The Beauty's in the Breakdown

You guys. I'm sort of wigging. Can we talk for a minute about all the things that have been going on in my life? Where to start, where to start...

I drove to Ohio.
Upon finding out that my grandmother was in the hospital, Nathan & I decided to drive back to my home state last weekend. We spent about 36 hours in Ohio... & about 30 hours in the car. In case that wasn't difficult enough (my body still hurts & I never want to listen to a podcast again), the point of the trip was even more difficult.

My grandma is sick.
I already told you about this, & I should note that she's doing much better than she was at the time I wrote that post. She was hospitalized the day I wrote it, & she's since been moved to a rehab facility, where she'll likely be for awhile. It was a relief to see her in person & to get the reassurance that she's doing well, but it was still an emotional roller coaster to see her that way. On top of it all...

I've been sick, too.
Not the same kind of sick, of course, but I've been mildly unwell ever since returning from Israel. I was just starting to feel better when I headed to Ohio last week - but I somehow came home with a cold. I am interested in being asleep all the time, which is not feasible because...

I switched jobs.
This is sort of a convoluted situation, but basically, I've been temporarily reassigned within the same organization. The nonprofit I've been with for four & a half years is in the midst of a transitional period, & my skills were needed elsewhere within the organizational structure. My reassigned position is one I like very much & am really happy about - but, of course, switching gears is always stressful. And then, on my second day of the new gig...

My boyfriend deployed.
Nathan left this morning, headed to sea for the next two months. He's been home since just before Christmas, which was a nice change, as we usually only get about 60 days together before he gets underway again. All that time together meant, though, that his leaving today has been even more of a bummer. While he's gone...

I have a lot of travel coming up.
Starting next Friday, my schedule looks like this: Phoenix > D.C. > Boston > NYC. All in all, I'll be gone about 10 days, some for work & some for play, & while I'm looking forward to all of it, I'm feeling sort of panicky about being away for that long. Would you call me a crazy cat lady if I told you that I hate leaving my furball? And, you know, travel is kinda stressful, especially the anticipation part of it. Also...

I've taken on some side jobs.
I'm thrilled to be taking on some really exciting new writing & social media projects, as well as continuing my work with Twenties Hacker & Jewesses With Attitude - but with everything going on, I haven't had a lot of spare time to dedicate to doing, well, anything. I feel like a slacker, & my deadlines are weighing heavily upon me. To top it all off...

My car broke down.
More on that later & why I will be an AAA member as long as I live. For now, suffice it to say that my car broke down physically while I broke down emotionally.

So there you have it. Oddly, I don't think I'd realized just how high my stress level currently is until writing all of it down. In fact, I don't feel like I had time to write it at all, & now I'm feeling guilty about wasting my precious time - but I guess my sanity is worth "wasting" some time on.

Um, no wonder I've been sick. I have been freaking out non-stop. Anyone wanna loan me a masseuse?

Photos: 1, 2