Taking A Few Mental Health Days...

My birthday should be a national holiday.

But because the government has yet to respond to my formal written request, I put in four months ago for some days off. We had a trip planed to New York City set for this weekend for the last month or so. And then life happened.

Nettie died. The dog got super needy and refuses to eat when we leave her. My knee is acting up. Youngest has been weird, but in a good way, which is both good and suspicious. I've been working a gazillion hours and training new staff as well. Holiday is coming. The house is beginning to smell like a frat house. 

Going away felt more like work than a much needed escape, so I cancelled it. The husband understood, in that he supported my decision, even though he had absolutely no idea what I meant when I said I didn't have the "mental health space" to go. Instead, I slept until 830 on Saturday, showered, and we dropped the dog at day care for the day. We headed west to the outlet mall, Bass Pro, and anywhere else that resembled a shopping experience, something that lately, is getting harder and harder to find. 

The Christmas shopping, friends, is nearly done. I'm not sure entirely how it happened, it just did.  I hit the sale racks, stood in line, and swiped away some of my overtime money. The husband carried the bags, running them to the truck as needed. The local Cracker Barrel was slammed, but we managed to get in for a quick bite before heading back home. He walked the dog while I made us dinner, and clicked away at the few last things we couldn't find in stores. With it all tucked away, it was as if a giant weight was lifted. I know that it may seem stupid to most, but having spent the better part of 15 years in retail, I got in the habit of being done by my birthday every year.  That way if I was in a mall, dealing with people, it was because I wanted to not because I had to, and that seems to have stuck with me long after my retail days have gone.

Youngest was home on Saturday night at 830pm.  Like, actually home, and in bed by 9. So I slept, like a baby this morning until 8ish. Oldest ran out of his medication on Friday and knowing things are ramping up at school, I ran him some extras until his refill came.  His prescription, last I checked, was still in transit since the 9th of October, which is simply unacceptable. So we did some grocery shopping for home and the dorm and headed into Boston.  Let me just say I miss the part of COVID when there was no traffic. It seems that no matter how we time it, the 45 minute trip in turns into 1-2.5 hours each way. So we saw the boy, took him to lunch, and made the trek home. I'd love to say that I had an incredibly productive day after that, but no. I took a much needed nap.  The husband is watching football, muddling under his breath, the dog is whining because (rolls over and sighs) no one is rubbing her belly.

Tomorrow the Hubs is headed down to help his brother in law stack some more wood before the winter moves in.  I am catching up on household stuff, lawn work, and have a much needed therapy session. 

Tuesday will be for eating cake.

And then, the chaos will resume. The overtime will return, my patience will run thin, and the countdown to January will commence. 

But for today I will sit in the silence, the calm, the peace.

Well, once I kill that fly that someone let in.