Have you ever had one of those days when you want to punch the wall, punch a pillow, or punch your husband for no good reason? I had one of those today. I agreed to do an accompaniment job that I shouldn’t have agreed to, because I knew it would stress me out way too bad. But did I listen to myself? No, I agreed and as a result spent the last several days pulling my hair out trying to learn all the songs from “Hairspray the Musical” and “In the Heights.” I’ve never seen either play.
Finally, I broke down and did something I don’t think I’ve ever done before. I cancelled. I found a replacement pianist, gave her the music, and wished them all good-ridance. With that out of the way, I found myself in our disastrous little apartment, still working out the kinks to our new window air conditioner, and comforting a sick puppy who needs four doses of medication a day and breaks my heart every time she whimpers in pain. Oh not to mention a pile of laundry, I didn’t get my run in this morning, and it's been days since I've written an article I'm proud of.
After I bawled my husband out for….well, I don’t really remember why, he set out to do errands, and I tried to get things done. Feeling the walls close in, my chest tighten, and like I just might run away to become a mountain hermit, I really thought I might lose it for a minute.
A little bit later, my husband called me and told me to meet him by the picnic table behind the apartment building. When I arrived, he was waiting with ice cream. We sat outside, enjoying the breeze and green leaves, eating our ice cream. Together we broke down our to-do list one by one, deciding what was a priority and what was not. When we came back inside, things didn’t seem quite so overwhelming. At least I blogged. I have all day to write a decent article or two. And big deal if the laundry waits til tomorrow. Someday, when I learn to knit, I think I’ll knit this on a pillow: “It’s not as bad as it may seem. Have a picnic with ice cream!”
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Anita