When Real Life Attacks!

Happy New Year!!!!!

"But, Annabella," you say, "it's February. You've been gone since last July and the New Year was a month ago." First of all, DON'T JUDGE! Second of all, I know. Allow me to explain...

Last year was, bar none, the longest and most stressful, crazy year of my life. Once I summarize the craziness, you will understand and hopefully forgive me for the lack of posting, AKA abandonment. I think the easiest way to explain this is chronologically:

JANUARY

I started this blog a year ago"last month."* At the same time, I started going through a quarter-life crisis. I realized I didn't know who I really was or what I wanted from my life. I was coming to the realization that I wanted more than just being a wife and mother. Yes, I love those jobs, but I didn't want them to define me. It's easy to type that out now, but it wasn't the easiest thing for me to figure out and it didn't just come to me overnight. I was distancing myself from loved ones during this identity crisis and it wasn't fun for anyone. Heavy stuff. While this was going on, I was dealing with everyday challenges, including homeschooling SonK which is not easy, in case you were wondering.

FEBRUARY AND MARCH

Still in the throws of my crisis of identity, I was keeping busy while internally freaking the fuck out. We're talking family and friend vacations, parties, play dates (for kids and adults), etc etc etc. So many etc's, I couldn't keep up. Still homeschooling like a boss. On top of this, I found out that my husband was going to have to spend about 6 months of the year in Virginia doing training. And we'd still be living in South Carolina (though not the whole time, more on that later). So we were trying to cram as much family time into our busy schedule as possible. Toward the end of March, I had some self-revelations and was able to delve into my inner mind (SCARY place) with the help of JHB and JR and at least that part of my life got easier...

APRIL

This was the month of my husband's departure to Virginia, TwiCon, kids' sports and cub scouts, JR and my anniversary, SonB's birthday and party, more trips, more homeschooling. We also knew at this point that we were moving over the summer and I started preparing for the move. Collecting boxes and organizing the house started in earnest.

MAY

Still doing cub scouts, sports, play dates, parties, and vacations all month long. Husband in Virginia, planning and packing for the move. Homeschooling and year-end tests. Every minute accounted for.

JUNE

Craziest and hottest month of the year, naturally. All the normal activities, husband still gone, plus SonK's birthday and party. My parents came for the party and stayed to help us pack up and get ready to move. Thank GOD for my parents. We rented a big truck for the move... and our shit didn't fit in it. After an entire day of loading that truck in 100 degree heat (that doesn't include the humidity and heat index of 120 degrees), we got to the back of the truck and still had a ton of stuff in the house. We made the decision to donate some furniture and we gave some to friends. We packed my little Prius to the gills and finally got everything in. Another saving grace- my parents took the kids to their place in Ohio so JR and I could head to Connecticut. JR left before me and I had a panic attack while finishing cleaning the house and then I finally left at 7pm. Let me summarize that trip from SC to CT by saying that it was a 20 hour trip. We stopped in North Carolina, but the overall trip was 20 HOURS. We made it to CT in the early morning hours and crashed on our air mattress. Horrible move.

At the end of June was the Eclipse premiere. It was insane. I will have to detail it in another post because it was long and involved... and sucky.

JULY

Once the move was done and the NYC debacle passed, it was time to settle into life in CT. That would have been easy enough except that JR had to return to Virginia. I drove to Ohio to pick up my kids and got back home to finish the unpacking. By the end of the month I realized I was in need of professional help. I returned to my old therapist and was prescribed Zoloft for my anxiety. It was much needed, but I had an adverse reaction to it...

AUGUST

More travel!! We took a family trip to the Outer Banks in NC with JR's extended family (including SisE). It would have been nice except that the Zoloft was kicking my ass still and I was beyond stressed out. Spent most of the week in the pool at our rental house, and that was a good thing. After that annoyingness, the boys and I went up to Virginia (yep, JR was still there) to visit and relax before heading back home to get ready for the school year. We returned about a week before their first day and had to rush and get all their supplies. Also, I nixed the Zoloft and that helped immensely.

SEPTEMBER and OCTOBER

School started! We were finally able to start getting into a routine around our house, even though JR wasn't around. Things finally started calming down, but with JR gone, I realized that the Forks trip was falling through. Because the kids were in school, I couldn't take them to my parents' house and JR wasn't able to take more time off. The only real option was a nanny, and because of the move and all the other trips we took during the year, cash was low. So I missed out on the epicness that was the Forks pilgrimage. Depressing. The good part of October was JR coming home. Unfortunately, him being home didn't really last... even though his boat is going to be stationed here, it is currently in the shipyard in New Hampshire. Two and a half hours away. Better than him being 10 hours away in Virginia, but still annoying.

NOVEMBER and DECEMBER

Holiday craziness. That about sums it up. My family came to CT for Thanksgiving and we went to Ohio for Christmas. Traveling, present buying and wrapping, full calendar. Good news: our routine finally fell into place and SonB started full-day kindergarten. Talk about sweet relief! Free time!! My plan since then has been to re-read Twilight finally, but I still haven't gotten to it. Priority? Yes!

*JANUARY 2011

Let me start by saying that I am disowning January of this year. It shall be stricken from my calendar. And this is why: I drank too much Stoli on New Year's Eve and ended up being sick as a dog the first two days of the year. Two days later, I was laid up with a fever and the first cold of the month. Took about a week to get over that and then my ears got clogged and I got pink eye. Had to find a new doctor and get antibiotics for a double ear infection and the pink eye. Took about a week to get over that, then by the end of that week, when SonK went to a sleepover, SonB woke up in the middle of the night with a stomach ache. Then he spent the next two hours puking his guts out, thankfully in the toilet. While this was happening, I was fighting hallucinations because I'd had trouble getting to sleep and took sleeping pills. We finally were both able to sleep.

We picked SonK up in the morning (SonB was fine by then) and found out he'd stayed up until 4am. Seriously. The babysitter came early that night so I could go to bunco (God bless her!!!) and both boys were asleep by 6:30. I got home and slept all night long... The next day, however, I didn't feel very well. Put the kids to bed and was about to go to bed early myself when I hear puking... SonK had puked ALL OVER his bed, nightstand and floor. He went in the bathroom and sat on the toilet for 20 minutes and then he felt better. I, however, had to clean up his puke while fighting back puke and sobbing. I must also mention that JR was not home that whole weekend. Horrible. The next day, I had a bad stomachache all day and slept or sat in the tub. It finally went away, but I went to the doctor again the next day.

I have tested positive for Celiac disease (an auto-immune disorder that make one intolerant to gluten), but I'd had a biopsy that came back negative... despite that, my doctor decided to do another blood test for it. It came back positive, so I have to get another biopsy, meaning an upper GI endoscopy. This will more than likely lead to a gluten-free diet for me from now on. Yipee. Also at that appointment, I was diagnosed with exertion-induced asthma and was given an inhaler to use whenever I exercise so I don't pass out.

I was finally starting to feel better last week after that appointment, but PMS started. Fuck. That. Shit. Got over that and was ready to tackle this week... and then yesterday at my Body Back exercise class (which I was owning with the help of my inhaler), I stepped backward onto a crate and twisted my ankle and gave myself a bad sprain. Of course that would happen on the last day of the worst month ever.

(edit: Oh yeah, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the 300 blizzards CT has had last month. We're talking 24"+ of snow and 5 snow days... stuck inside with my kids. *le sigh*)

That, my friends, is why I am thrilled that it's finally February!! I'm ready to get my life back and start living it the way I want. This new year, I'm pledging myself more energy, more time to myself, and more kicking ass and taking names. I will rule this year. I have so many things to look forward to, and I'm ready to get started. I'd also like to start this blog up again... as evidenced by this totally lengthy post! So heeeeeere weeeeeeeeeeee goooooooooooooo!!