The last week has been tough. I know life's always meant to throw these curveballs at you, but the last week felt like I was trapped in a batting cage with the pitching machine cranking out fast balls and me without a helmet and a bat. (That's my American-ism for the day)
I was brought up with the notion of "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and the concept that you just had to take the bad things in your stride. But when it's one thing after another, you do start to wonder...."when is this going to stop?" I believe that all things come in sets of three. Well believe me, I had my three last week. And they were all totally out of character for me. First, I dropped the ball at work. I knew it was meant to happen at some point, but the way it all came about made me feel sick and left thinking that my reprimand wasn't entirely professional. Then later that evening, as I dropped a 17-inch widescreen laptop on my toe, splitting the nail in half, and creating lots of blood and bruising. I'm not a clumsy person and I'm not prone to injurying myself. I took it as a sign that I was just exhausted after the bad day at work and opted for vodka on the rocks over Ibuprofen.
The third bad thing was a bit of a shock. It was two days later over the weekend. The day before had been Zak's birthday and we had a great time going out, and then that day we'd had a very successful barbeque. I was in the kitchen doing dishes from the party and had just poured myself a glass of wine to go in the living room and finally put my feet up. What I didn't know was that the universe had other plans. For some reason I had no idea that our 65 pound dog, Sheila, had laid down right beside my feet. I turned full force ready to start walking and went flying. I came crashing down on the tile floor, with my knee taking most of the shock. My head also hit the floor (no concussion, but minor whip lash) and the crystal glass shattered, slitting my finger open. I've never fallen like that before in my life, not even as a kid. So now I'm still hobbling around with a knee twice the size of the other.
So I've had my three bad things. Time for the cosmos to send something good my way.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Getting Together
This week has been a big week for my family. Yesterday my baby brother turned 16. He's the youngest in the family and the only boy. We all got together Sunday evening for a family dinner, Zak and my sister's boyfriend included, and were fully prepared to have an enjoyable evening.
Of course, things didn't turn out that way, and the boys all had to run out on a last minute errand that would take a couple of hours. This left my mum, dad, sister, and myself having dinner together for the first time since my brother was born. There have been plenty of times when my brother's been out, but there was always a boyfriend thrown into the mix, or maybe just one of us girls were at home. We all noticed that it was the first time in 16 years that we'd had dinner as just the four of us, and ended up talking about life before the baby. Only instead of us talking about things before he was ever a thought, we (mainly my sister and I) ended up talking about the excitement of him being born: what we wanted him to be named, what we were doing the day of him being born, etc.
Zak can't get over how close we are as a family. I never really noticed growing up how we were a much closer family than the average. We all spend time together because we want to and like to, not because we feel it's an obligation. I don't dread the holidays with my family or having to go to a dinner party with them. Hell, the best parties I've been to have been with them. We all make time for each other as a group and also separately as well. I like having one-on-one time with my mum or my sister, just as much as I like talking with my dad or listening to my brother play music.
I think our closeness stems to the fact that we live so far away from the rest of our family. It's forced us to rely on each other in a way that you wouldn't have to if your aunt or grandparents were just down the road or in another city, where you had the ability to see them more than once every two or three years. We know that we'll always be there for each other. Now that my sister and I are out of the house, and I'm married, we all have our own lives. But it's nice that we still find ourselves wanting to get back together every once in a while.
Of course, things didn't turn out that way, and the boys all had to run out on a last minute errand that would take a couple of hours. This left my mum, dad, sister, and myself having dinner together for the first time since my brother was born. There have been plenty of times when my brother's been out, but there was always a boyfriend thrown into the mix, or maybe just one of us girls were at home. We all noticed that it was the first time in 16 years that we'd had dinner as just the four of us, and ended up talking about life before the baby. Only instead of us talking about things before he was ever a thought, we (mainly my sister and I) ended up talking about the excitement of him being born: what we wanted him to be named, what we were doing the day of him being born, etc.
Zak can't get over how close we are as a family. I never really noticed growing up how we were a much closer family than the average. We all spend time together because we want to and like to, not because we feel it's an obligation. I don't dread the holidays with my family or having to go to a dinner party with them. Hell, the best parties I've been to have been with them. We all make time for each other as a group and also separately as well. I like having one-on-one time with my mum or my sister, just as much as I like talking with my dad or listening to my brother play music.
I think our closeness stems to the fact that we live so far away from the rest of our family. It's forced us to rely on each other in a way that you wouldn't have to if your aunt or grandparents were just down the road or in another city, where you had the ability to see them more than once every two or three years. We know that we'll always be there for each other. Now that my sister and I are out of the house, and I'm married, we all have our own lives. But it's nice that we still find ourselves wanting to get back together every once in a while.
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