Wild One

I hate it when stuff gets in the way of blogging. I've come to really treasure my blog time - both writing and reading. When I can't get to it for a few days, I find myself wondering how my favorite folks are doing. Unfortunately, sometimes life does not cooperate with my blogging needs. I've had a busy, hectic, kinda lousy couple of days, and it has kept me away from my online addiction.

I thought I might try listing some of the things that are currently bugging the crap out of me. Maybe if I vent a little, my blood pressure will return to normal....

1. Lacrosse sucks. It is an exceedingly violent game, with rules that are completely mysterious. Basically, it seems to be about one kid running frantically with the ball, while all the other kids whack at him furiously with sticks. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, the whacking results in penalties, but most of the time it's permitted. And, sometimes, one kid will have the ball, and nobody else is even near him, and the referees will blow the whistle and give the ball to the other team. Uh, dude, what? And did I mention that it is a violent game? With exceptionally inadequate padding?

2. On that same subject, it is a mother's nightmare when, during the nasty lacrosse game, her child gets hurt and she is not allowed to inquire about his well-being. At our home games, the parents sit on one side of the giant lacrosse field, and the teams and coaches are on the other side. When a player gets hurt, they help or carry him off the field over to the coaches area, where they tend to him. The parent gets to freak out all by themselves, with no way to communicate with their child, the medic, or anybody else that knows what's going on. Of course, I suppose I could screech, "My BABY!" and run across the field, but then my child would hate me forever. I think I've already given him enough to talk to his future psychiatrist about.

3. I hate that Alex has no padding on his bones. He got hurt, in case you didn't catch that, at the game yesterday. He got hit so hard he did a flip and then skidded about 10 feet in the wet grass. His injury is on his hip bone, which of course sticks out and has no natural padding. I should play lacrosse - my hip bones are so well protected, I'd never have felt it at all. We have to wait and see how it goes, but he's planning to play this vicious game again tomorrow, assuming he can walk. I'm thrilled.

4. I hate it when I make a bad underwear choice. Does that ever happen to you? You're in a hurry, not even all the way dry from your shower, and you grab the first undies you find? Those with the too-tight elastic, or the uncomfortable underwire? It always seems okay at first, but as the day wears on, it's practically the only thing you can think about? That was me - squeezed and poked and chafed all day. Not the best thing for my overall mood, let me tell you.

5. I hate talking - or trying to talk to - anyone that works for the state. You're trying to get a little basic information, and it should be a simple thing. But then the state gets involved with their "press one for this" and "press star, pound, star and then spell the name..." What ever happened to human beings answering the phone? Is that old fashioned? Maybe it's me that's out of touch.

6. Speaking of old-fashioned, I remember taking the SAT's many, many years ago. It seems to me it was a three-hour thing, which we signed up for at a place and time convenient to us. Well, evidently that's not the way it's done now. Alex had to go to school on Saturday. SATURDAY. At SEVEN FREAKING O'CLOCK in the morning. It was mandatory for all Juniors to attend, and it lasted until 2 in the afternoon. It turned out to be a half-hour longer than a normal school day. Alex was NOT in a good mood, and frankly, I don't blame him. The whole thing required us to rearrange our whole lives, including his brother's birthday party. Arghhh.

You know, I think all of this stuff wouldn't bother me so much if I wasn't so stressed out about other things - my life is a bit unsettled at the moment, and I'm spending a fair amount of time worrying, which affects my health, both mentally and physically. I'm also not sleeping as I should. Maybe I should drink more. Is it too late to make a new year's resolution?