I haven’t written anything here of any substance for a very long time. I’m not exactly sure why except that I haven’t felt the need or compulsion to do so. One of the thoughts that has been distilling inside for a long time is that this whole Web 2.0 / social media / whatever-you-want-to-call-it thing is becoming more and more obviously a giant exercise in self gratification and self glorification. And I have participated in that for a long time, including in this blog. It’s ironic that I am therefore expressing that thought here, but oh well…
It’s the season of Christmas and like most of the last ten years of our married life, Michele and I are at the stage where there is way too much to do, too little time in which to do it all, and we’re really overwhelmed and stressed out. There is so much to do just around the house, for example. We are real people with normal kids. Translated: Our house is a big mess. Our garage is a mess, too; so much so that we can’t do the usual thing and shift messes from inside the house to the garage. What, oh, what, are we going to do? And how on earth are we going to get it done in time for Christmas and New Year’s?
Why is it that this season is so stressful, always, always, always?! Ugh.
Yesterday was a prime example of this. We had plans to do lots of things, starting with dropping off one of our cars to have the transmission fixed at a place that’s about 40 minutes away. I drove the van to be fixed, while Michele drove the other one. We succeeded in dropping the van off and then I noticed that the van Michele and Keegan usually drive was way overdue for an oil change and tire rotation. I thought it’d be best to get that done right away so we went to the nearest Wal-Mart, figuring we could drop off the van to have that stuff done while at the same time, doing some needed shopping for groceries, stocking stuffers, and whatever else. When we arrived at the store, we were told that they were short-staffed and that something that would normally take at most an hour would take two to two and a half hours. We decided to go ahead and wait. I won’t go into all the details of what happened except to say that our experience was nightmarish due to incompetent Wal-Mart staff. What was supposed to take two hours stretched to twice as long and we left that store over four hours later. Talk about the ultimate nightmare: to be stuck in a Wal-Mart store during the busiest shopping time of the year, for hours on end! I’ve often said that if (and I don’t buy this personally at all) Disneyland is supposedly the happiest place on earth, then any Wal-Mart I’ve ever been in is the saddest place on earth.
As I write this post, winter weather has us in its grip. Snow has covered the ground, more snow is on the way, the temps have dropped dramatically, and the wind has really kicked up. I’m trying to think of how nice it is to be inside with a cozy cup of coffee, relaxing on the couch. But I’m too stressed and overwhelmed to enjoy it. ‘Tis the story of the season.