We’ve done it. We’ve managed to create the perfect storm of stress. In the next 30-ish days the following things are happening: the ACHA Annual Meeting, Sean goes TDY, vet appointments including dental surgery for one tiny cat, a trip to Costa Rica (which is meant to be relaxing but I’m not so sure it will be), UAB, HHE, and non-temporary storage packouts, consumables purchasing, visa appointments, Russian language testing, medical clearances, and booking flights to take us halfway around the world. I might be a tiny bit STRESSED THE FUCK OUT.
I think if this was our first time going through the PCS process we would have lost our minds at this point. And if we were moving somewhere like Tajikistan we would probably be screwed. Luckily this isn’t our first rodeo, and we at least have some idea what to expect.
Even so, I’ve apparently developed several bad habits for coping with my heightened state of stress. In an effort to police myself I’ll list them here, though knowing it will probably get worse before it gets better, I don’t see myself slowing down any time soon.
- Excessive online shopping. For me it’s become a way to escape the reality of moving. If I keep getting packages delivered to my house that must mean we are staying here, right?
- Text rants to your friends. Just, sorry in advance. And sorry for the times it’s already happened.
- Refusing to sleep. I may go to bed at 10:30 pm most nights, but this whole lying-in-bed-looking-at-Instagram-for-an-additional-two-hours thing I’ve adopted completely negates that.
- Stomping around the house passive-aggressively. I told Sean to pick his poison for the next few weeks. Either allow me to become irrationally angry at the fact that he didn’t want to get out of bed to take out the garbage and stomp around the house for ten minutes until I calm down, or allow me to become irrationally angry at the fact that he didn’t want to get out of bed to take out the garbage and yell at him until I calm down. It’s probably better for our marriage if I take out my aggression on the hardwood floors, don’t you think?
- Mentally packing. You aren’t allowed to pack yourself, stupid, so why waste your brainpower mentally separating your belongings into piles, and mentally putting those piles into boxes, and mentally putting those boxes onto a truck? It will happen. Just leave it alone for now.
- Excessive eating. While I mostly eat healthy foods these days, eating too much of a good thing is also bad. It’s not normal to eat an entire tub of hummus in one sitting, or an entire jar of salsa, or an entire tray of roasted cauliflower. What are you doing with your life, Kristen?
- Writing blog posts when I should be doing other things. Oh. Oops.
So, since life is going to be petty damn crazy the next few weeks, my blog schedule will probably follow suit. I’ll post when I can, but I can’t promise anything right now. All I can do is take it one hour at a time.
And drink wine whenever possible.
