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| little things mean a lot |
| 06.08.06 (7:30 am) [edit] |
I said to DH yesterday how my coping skills were at an all-time low this week, and he chimed in with an enthusiastic, winking "YEAH!& quot; before seeing my face crumple and taking it back immediately. I've spent the week figuratively slamming my head against the wall and grinding my teeth into a powder over what is now almost a year of unpaid mandatory overtime. It's an enormous daily struggle for me to figure out how to get some sleep, some exercise, a minimum of nine working hours, some quality kid-time, and basic hygiene into each day. When I dragged up the stairs last night at 7 pm (having left the apartment at 6:15 am), I ran into the nanny, who advised that she doesn't think she can handle taking the kids to summer camp (starting Monday) after all, and -- oh yeah -- she thinks she's going to have to quit by next year. Granted, Alberta is 60 and has been having trouble with arthritis in her hand for a while. She says that balancing the baby while folding the stroller to get on the bus is getting too hard. I suggested that she try the umbrella stroller -- which is tons lighter -- and she said she'd try. But something in her voice scared the shit out of me. I can't say Alberta doesn't have her shortcomings -- she rarely cleans more than dishes, and lets the kids watch too much TV, etc. -- but she's been with our family since Jake was five weeks old. This is a transition I'm not ready to make. So I lost it as I walked in the door, which is not really pleasant for anyone. DH, who was home early (woo hoo!), handled me with kid gloves, G-d bless him. Once all the kids were asleep, he came in to talk about the situation, and calmed me down enormously. And then, I turned on my laptop. While it was booting up, DH opened up his padded manila envelope from Lou's Records -- his brand-spankin-new-hot-off -the-presses Guitar Therapy CD/DVD set from Mike Keneally. He read the liner notes aloud to me while I checked my e-mail (they begin with a warning about adult language and the greeting "hello, motherfuckers!"). Lo and behold, he read "thanks to DH and JT ____!?!?!?!?!" What? Keneally, the guitar god, THANKED US on the liner notes? We almost simultaneously said "What did we do?" You have to know MK to know how freaking cool this was. This is a guy who looks like.... I dunno. Your uncle's fishing buddy, maybe? Certainly he's not a guy you'd pass on the street and think "Hey! That's one of the best contemporary musicians of the century!" But he's a jovial man with a beatific smile, wicked sense of humor, and extraordinary talent. Oh, yeah, and he once ate my pie. This is like... well, if Greg Maddux had a new album and thanked Jake in his liner notes, the kid would implode. So, already my mood has greatly improved, when I get to this e-mail in my inbox: "I just wanted to let you know that I've really appreciated some of your recent posts to ChicWIT. I noticed your advice to the woman with the difficult father-in-law (and your very moving personal story), stuff on babies, car mechanics, and probably tons of other things I'm forgetting. It's women like you that really make this community a vibrant, cool place to hang out in, digitally speaking. So thanks and keep up with your useful posts. Hope to meet you "F2F" sometime soon." That was just the coolest fucking thing. Someone I've never met has noticed my name in the many digests of ChicWIT [mailing list for Chicago's chapter of Women in Technology] and thinks I give good advice -- to the point where she had to write and tell me! Damn, that just warmed my heart. Lessons learned, kids? 1) Freaking out is very rarely worth the energy 2) Putting good karma out there can touch people you don't even know, in ways you can't understand 3) Sometimes a simple "thank you" is enough to lift a total stranger out of despair. I'm off to listen me some MK. Hope everyone's day is peachy keen. |
posted by: surrogate (reply)
post date: 06.08.06 (4:25 am)
Got an email that MK was playing at Orion Studios in Baltimore last week from Mike Potter there and was tempted to make the trip, but I wussed out as I'm tkaing another trip very soon. Plus my kid's playing there in a couple of months and I'll be going then. Gas and time being so precious these days, it's forcing too many hard choices.
posted by: JT (reply)
post date: 06.08.06 (4:31 am)
Reply to: surrogate
I know. It's frustrating when he's so close but yet far enough that we can't go. Makes me want to move to Sandy Eggo and follow him back and forth to and from the Potato. But then I'd be more than a rabid fan - I'd be a stalker. And he might not hug me anymore. And Mike is a *great* hugger.
posted by: almsthvn (reply)
post date: 06.08.06 (9:20 am)
Ahhhh Mister K is the sweetest, isn't he? I can't wait to see the DVD and hear the commentaries!
*hug*
posted by: JT (reply)
post date: 06.08.06 (9:25 am)
Reply to: almsthvn
Did you order yours? The DVD is awesome, even if all I've personally seen so far is an amazing menu intro thing. We laughed our asses off and couldn't stop watching it. And then I listened while I was reading (DH, naturally, gave it 110% of his attention). They sound as fucking amazing as you'd think.
That Mike, he's so dreeeeeemy.....*sigh* [grin]
posted by: almsthvn (reply)
post date: 06.10.06 (3:27 pm)
We (Andrew and I) watched the commentary yesterday and laughed our booties off.
posted by: DH (reply)
post date: 06.11.06 (4:39 pm)
I was watching it on the train (laptop, headphones) with the commentary, and there was one thing that made me laugh out loud (and I mean loud). I got some looks, so I just said, "Hello Motherfuckers!" Okay, I didn't, but I needed a good way to end this.
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