Real Talk Thursday

Life is great -- I've got heat when it's chilly, a full belly (in every sense of the word), friends and family that support me, a loving husband, a fulfilling career, and a dang fine roof over my head.

And with that disclaimer, a bit of a vent sesh.

What is it about bad things happening in threes? Or fours?

When it happens in fours, it makes you wonder if you just have had a stroke of bad luck or if you've got two more doozies heading your way.

It all started Sunday morning when we noticed that Drake was acting rather bothered by his left arm, where it meets his torso. He was licking it and I noticed the fur was thinning out. By Sunday evening the fur was almost gone. I concocted a bandage of sorts using a washcloth and medical tape but it wasn't staying up. By Monday morning, he had a bit of a large scab forming. By Monday evening -- Y'ALL -- when I came home from work, an entire chunk, CHUNK, was missing from his arm. I was looking deep, deep into his skin, about a full half inch in. Enough to make your stomach flip. Thank goodness for adrenaline that got us through it and a new cone of shame that is keeping him from messing with it further. He went to the vet and got new meds -- antibiotics and steroids. The vet said the cause could be a whole host of reasons, and right now we are just hoping he recovers quickly and then doesn't start messing with the area again once he's healed.

Tuesday morning I was slated to head to Vermont for work. Ian awoke before me to shower, but he came out of the bathroom immediately and said "We've got a problem." Frozen pipes. We had no water in our shower. Thankfully, our guest room shower was working so we were able to use that. But then Ian's computer research on frozen pipes got us all worried about the potential for a busted pipe and the thousands of dollars it may take to get that fixed. Ouch.

I conducted a phone interview that morning from home and then started throwing outfits willy-nilly in my overnight bag for Vermont. I was so flustered and felt so guilty leaving a home with half of the faucets operating and a dog chewing his arm off. On the rushed way out of the door, I got my first automated call from the air carrier letting me know my first connecting flight was delayed.

The airport Tuesday morning was a madhouse. And delay after delay for my Philadelphia flight would have caused a missed connecting flight to Vermont. So I had to cancel the trip at the last minute -- rebooking everything for next week -- the event, the hotel, the rental car, the flight. The client was great about it but my anxiety was at about a 9.3 out of 10.

And during that time, Ian was texting me asking -- did I have a chance to get someone out about the pipes? Because this is a "catastrophic home situation April!" Well. I said some choice words and did a bit of texting to him in caps lock (whoops, sorry babe) and got on the phone at the airport to get someone lined up to come to the house. Only thing is, he was doing the same thing. We ended up having three appointments set, two of which were with the very same plumbing company.

Y'all. I was about to lose it.

The upside was that my cancelled trip resulted in me getting to spend the night in my own bed, and I'm not in the super chilly Vermont temperatures -- only the super chilly Charlotte temperatures.

And yesterday morning Ian texted me that our garage door was not working.

Did I mention that a month ago we sold all of our bedroom furniture and still have yet to replace it? We are sleeping on a mattress on the floor, and there are piles of our folded clothes on the guestroom bed and my closet floor. We still have no bed ordered, no mattresses selected, no dresser, no nightstand for Ian.

No nursery furniture except for a rocking chair and a rocking horse (necessities).

I'm going to call mercy.
Have you had these days?

Life is not perfect and I know that these are all small things (assuming Drake gets better).

But these small things might just cause me to lose it.

Le sigh.

I'll be back tomorrow with a HAPPY Five on Friday, I can assure you that. Thanks for hanging with me today. Sometimes a girl just needs to vent!