week from h.e.l.l.

Looking at these two, you'd hardly believe that I can title a post "week from hell". But it is... sometimes life just has a way of getting under my skin. And this week has been one of those weeks that I'd rather not ever have repeat. However, if I have to be fair the kids have been absolutely wonderful. In fact, they are the only ones keeping me grounded right now. Kaspar came up to me a couple of days ago and said: "I think you need a break. I think I'll just sit here and hold your hand, so that you can feel better." Talk about a perceptive three year old!

Let's see if I can list a few things that have made me go completely bonkers. I think I'm just begging for some sympathy here, aren't I? Oh well... right now I just need to get it off my chest.

I'll begin with... Our phone broke (without me fully noticing it for a day or two). That would not have been a tragedy if my merchant account manager had not called during those specific two days and assumed that I had either closed the business or moved the business and proceeded to file a closure of my merchant account with visa/mc. All this only a week after I had discovered that the same company has "lost" 3000$ of mine. They were taking longer then usual "looking into the matter" and then my account got closed... so, they stopped "looking into the matter". It took me several days to sort that one out. Several days of several hours on the phone and fax and email. I still don't have the money... They are still "looking into it". God, give me patience!

In the middle of the week some work that was supposed to be done by my casting company never came through. And you have to understand, this company NEVER has done this to me. They have been absolutely impeccable for the last ten years. But they messed up. They chose this week to mess up. And I had to deal with a very upset and angry client, who will probably never speak to me again and proceed to let everyone know about me being unreliable (it's a Latvian client... and the Latvian society here in the city is so small... the word will get around... I'm sure).

On Thursday morning I found out that my mom and I have been asked to make food for 60 people on THIS Friday night. And it's not like I was sitting with my hands in my lap in the mean time. I was getting ready for a sale on Saturday and scrambling to get some work finished before the sale. So, having been brought up right and knowing that you cannot say no to friends in need, I put my life on hold and went shopping on Thursday and did a bunch of prep work while entertaining the kids and continuing talks with my bank and having my arms greasy up to my elbows.... talk about multitasking. (The tenderloin roast with a tangy basil sauce turned out so well that I was tempted to keep it and not share!)

On Friday morning just after 11am, as my mother and I, and Stella and Kaspar packed into the car and made the first delivery... the car blew up. Well, OK, I am exaggerating a tad bit here. It stopped working and as we tried to start the car it just huffed and puffed and blew billowing clouds of smoke in the air and finally was towed to the Volvo dealership. It had just been serviced there at the beginning of the week and given a clean bill of health. What gives? I still have no idea what happened to the car, but was forced to abandon all my plans for Friday, let my mom finish all the food prep and I had the pleasure of dealing with towing, car dealerships and mechanics, who (as I discovered just this Friday!) speak a different language then me. I know NOTHING about cars!!!

On top of it, I had to find a car to get to the show the next morning, which happened to start bright and early and was out in the middle of nowhere, about 1.5h north of Toronto. At about 8pm, when I had finally found a car to borrow and arranged to have everything in place for 7am the next morning, my arranged babysitter for the kids for Saturday called in sick. That topped the whole day! I wish someone could have just called the mental hospital and had me admitted... I so much so did not want to deal with any of this. I cried and kicked the wall and woke up Kaspar doing it. And cried some more... I pretty much had a nervous breakdown and am recovering as we speak. Miraculously, my "Latvian connections" bailed me out, once again. I'm sure my friend Tania would say "I knew it!" right about now. So, even though I still feel like I'm recovering from a breakdown, I do feel blessed. And thankful for every friend I have ever had and those that I still have... and all the people I meet in my life. I'm turning the corner and hoping for a better week ahead. God bless you all out there... ...