because life is not perfect
It has been a hectic week with sick children and other misfortunes. I have barely been online other than for work. Today, for a change, a bit of a roundup grumble of the past week. There was plenty of time wasting and there were some batty old woman moments. Writing it down helps put things in perspective.
Saturday all day. There was an unpleasant smell in our living room. Too unpleasant to ignore. Putrid describes it well. I started a thorough clean, expecting to find a dead rodent or some other unpleasant rotten thing. I washed the dog's bed and his blankets. I cleaned out the telly cabinet and found the remote that has been missing for two years. I moved sofa and armchairs and cleaned underneath. I checked the bookshelves because mice, even half dead, are quite agile. I even hand washed the blinds in the bathtub (they shrank). I washed the floors. I cleaned and polished the leather sofa and armchairs (thinking it might mask the smell). I had the windows open all day. I cleaned those, too. I found nothing noteworthy other than the usual debris associated with children. The living room still stank. With all the other smells of a lived-in room gone, it was even worse. Then I noticed one of Jack's toys, a furry orange thing. It stank. It wasn't hidden or anything, it just didn't occur to me it might smell. I could have spent the day sewing, or reading (or playing with the children).
Tuesday. Sam had an x-ray appointment for his ongoing knee problem. His appointment was at 1:30 pm. Plenty of time to get back to school for 3:15, right? Including the 10 min drive. Not so. At 2:50 I realised there was no way I was going to make it back in time to pick up the little ones. We were still waiting for the IT system to come back online so that x-rays could be transmitted to the specialist. I called school to ask them to hold the boys back at the office until someone would be able to collect them. Normally Richard would step in in such moments but he had to take Annie to see a GP because she has been suffering with an intense one-sided headache since Friday last week. Her appointment was at 2:50 pm. I have a tendency to get really stressed in such situations. Anyway, all was fine in the end. Of course. Sam has a diagnosis for his knee problems and a further referral, Annie has got a diagnosis and treatment for her headache.
Tuesday evening. I just noticed that the boys left their homework in the living room. Jack loves to chew up homework and he particularly likes the soft plastic covered reading books. Yes, James's reading book cover is in pieces. It is the third one in two months.
Wednesday morning. I am currently applying for my dream job (more about that another day). It involves addressing 22 essential and 8 desired criteria on a webform. Having applied for jobs at the same institution before, I was wise enough to create a word document first, to copy and paste into the webform. I also knew that I had to address essential and desired criteria using 5000 characters each, including spaces. This you only find out if you click your way through the application process. Wouldn't it be great to know that before you nearly finish? 5000 characters is not much to describe my many outstanding qualities (or anybody else's for that matter). It took me all evening to trim the draft down to the required character number without loosing content. It was rather clipped (having so many amazing qualities). Alas, when I got to the relevant step, I was informed that I am now allowed 7500 characters, almost short story length. Cue some swearing. I then spent another hour praising myself some more, converting the clipped text into something more resembling prose. I think I did ok in the end but only time will tell.
Wednesday afternoon. I had planned my day carefully to make it to James' learning support meeting at school for 2:45 pm. I left in time to cycle to school but unfortunately I had no keys to unlock my bike. These were in my dirty jacket I didn't want to wear to go to the meeting (I have a reputation to maintain after all). The jacket was at home. I asked Richard if I could take his bike but I couldn't (we work together). Apparently my legs are too short. I think my legs are just right. So, running it was (short legs and all). I hoped to flag down a cab on the way. Cabs are never far in Glasgow. After a fast start I had to return to borrow money from Richard. I ran and huffed and puffed and just as I thought I might collapse a cab appeared. I got to school only two minutes late, heart rate back to normal but red and sweaty. Guess what? The meeting was not until today.
And so it goes...
Reading over this makes me laugh, at the time I felt stressed and tired but now that seems a bit silly. My First World problems are minor hiccups on the grand scheme of things, nothing get worked up about. Alas, it is good to mention from time to time that my glossy life is far from glossy once you scratch the surface. I'll be back with a more upbeat post soon. In the meantime, please do share your mishaps of the week with me!
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| Quince tree blossom! |
Saturday all day. There was an unpleasant smell in our living room. Too unpleasant to ignore. Putrid describes it well. I started a thorough clean, expecting to find a dead rodent or some other unpleasant rotten thing. I washed the dog's bed and his blankets. I cleaned out the telly cabinet and found the remote that has been missing for two years. I moved sofa and armchairs and cleaned underneath. I checked the bookshelves because mice, even half dead, are quite agile. I even hand washed the blinds in the bathtub (they shrank). I washed the floors. I cleaned and polished the leather sofa and armchairs (thinking it might mask the smell). I had the windows open all day. I cleaned those, too. I found nothing noteworthy other than the usual debris associated with children. The living room still stank. With all the other smells of a lived-in room gone, it was even worse. Then I noticed one of Jack's toys, a furry orange thing. It stank. It wasn't hidden or anything, it just didn't occur to me it might smell. I could have spent the day sewing, or reading (or playing with the children).
Tuesday. Sam had an x-ray appointment for his ongoing knee problem. His appointment was at 1:30 pm. Plenty of time to get back to school for 3:15, right? Including the 10 min drive. Not so. At 2:50 I realised there was no way I was going to make it back in time to pick up the little ones. We were still waiting for the IT system to come back online so that x-rays could be transmitted to the specialist. I called school to ask them to hold the boys back at the office until someone would be able to collect them. Normally Richard would step in in such moments but he had to take Annie to see a GP because she has been suffering with an intense one-sided headache since Friday last week. Her appointment was at 2:50 pm. I have a tendency to get really stressed in such situations. Anyway, all was fine in the end. Of course. Sam has a diagnosis for his knee problems and a further referral, Annie has got a diagnosis and treatment for her headache.
Tuesday evening. I just noticed that the boys left their homework in the living room. Jack loves to chew up homework and he particularly likes the soft plastic covered reading books. Yes, James's reading book cover is in pieces. It is the third one in two months.
Wednesday morning. I am currently applying for my dream job (more about that another day). It involves addressing 22 essential and 8 desired criteria on a webform. Having applied for jobs at the same institution before, I was wise enough to create a word document first, to copy and paste into the webform. I also knew that I had to address essential and desired criteria using 5000 characters each, including spaces. This you only find out if you click your way through the application process. Wouldn't it be great to know that before you nearly finish? 5000 characters is not much to describe my many outstanding qualities (or anybody else's for that matter). It took me all evening to trim the draft down to the required character number without loosing content. It was rather clipped (having so many amazing qualities). Alas, when I got to the relevant step, I was informed that I am now allowed 7500 characters, almost short story length. Cue some swearing. I then spent another hour praising myself some more, converting the clipped text into something more resembling prose. I think I did ok in the end but only time will tell.
Wednesday afternoon. I had planned my day carefully to make it to James' learning support meeting at school for 2:45 pm. I left in time to cycle to school but unfortunately I had no keys to unlock my bike. These were in my dirty jacket I didn't want to wear to go to the meeting (I have a reputation to maintain after all). The jacket was at home. I asked Richard if I could take his bike but I couldn't (we work together). Apparently my legs are too short. I think my legs are just right. So, running it was (short legs and all). I hoped to flag down a cab on the way. Cabs are never far in Glasgow. After a fast start I had to return to borrow money from Richard. I ran and huffed and puffed and just as I thought I might collapse a cab appeared. I got to school only two minutes late, heart rate back to normal but red and sweaty. Guess what? The meeting was not until today.
And so it goes...
Reading over this makes me laugh, at the time I felt stressed and tired but now that seems a bit silly. My First World problems are minor hiccups on the grand scheme of things, nothing get worked up about. Alas, it is good to mention from time to time that my glossy life is far from glossy once you scratch the surface. I'll be back with a more upbeat post soon. In the meantime, please do share your mishaps of the week with me!
Have a lovely Thursday evening! xx
All sounds normal to me :-)
ReplyDeleteSounds pretty normal with kids and dogs to me too.
ReplyDeleteIf you can laugh at it, then you're doing well. My main mishap this week was not realising that the automatic door in John Lewis opened outwards. Luckily some quick steps backwards saved my nose, though not my dignity - much to my daughter's great amusement.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this a lot, Christina. Good luck with job.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like the sort of frustrating week we all have from time to time - hopefully that's your turn out of the way now for a while! Good luck with the job xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a week, hehe! Good luck with the job!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, it sounds like you need a break. I hope you can relax this weekend. Lots of luck to you with the new job.
ReplyDeleteHey Chrstina,
ReplyDeleteYes I agree, looking back none of it seems too bad. But at the time it is. I hate to be late. I hate it if I am late for the children for any reason. I hate things being out of my control. All of your mishaps would have stressed me out considerably. I'm not a very laid back person I guess. My last blog post contained a minor breakdown over plot number 10. And today I have been very peevish. I feel put upon, and that's the truth. By friends, family, husbands and children. Oh and I slipped on a discarded apple core, and looked a right prat. And the swimming pool is closed for nearly two weeks for maintenance.
Here's to a fabulous and stress free weekend. And the very best of British for that dream job!
Leanne xx
Sorry you have had a less than perfect week! I do agree it helps put it into perspective when you write it out, but doesn't stop it being a pain at the time! Naughty Jack :)
ReplyDeleteOh honey, what a week. I have a lot of moments like that as well I'm afraid, especially the manic to-ing and fro-ing and trying to get places on time against all likelihood. I'm the one sat in traffic drumming my fingers. But I know what you mean,. when too many of these moments all bunch up together it's overwhelming. I'm wishing you calmness and a wonderful weekend in your beautifully clean living room. And loads of luck with the job application, although you are so amazing I doubt you will need the luck at all. (What is it with online forms and things that they are so badly designed???) CJ xx
ReplyDeleteoh dear. xxx hang in there xxx
ReplyDeleteDo you know what? I think you just had one of those weeks where you planted your seeds for the later harvest... next Saturday you can go straight past go (and all the cleaning) to sewing or reading after your magnificent efforts on the previous weekend, your quinces will be ripening and your new job is hopefully in the bag!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend.
Wren x
You climbed the mountain, it'll all be smooth sailing now.
ReplyDeleteI do feel for you Christina. Sometimes weeks just go like this and it's one thing after another but I think Wandering Wren has put it perfectly - you've set the scene for a week that goes like a breeze on the back of this one and it's a lovely thought that at the end of a week like this one, one that goes like a breeze and with extra time to do nice creative things is waiting round the corner! Wishing you a lovely plain-sailing weekend where everything goes like clockwork or better! E x
ReplyDeleteGlad you can laugh about your week now, sometimes weeks can be so intense & stressful. Fingers crossed for you job application x
ReplyDeleteThese weeks come up and smack us in the face every so often! It is no joke when you have appointments (esp medical/education etc) and life conspires to stop you getting there in a composed fashion. Hope you have a much more relaxing weekend and that next week is serene and lovely. Good luck with the job application too! X
ReplyDeleteThe dog story make me chuckle .I once told my teacher at school my next door neighbours dog chewed up my homework. After school she looked after me until my parents finished work .Her dog loved eating books especially mine. My teachers didn't believe me. Glad to see some dogs still loved books .
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your job app . Have a lovely weekend
Oh dear... But it did make me laugh too. And to be fair it all sounds pretty normal around here. On the bright side you do have a clean and tidy living room!
ReplyDeleteWhat a week you've had!! As it's Friday night, have a glass or three of wine! X
ReplyDeleteWell, it is wonderful that you can now laugh about it all. It does sound rather like a rather stressful week. Cheers to a relaxing weekend!
ReplyDeleteI hope by now you are relaxing with a g&t in your spotlessly clean living room! Next week can't possibly be as stressful, can it? xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, thank you. While I am not happy things were not perfect it reflects a bit of my week and now I feel like I have someone to share it with. I have worked a huge amount everyday with a cold. When I am tired my husband picks on things a bit and then I just get irritated. After leaving for work at 6:15 AM Tuesday, I worked and drove much of the day, got home to be totally confounded about my sons new university and how to get the classes he needed ( in five easy steps!!!) Swore at the computer and the system several times. Drove like maniac to the airport to pick up my oldest whose flight was 25 minutes early. Get to the airport in the middle of rush hour traffic to find the flight is now delayed and circling above the city due to a storm. It circles for an hour, has to go to Orlando to refuel. He ends up coming in 3 hours late, I get home at 10:15 PM and go right to bed to start the next day. Little Buddy has been ill and I have not even looked at yarn.
ReplyDeleteLife is sure not perfect.
Hugs,
Meredith
I'm sorry to hear about your mishaps, Christina, and I'm also sorry that reading this has made me laugh. Sorry!!!! I'd have been stressed too if I'd been in those situations, but looking back now, they do sound funny....Now for my own blooper this week: I had to put petrol in the car yesterday. I've never done it on my own before, my husband usually does it on the weekends to save me the trouble but for some reason he forgot this time. So there I was and I couldn't open the petrol tank cap. I phoned my husband at work for instructions but I only made him stressed and annoyed. I asked a nice old guy to help me and he did his best but no luck either. Finally a petrol station attendant came over and just opened it, just like that! I was beyond embarrassed. Luckily the place wasn't busy. Imagine if there was a queue of cars behind me!
ReplyDeleteThis is my first visit to your blog and I'm just in time to sympathize and smile a bit, sounds like a rainy kind of week. Next week the sun will shine.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
Xo
Some weeks we seem to stumble through life, and others we sail smoothly through. As someone who raised five children I have to say that with a large family there seems to be a lot more stumbling than sailing. I think you handle your busy life extremely well, Christina!
ReplyDeleteOh, you have had a tough week. I absolutely hate job applications, particularly when a CV and covering letter won't suffice. Filling in forms on the computer is so horrible.
ReplyDeleteMy brother came over the other day and for some inexplicable reason decided to mess around with the upstairs windows. He locked the bathroom one shut and the bedroom one open. We don't appear to have the key for either. So, the bedroom (facing a busy, noisy road) now can't have a fully closed window. And the bathroom is steamed up with no means of clearing said steam.
We're waiting for the landlord to find some window keys. And I'm sleeping in earplugs. Because our road is currently being used as a diversion from the closed bypass. Lots of traffic queueing, horn-honking and engine-revving late into the night.
Grr.
Hope next week's better for you.
S x
Oh my gosh, what a week you've had! It was very entertaining to read though. Good luck with your dream job - I hope you get it! x
ReplyDeleteIf for some reason you don't get this job, I think you should become a comedy writer or stand-up comic.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure these things didn't seem funny at the time, but your delivery of the stories are priceless. Thanks for the laugh!
I hope 'resilience' was one of the many qualities you put on your job application after that catalogue of incidents! Sympathies on the headache panic. I was reduced to tears by an optician's comment that I might like to get the fact that my 9 year old daughter had occasional headaches checked out 'as a matter of urgency'. Cue my meltdown in the doctor's surgery - I asked to go in alone for a few moments before my daughter came in - as I sobbed and babbled about how my children were the most precious thing in the world to me and I was so afraid it was a brain tumour. Turned out it was ... headaches. Unfortunately still with her at age 21 as migraines, but they pass.
ReplyDeleteDreading when I have to apply for a job online. My last job application was in 1996, but since then I've had 3 completely different jobs, such is the civil-servantish, moving people around in a chess-pieces sort of way in which my organisation operates.
Wishing you a more nearly perfect week this week!
May this week be much, much better! ( I had a stink in my classroom this week. It turned out to be a rotten sandwich under a bookshelf found on day 2 of looking for it! Ew...!)
ReplyDelete