Made it back home yesterday afternoon. The two weeks with Mom and Dad were a complete success and I’m really glad I was able to do it (thanks to remote work)! Mom and Dad seemed pleased with the “job” I did and I left the place a little better than it was before. All-in-all good stuff!
The 3-hour drive was a little tricky because I was somewhat in the path of a hurricane, but as luck would have it, I had a few Monday meetings shift around and I was able to take a sneaky drive all the way home and no one was any the wiser (again, thanks to remote work). Note that I made up those three hours by working an hour+ earlier and two hours later than office hours and again, all good!
The path of the hurricane also worked out 100% in my favor as well because it was supposed to hit one part of my driving area at one time and another part at another and I dodged, dodged, dodged all the way home! I could see the weather bands in the distance and encountered literally two minutes of rain the whole way home.
My angels have been working overtime lately.
I can’t even tell you how amazing it was to be back in my own, sweet little home. My apartment was shiny and sparkling clean, so neat and tidy and bright! Even Martini was excited when we walked inside. I took off her leash and harness and she rolled all over the place and then zoomied through every single room!
It honestly felt a little bit like coming home from a two-week business trip to China minus the jetlag. Though I miss international business travel, I do NOT miss that jetlag one bit!!
My brother called me today to THANK ME for staying the two weeks and praised me up and down for making their place so much “nicer” than he’s seen it in a long time! He actually said that to me, so you know he notices that their place is [normally] a wreck. He even said he wanted to step it up a notch, so again, you KNOW he knows he has work to do! I mean, I know it’s not unlivable there - after all, I was able to live there for two weeks, but I practically held my breath the whole time…
And not just because of the state of the mess, but of course, because mom and dad seem to be hanging by a few delicate threads and I just want to make sure they are comfortable!!
They are so precious to me.
But I also know (and they admitted to this) that they definitely took advantage of my presence. Hahah! I swear to god, it was a full-time job taking care of those two! If I wasn’t cooking meals I was cleaning up after them. If I wasn’t opening doors and driving them places, I was trying to get them to MOVE THEIR BODIES! If I wasn’t making sure the animals were ok, I was making sure THEY were ok!
It was a LOT, y’all. And I could feel the stress in my bones. My back was aching the whole time I was there and I know that’s where I carry my stress - upper and lower! I was able to get my exercise in and I was eating healthy because I only served healthy meals to mom and dad (we did sneak off to Chili’s one night, but even that meal was not too terrible and we didn’t let mom order any molten lava cake desserts or anything, ha!).
But it’s going to be a wild ride for a while. My brother was sweet to call me and thank me, but we both get incredibly emotional about our parents and snarky with each other about who’s doing a good job and who’s not and who’s taking advantage. Ahem. I try so fucking hard to take the high road at all times, but I’ve been known to stoop a bit when it comes to family - especially my brother. He has always known how to push those buttons!! And don’t you turn back into that child you were when you’re around your siblings?
I need to mediate more about it. It’s important to remain rational and calm moving forward. I’m sending out a prayer that my angels, the universe and karma will guide me through this upcoming time because I’m going to need all the help I can get.
More to come - for now, I’m going to rest in MY OWN SPACE.
xo,
GS
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