of weeks. We're still making payments on the LAST van noise...

My book is sort of out (this is me acting like this isn't a big deal as a defense mechanism). My publisher is ordering a copy of it to test for formatting errors because they had issues with the printer last time and that author ended up with like three unintentionally bolded pages and it was a fiasco to get it all changed (we're using Amazon's Print on Demand for mail order and batches from a printer for events and local book stores). But Grant shared the link I sent him on fb and now, as a result, I've got a ton of people ordering it even though it's not really ready to be ordered, exactly, possibly :p Hopefully it is? And I'm trying to wrap my head around the, "I just ordered it!!" comments rolling in via fb and text from:

-Dance Empire moms
-PATH board members
-my mother
-old high school friends
-old camp friends
-aunts and cousins
-some guy Grant worked with 2 years ago who used to make me nuts

And so on. Each is problematic in it's own way, and the conglomeration felt like I was "coming out" (as a lunatic) and had me cramping and running to the bathroom with stomach problems.

Because, you know, that is the glamorous life of a published author.

I will be pimping this link all over the place soon, here and on tumblr and through various friends and connections...after we've reviewed the proof. There will also be a Kindle version available by then.

This week is so up and down. Today I feel confident that I got a ton accomplished and really made the childrens' day great, too. There have been days when I do almost nothing and hide from reality, though, and/or spend affectionate time with them that involves no productivity and a trip through the Wendy's drive thru at 9pm for dinner.

---

Ok, I was waylaid by Isaac being adorable - reading in bed and snuggling with cats - he lured me in and now I've spent too long trying to decide whether to go to sleep for the night or do a bunch of cleaning and interview-finishing...it's time to just sleep so tomorrow isn't a bust.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

They moved MCH's records office from the main hospital to another building that is off of Blue Lagoon Drive (near the airport). The only records you can get at the main hospital are radiology related films and reports. You might be better off signing a release with the records department via fax and having them mail you the records. Not trying to be a bearer of bad news, just trying to help you expedite things.


Also, so I am a little less creepy and anonymous, this is Nicole. We met a while back at LLL years ago and I have been a regular reader of your blog for years. I am also the anonymous creeper that told you about Dr. Koutouby.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

You're actually incredibly helpful! And not creepy at all :) I feel terrible to admit I don't remember you, but I am very bad with names. Faces are sort of it, for me. Thank you, though.

Now I feel it's inevitable that I am going to run into you somewhere and not connect the name, "Nicole" or your comments to your face in the slightest. I guess that will give you a prime opportunity to make fun of me on the internet ;)

[(Anonymous)]

I always wished I had a mechanic and a dentist in the family so they could fix my expensive problems for cheap or free! Does your dad ever fix your van for free/cheap?

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

My Dad lives a few hours away. He gives free phone advice somewhat frequently. When he lived in town he would do what he could - generally speaking, though, it usually needs some kind of part or parts replaced that he doesn't have at his house, or he would need a lift to get it in the air beyond what a jack can do, or the machine to hook it up to and run codes to diagnose a check engine light, etc. Also, as time passes, our vehicles get more and more far removed from what he knows - like he didn't know anything at all about the Prius (which was sort of a non-issue since it was a new car with a warantee, but you know). They just didn't have hybrid cars when he got his ASE certification. Some of it is just intuitive, but a 2008 Nissan minivan is not a 1985 Cadillac.

[emeraldrabbit.livejournal.com]

Resisting the urge to FB stalk Grant for that link. Ahhhh I want your book, but I'll wait til it's ready :D