6.14.2010

break[through]

Miles the Over-Eater
As we left work today, I told Jennifer, "Ah, I need to find something cool to do tonight so I can blog about it. My posts the last few days have been lame." So what did I do tonight? Nothing. Nothing exciting, anyway. Welcome to reality. I'm Alyssa in Nashville and sometimes my evenings are lame ... at least, if you consider tending the garden and taking care of the yard or cleaning or making peanut butter cookies and feeling bad because I know it's been too long since I've used my treadmill or avoiding doing the dishes to be lame.

Sometimes I'm just tired after I come home from work. I wake up at 5 a.m. after all! Sometimes my evenings are spent wishing I could pick up my books and read them, that Miles would stop acting like he is starving even though he eats way more than he needs to. What's worse than being the single girl with a cat? (Besides being the single girl with two cats, I mean.) Yup, being the single girl with a cat that has an over eating disorder.

I am the avoider. I imagine there are tests for this when people go through marriage counseling: what do you do when you face conflict or difficulty? I can tell you up front: I avoid it. I'll pretend it isn't happening in hopes that it fixes itself, often to come to the realization that it is happening and I must deal with it at which point I feel overwhelmed and helpless. There are even articles written about how to deal with people like me.

Some of the things I am currently avoiding:
1. My crawlspace. Everything seems to be functioning well despite the flood, but when I opened the door yesterday, I'm pretty sure I saw a snake. And I know it's still real damp under there. And there's a lot of junk/trash from the previous owner. But because I won't crawl under my house and don't have the money to pay someone else to, I'm ignoring it.
2. My car. Metro seems to have a pretty good mass transit system, but I appreciate having a car. But I'm a girl. And when my car breaks down, I walk into a mechanic and have ignorant girl written all over me. I hate knowing I can so easily be taken advantage of. After recently replacing the alternator, battery, and starter in a matter of months, my brake light is now coming on. I'm ready to move on from my '97 Taurus. I would, but I'm avoiding selling the car, finding a new car, and paying for a new (used) car..
3. Lawn care. Thank goodness Kevin mows my yard or I'd really be in over my head. I need to trim my hedges and cut back the overgrowth from the fence. The weeds in my yard after the flood went out of control. My chicken coop needs care. My garden is a mess, and the two trees Kevin's son and friend moved away from my house are turning brown and dying (I'm glad because I didn't like them) but now I'm avoiding all that work: trimming, and chopping up those trees and digging up the roots.
4. House repairs. Touch up painting. Detailed cleaning. Organization. Design on any level. I just live here.
5. Shower drain. It's not draining. I bought Drano and it didn't do much. I unscrewed the top and a couple inches down on the crossbars ... lots of hair. I'm avoiding pulling it out because I don't want to see anything that's gone down that drain come back up.

I'm avoiding now-that-you're-an-adult things. Because to put it plainly, these things are lame. Things will get exciting, right? Things already are. Well, they're busy. In fact, if exciting = busy, I could handle a little boring. But really, some exciting things are happening.
  • My friend Andrea just announced she is going to have a baby. I literally went to sleep smiling last night. 
  • My friends Anne and Sam are in Nashville. Tomorrow we're planning on meeting up at Las Paletas before going to the zoo
  • Dave Ramsey is speaking at Kairos tomorrow. 
  • Small group Wednesday night. 
  • Friday: Meet and Greet with Stellar Kart, lunch for Jessica's birthday.
I'm ready for a break. To rearrange my house or paint a wall or fly to LA. I want to break the routine and be spontaneous. I think I've got it in me somewhere. Look out.

I need a break but I'd rather have a breakthrough,

5 comments:

  1. Someday you're going to come home and find Miles completely in that tub of food! What a cat . . .

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  2. I know EXACTLY what you mean about avoiding. A lot of what you're avoiding, I am, too. I'm very grateful for my brother, who is my mechanic, lawn care, and most recently, plumber. If it weren't for him, I fear I'd be living in a jungle with one bathroom still out of commission!! Thanks for this post, so I know I'm not alone. : )

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  3. carmar76, maybe your brother would like to make a little trip to Nashville. ;)

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  4. If you think you saw a snake in your crawl space buy some moth balls and throw under there. The exterminators found snake skins in my dad's basement and a skunk (yikes!) under my aunts house and both times told me to get moth balls and throw under there. They dont like the smell and should leave. Its worth a try anyway. You wont enjoy the smell either but I had rather put up with the smell for a while as see a snake under there, or even worse come up into your house. Hope it works.

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