This Is My Life At the Moment...

At one point earlier this afternoon, I was standing in my daughter's bathroom staring at a trail of ants crawling across the back wall, trying to figure out where they had come from and where they were going. My daughter was discussing with me whether or not she would take a Red Cross babysitting course this Saturday; the problem is that the neighbor girl wants Kristiana to go with her to take the class, but Kristiana's best friend wants to come here for a sleepover on Friday night - which would make an early wake-up call on Saturday a great inconvenience.

At the same time, the very same moment, my son was calling up from the kitchen asking me to take him and a friend to the tennis courts so they could play tennis. And, by the way, could the kid up the block borrow my brand new tennis racket?

At the time, I had a towel wrapped around my wet dreadlocs because I had only stepped out of my own shower - where I had also seen ants crawling. Wishing I could communicate with the ants, I stood there practicing my speech: "What is up with all you ants coming into our house? What do you want in our bathrooms? There's no food up here, guys. Please leave us alone. Please go back outside where you belong." In an effort to mask my imminent insanity, I didn't say any of that out loud.

Instead, I stood up, turned and looked at my beautiful daughter, listened to my handsome son bellowing from below, and I asked: "Will someone please give me a break? Or split me into two women who can deal with all these issues at the same time?" I didn't use those exact words, but I did say something similar - out loud.



So here it is, a summary of my life at the moment:

Not only...

- An ant invasion

- A hole in the ceiling of our family room (The plumbers came to fix a leak from the tub in our bathroom - a tub that sits directly above the family room couch. Apparently, plumbers make holes, but they don't patch them. Interestingly enough, not a single ant has entered or exited that hole.)

- Fielding telephone calls from the financial aid and admissions offices of Williams College and from my sister-in-law (who is actually divorced from my brother) trying to get my niece's financial aid package finalized

- Filling out forms for my son's school, piles and piles of forms

- Filling out forms and signing papers to move my mother-in-law from one assisted living facility to another. The reason why I was signing the forms and not my husband is next...

- Since Sunday night, my husband has been staying in a hotel less than ten minutes away, attending a leadership conference related to his job, meeting new people, eating meals he doesn't have to plan, prepare, or clean up after, sleeping soundly in a bed he doesn't have to make, and I bet he hasn't seen a single ant the whole time. He comes home tomorrow night.

- While I was standing in the shower, shampoo running down my forehead, I felt something hard and sharp underfoot. I wiped off my eyes and looked down - where I discovered one of my diamond studs just inches away from the drain cover. Fortunately the earring back was only a few inches away from the earring.

- My children want to be shuttled back and forth to their friend's houses, to the pool, to the tennis courts, and even to the beach - which is at the very least 3 1/2 hours from where I am sitting at the moment!

- A heat wave in Charlotte

- Drought all over the southeast

But also...

- Food in the cupboards, on the shelves in the laundry room, and in both refrigerators

- Air conditioning that works against the humidity and high temperatures

- Water that is safe to drink, bathe, and swim in

- Planning a trip to NYC in early November to be reunited with my CT writing group. A women's weekend away...

- Hoping to add on an extra day for some solo strolling on the streets, in the shops, and through the musuems of that intoxicating city

- Friends whose art work is on display in Ohio and on Nantucket (I am sorry I can't see either display!)

- Two healthy children and a husband that is working hard to keep this roof above us, healthy and delicious food inside of us, and well-made clothes all over us

- Health, auto, home, and life insurance in case any of the aforementioned issues should change unexpectedly

- The knowledge that, even if insurance doesn't pay for it all, we have had a fantastic life together: ants, arguments, holes in ceilings, fender benders, transmission problems, extended family crises notwithstanding.

- This is my life.
All is well.
I am thankful.