Last month the whole world was out to get me…..

Really, it was. The past month has been the most stressful of my life.  I have faced every change imaginable short of a death or divorce (knock on wood). I have been completely overwhelmed. Being an introvert, the greatest challenge was having no time to myself. I have gone from elated to depressed to angry to numb to just down right exhaustion. I’m still in exhaustion. This is what happened.

Feeling – Nostalgic.

I travelled with both my parents to Tucson where my beautiful childhood friend Sarah got married! I was able to spend time with one of my best friends, Emily, and catch up with the Bertelsen family. It was great…it was also when our car broke down.

Feeling – Angry.

My husband called my dad instead of me from New Mexico. He was trying to buy time, but I am all-knowing. When we first moved to Albuquerque, we had no American credit and we spent all our savings on a used car. Piece…Of… Junk. A horse would have been more efficient. Every week there was a new noise, a new problem, a new leak, a new smell. A horse would have smelled better too.

Feeling – Confused.

I came home from Tucson and discovered I had lost both a vehicle AND a husband. Someone had taken over his brain. We both knew our apartment lease was coming to an end but we decided moving was too much work and we already had so much going on.  Now he wanted to move…Great timing. I LOVED our apartment. It had a wood burning fireplace, garden size bathtubs and walk-in closets, what more could I want? It didn’t matter that the kitchen was smaller than our walk in closet or even the garden size bath tubs.  It also didn’t matter to me that, for whatever reason, our power bills were upwards of $300 a month but it mattered to Jon. Our lease was up in 3 weeks — we had to find a new place ASAP.

Feeling –Twice confused.

That same day I came home Jon told me one of the casinos in town offered him a job. Better pay and better hours but he wasn’t sure when he’d be starting, they were thinking October. He had to pass a drug test (No problem. Mennonite boys don’t use, unless you count Pepsi and Sunflower seeds a drug) and get a gaming license…another thing up in the air.

(Jon- Who ARE you and what have you done with my laid-back, go with the flow, someone else decide husband? I want him back… I miss the control.)

Feeling – Elated.

My sister, Amanda went into labor September 28^th. Oliver was born 12 hours later. That was the most amazing experience of my life. I was able to stay with my sister the entire time and see my little nephew brought into the world. I went to bed that night thinking of all the things I had to pack, excited and exhausted (not as much as my sister).

Feeling –AVENGED!

As it turns out, satan’s old used car was totaled and now in used-car hell, where it belongs. Too bad we realized after we had invested a small fortune to fix it. Part of me was stressed, part of me was relieved and part of me was avenged. We had credit now and I had confidence Jon could use his Mennonite cheap-negotiating -skills to get us a great rate on a good car. Until then, we had no car and needed to move an apartment of stuff within two weeks.

Some men have karate skills, some have car skills, my husband has cheap skills…that came out wrong.

Feeling—Poor

Covering extra shifts for my coworker at the same time Jon working was working extra shifts for the NM state fair, volunteering with worship team at church, packing, moving, classes, exams, homework, borrowing dad’s truck, sharing dad’s truck( with dad and each other) all compounded at once.

This means:
1. We are broke. Damage deposits, pro-rates for rent, keeping a truck fuelled up, and there’s all that money we spent trying to fix the car BEFORE we knew it was going to hell. If someone invited us for dinner, we went. It was free and some gave leftovers and let’s face it… anyone is a better cook when all you have to work with is cereal, table salt and water.

2. Mountains of paper. We were signing contracts for a new car, an old apartment, a new apartment, new job contracts and old job contracts. I couldn’t wait for it all to be over!

We have not had a single evening free in over a month.

Mennonite Boys Be Cheap!
While dating this was a problem. Now it’s awesome! It’s the first week that all these random stressful problems have finally been worked out. Jon started his new, better paying, better hour’s job. He found us a great car and negotiated an awesome rate. It’s more efficient than a horse and buggy and doesn’t smell bad either. Our new apartment not only has cheaper rent than the old one but has cheaper utilities and it happens to be within walking distance of Amanda and Oliver.

It took us over a month of being in chaos, running a million different directions for life to calm down. I may have a pile of dirty laundry higher than the federal debt ceiling and I may be eating dry cereal till Jon’s first payday but all this introvert cares about is …When can I finally stay in, drink wine and watch Netflix?