Greetings Kind Reader -
I know ... I'm a bad blogger. I've been away for a whole month. But instead of coming up with all the reasons why I haven't been able to blog, I figured I'd share with you an email I sent to one of the writer/readers who help me out over at The Magnolia Blossom Review. I sent this message on May 5th - and maybe it'll shed a wee bit of light on just how wacky and tiring my days have been.
Oh, and as an aside - I had my 44th birthday in May. It was a lovely day, too. I'm rather enjoying 44 and I hope that I've got at least 44 more years ahead of me!
Now here's that email from May 5, 2014 12:17 AM (yes, that's right - AM!)
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Hi Sabrina,
I'm not sure if I actually sent you an email just a moment ago - I think I hit send but I might have actually hit the back button - all I know is that I am so Freaking tired, I can barely see straight.
Why am I so tired?
Well, it goes a little something like this:
A. I had a super long day today in the heat of San Antonio for hours with my husband (which was nice) while my daughter sat in the beautiful Majestic Theatre and watched Evita with her theatre class. We went to The Alamo. Honestly, it isn't all that exciting - so if it's on your Bucket List ... unless you are a die hard fan of Texas history ... you might want to put something else in its place like seeing the world's largest ball of twine.
Essentially, the Alamo --today-- looks nothing like it did (externally) when it was actually a fort (even though it started out as Catholic Mission) as it did NOT look like the 'Mother of All Taco Bells' during the siege. The inside is interesting (and air conditioned - and oh, I was SO pleased about that!).
I would've taken some Pictures Inside ... only you can't take pictures inside. So, unless you've got a photographic memory or you pay $25 for the photo book, it'll sort of fade away into the recesses of your mind. I seem to remember flags, many flags - a statue of St. Antonio, and very anxious looking park rangers who were ready to throw anyone chewing gum (not allowed) out and ban them for life from the site.
Seriously. There is NO gum allowed inside the Alamo. I imagine when middle School or high school groups come through those guys must have to take anxiety medicine or something as I've never encountered a group of teens where there wasn't at least one kid packing some Juicy Fruit or Trident somewhere on their person just waiting for the most opportune time to whip it out, shove it inside their mouths, and chew like it's the last bit of chicle on the face of the Earth.
But before ever getting to San Antonio today/Sunday - these are the things I had to deal with in the days prior to our Alamo/River Walk excursion...
B. I had to get up EARLY on Friday to get Jessica to school to take her English Dept exam for the college that is buddied up with her school. And I mean E-A-R-L-Y, too. And I have to ask myself ... why? For Pete's sake - the entire semester her class has started at 9AM and on this one day they insist the students arrive at 8AM. Is that the real test? Is the arriving on time on that one day the deciding factor between passing or failing? It boggles my mind. And my mind is already pretty freaking boggled!
C. I had to get up even EARLIER on Saturday to get Jessica on the other side of Austin to take the SAT. And trust me, when people say 'the other side of Austin' (or any-flippin-where in Texas) it's not like a 10-15 minute trip. It's a damn (s'il vous plaît pardonnez mon putain de français!) EXCURSION! OMG ... I had to dodge packs of cyclists egging one another on (apparently they do 'team' rides on Saturday mornings against other biking teams and something happens when they get on those cycle seats - it's like their freaking asses get shoved up into their brains and they become jerks who really think that I'm going to be intimidated by men in tight padded pants, safety helmets, and little shoes that go 'click clack' on the pavement and sound like a group of 4 year old tap dancers. ... Okay so maybeI have a little issue with cyclists.
Oh, and do NOT even get me started on 'the runners' - GEESH! Yes, we know you have buns of steel and have like a six-pack and a half of abs ... but you're creepy. And even though I'm watching the road carefully it never fails that I wind up having to deal with at least one Son (or Daughter) of Skeletor running nut who suddenly decides 'Hey, I don't feel like running on the SUPER HUGE sidewalks in our community with close to 30 miles of beautiful nature trails and paths aside from the sidewalks so I, without so much as giving a hint to the drivers in the big vehicles that can crush me like a freaking fly, am going to step off the path and into traffic'.
That's when I, the courteous driver who is contentiously paying attention to the task of driving my rolling fly-swatter wherein I do not actually swat the damn flies, suddenly have to deal with bi-pedal morons who come into my path!
Good grief, can you imagine how I'd go off if I was actually talking about them?
D. (Finally - to today) I had to get up early today to get J to the school to pick up her ticket for Evita because she can't ride the bus because she's suffering from severe vertigo caused by an inner ear infection, made worse by a trip last week the day after their AWESOME choral competition down to Corpus Christi on the Gulf Coast (about 7 hours away) and dinner on a yacht.
Nothing like getting a call at about 1 AM saying 'Mom, I'm really sick. But I think I'll be okay'
By the time I picked her up on Sunday night last week - it looked like she'd been slapped upside her head with a 2x4 and she could barely stand up straight without getting wobbly. 2 days later - in the hospital getting multiple bags of fluid and vertigo medicine out the wazoo. But she's doing better now. Thank God!
E. Aside from working on the review site, I'm also trying to finish up my entry into the contest. I really want to enter but I need about 4 hours of uninterrupted silence.
F. And, I've got a new client asking me to help them as a literary liaison (basically, they write the book, I make sure it gets either edited (if it needs it) or Beta Read and revised and then I create a query letter for them that I then send off to agents I've researched in depth. A lot of work - but worth it in the end.
And there you have it. A wee little few of my moments of crazy for the past week.
But hey, now that it's off my chest, I feel much better. Well, the anxiety medicine could have something to do with that, too.
So night - and Sweetie, trust me when I say, I do know you are SUPER busy with your classwork, tests, and writing books. And, and, and.... the list goes on!
Js last big tests are:
Her Spanish V AP exam. She's actually been taking Spanish for 6 years and is fairly fluent (but not confident in her fluency - although she has helped some folks and it was great to see)
Her Spanish V AP exam. She's actually been taking Spanish for 6 years and is fairly fluent (but not confident in her fluency - although she has helped some folks and it was great to see)
Then there's her APUSH exam - which she'll be taking in her PJs. Yes. That's right. Her comfort outweighs her desire to 'impress' her pals! These tests have had her really stressed out!
And when she complains or gets really stressed, I remind her there are people near and far wishing they had her issues. Heck, she's got a friend who's 'eye on the prize' is medicine. She's literally taking 8 AP exams this year. 8. OMG!
All good things come to those who wait AND all good things come to those who keep their aim straight and eyes on the goal. before long it'll be summer.
Hmmmm, sorry for the ramble!
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There you have it folks!
That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!
