Fair warning. I am in a cranky place right now.
There are times in life when it seems like everything is moving in your direction. Bonuses at work. Bills that are less than you expected. An email of praise for a job you wondered if anyone had noticed you took on. A streak of good weather, and a clean house, and timing that works in your favor.
Then there are times that just seem unfair. Bills that all come in at once and a bonus you were counting on that didn't. Emails with issues that shouldn't be your problem to solve, but are, and then angry emails that you didn't solve it fast enough or exactly how they wanted. Sickness in the house that just lingers. Minor breakdowns, one after the other. A fluke car accident - like a deer.
We're in one of those latter times right now.
My new car got scratched - badly - in a parking lot. My NEW car. The car I've had less than six months. When I first looked at it, it was dark and cold and it didn't seem that bad. Maybe a little buffing or touch up paint. But then we looked at it more closely, and it's BAD. Really deep, like someone just dragged something metal across it. We called insurance, and it's not only a time consuming fix, it's an expensive one (well, for them. Our deductible isn't bad). But my brand new car will be heading to the body shop for at least two weeks, and that just stinks. I'm getting a rental, but it's back to the old cramped five seater, which kills my carpooling for the next few weeks too.
We've had runs of sickness that just won't let up. Nothing AWFUL. No flu, or anything like that. But fever viruses that linger. Irritating coughs. And one wretched run of the stomach bug that I hope is never repeated.
Then work stress and house stress and all that anxiety inducing stuff. Lots of expenses that won't break us, but aren't exactly fun. And then when we figure we can go back to cutting back, we get something like the insurance deductible for a scratched car, and we get irritated all over again.
No, it's no Lifetime movie, but it's definitely making us cranky.
The good news is that this kind of run doesn't last forever. We've been through them before, and they end, and end with us still standing, still together. And sometimes, more often than not, they're followed by the other kind of run, where the good news just keeps coming. And that's where I'm hoping we end up next.
