The Post Vacation Blues

I think I need to build up that thick skin of patience again.

'Cause I don't got it right now.

Emma's constant prattle and noise are driving me nuts. I'm doing my best to stay calm and tune it out, but seriously... you'd think she was two, not nine. And the thing is, she expects me to listen to every word and sound that comes out of her mouth. When I don't, she takes offense.

She just finished practicing her violin. Now she's practicing the piano.

She was home from school today with what I think is Post Vacation Exhaustion Disorder: Exhaustion accompanied by severe headaches. The kid is SO going back to school tomorrow.

And that's just Emma. Hayley has been off the walls cranky since she got home from school. You can't breathe in front of her without getting yelled at. She's been in a lot of trouble today and it all started because I wouldn't go to the store to buy her Sprite. We don't normally have Sprite at home -- it's a special treat -- so why she thinks I would go buy it, I don't know.

Scott went straight from work to Men's Group, which I know he was really looking forward to. I'm so glad he was able to resume going, but his delayed return just extends my child-induced torture. (That they're torturing me, not vice versa. LOL)

I worked 8 hours today, answering stupid support emails. Normally I don't mind Support. (Don't tell Scott, but I actually kind of like it.) Today, though, I just could not muster the patience to not want to all cap at these people. If they would just read the instructions, they wouldn't have the problems they do! Seriously!

(Oh, Gracious Lord, Emma is now banging on the piano. Why did she have a nap today? Why? Now she'll be up really late instead of going to bed right now like she normally would.)

Can I run away now? I almost up and left the house house entirely about an hour ago when the girls would just not stop bickering. I knew that would just create more drama, though, so I stayed put and focused harder on my knitting in attempt to block out the frustration struggling to strangle my consciousness.

Add to all that the fact that we have gotten paid for the last two pay periods. The checking account is getting low. And that sucks. But the pisser is that the short sale on our Michigan house is finally about to close, so we have to send them a large check.

Normally, that wouldn't be a problem. I keep enough of a reserve in the checking account to handle such things. But without pay checks and with over $3000 in out-of-pocket travel expenses between Scott and I, the money's not there.

Thus, I must head to the bank tomorrow to do some creative credit card finagling. The ironic part? We're actually supposed to get paid tomorrow, but I need the money before the paychecks will (hopefully) be handed out. I've got to get the money FedExed so it arrives in Michigan Thursday morning. Funny how the date the money is required went from 2/15 to 2/12 to 2/11.

I will be so glad when this is all over. Please say prayers, cross your fingers, arrange your feng shui, whatever you do to bring about positive change, that everything goes as planned and the sale closes on Friday. (If it doesn't, a whole new super-sized can of worms on steroids will open, but we're not going to worry about that. Yet.