Nothin' Like a Little Stress...

...to make you think of silly things to post...ok, at least silly pictures. This week has been full of stress: work, time, family, friends, money...you know, the usual. Work: My job totally kicked into high gear this week and it's absolutely crazy - it's a good kind of crazy, but stressful. Time: Well, who DOESN'T stress about time? Family: My 91 y/o grandfather, Grampa G (the "G" stands for "Great" so they don't have to call him Great Grampa) had a heart attack, has internal bleeding, a failed kidney, and lots of other yucky things, my li'l sis has been gone for too long, and it's only Thursday (she left on Monday), Ex still refuses to take SmallBoy and this weekend they are celebrating TheBaby's 1st Birthday (think he can still get infected from SmallBoy looking at him the wrong way?). Friends: Ever try to plan something that you think everyone has finally agreed upon, confirmed it, and then had one of them bite you in the ass about it? Yeah, I thought so. Money: The usual, but also part of the friends stress - no no no, nothing like loaning money to friends, hell, I don't have any to pay the bills, let alone loan out to friends, and the ever-popular not making NEAR enough money for what I do for a living.

BUT, we have silly things like this to help us remember who we are and where we come from. Things like this to remind us about what really matters. People like this to send those hugs, those smiles, those laughs that will, despite all of the above stress and all of the rest of it, make us, in turn, laugh, smile, and temporarily forget our troubles - or at least let them seem a little less troublesome. These are what make us exhale when the pile of stress seems higher than Mt. Everest, and the air around us seem thinner than that on Everest, making it feel like we are suffocating at every gasp we make for air. And with that exhalation, comes a feeling of relief, release, catharsis, happiness, perhaps even temporary insanity (the good kind). Goofiness, sometimes just downright stupid fun (sometimes even the kind we'd get in trouble for as children) can be just the treatment that we need when the diagnosis is stress, stress, and more stress, and the prognosis is bleak.

How could a picture of a father (ET) teaching his, barely 7 (going on 30) year old daughter, how to cook: brown, saute, garnish, make sauce...and not the way we'd think....being extra safe and making sure she stands far enough away so she doesn't get burned or cut, but with the respect she deserves as an eager little learner, constantly absorbing knowledge like a sponge.....How could THAT picture NOT cheer us up? This little girl has learned so much from her Daddy, because he treats her with respect. Absolutely, he makes sure she understands that he's the boss, but she has a lot of respect for others because of the respect he shows her. It's so apparent in this picture. And yes, it does make us happy. Sure wish SmallBoy's father showed him even the littlest respect of acknowledging his existence (except when it comes to $$$$ of course). Oh, that's making me stress again...I'd best insert the picture.

Tomorrow promises to be another stressful day. Girl has a softball tournament, SmallBoy has to face another weekend watching his brother and sister leave him behind, Gramp is still in the hospital, it's Friday at work (stressful in itself) and NOT payday, my friends are being a little unreasonable - ok a LOT unreasonable, and time - well, there's not enough, yet I'm running out of it today. On that note, here are some sillies to make you smile for Friday. Oh, and KH, I'll be kicking you in the WHATEVER if you don't take that job!