Why I Am Losing My Mind

 Today marks my son's 4th in person school day.  Yesterday it looked like we might have to return to all remote.  (The high school was all remote yesterday due to an unknown individual testing positive for Covid-19.)  However, the school was cleaned, the appropriate group quarantined (I hope) and today was back to physical school for my son's group.

Before any student is allowed into the building, they need to have their temperature taken and a form has to be filled out by a parent and submitted online.  Guess who forgot to do this today?  Yes, day 4 and I forgot to fill it out.  So my son calls me and I rush upstairs to the computer and submit it as quickly as possible.  Not a big deal...but I feel awful about forgetting it.

I also hate when people make excuses, but that's exactly what I'm going to do right here and right now.  So follow my path of crazy and see why I might have forgotten the form this morning.

Let me start off by saying it's been a crazy week over all.  The 4th quarter of the year is always the busiest for the company I work for and this year is no different.  What is different is the way we have been processing things since January of this year.  You'd think by now I'd have all the new rules and guidelines down, but I don't.  Maybe it’s because the rules and guidelines are continually changing and/or that for every "rule" that I know there are exceptions.   Add to that complicated projects with multiple moving parts which involve multiple people.  And there's a lot that is supposed to be completed by the end of the year, which probably won't.  (Which is okay, but I need to know and move things that aren't going to be completed to next year and I need information from other people on who that's going to work.)  I've been frustrated and stressed out this entire year as a result; and yes, this started before Covid-19 came on my radar.

Yesterday was a typical crazy day and added to that was that I needed to get to a bank.  Actually, I needed to go to two banks; PHYSICALLY.  I love online banking.  It's what I regularly do.  I haven't been to a bank or an ATM since February.  However, some things require in person banking and what I needed to do required not only in person, but also bringing my son along with me.  Ready for a long and convoluted tale?

This summer my son was supposed to go on a trip to the Galapagos Island.  While not a school trip it was being run by a teacher I trusted very much.  I (with my help of my mother) paid for the trip in 2019 and all was well until...well you know.  The trip was postponed until the spring of 2021.  At first I was down with that, but as time marched on...while I do want my son to travel and experience the world, I'm thinking that might not be something we are comfortable until 2022 or so.  I decided to pull him out.  Now I could have taken the money and applied it to a different trip with the same group, but despite the hefty (in my opinion) fee to get a refund, I decided to ask for the refund.

The refund check came last week...made out to my son.  Yes, he was the one going, but he wasn't the one who paid.  What I wanted to do was take that money and put it in my checking account for the time being. (Perhaps transferring it to his college account at some point, but despite recently getting some emails from colleges I haven't heard of about applying even though he is only a sophomore in high school, I'm not 100% that college is the right path for him.  There I said it! )  BUT...the check was made out to my son and for quite a bit of money.  I wasn't trusting that having him endorsing it over to me and then me electronically depositing would work so...

The plan was to take him some day after school (when he didn't have a remote play rehearsal) to the bank where he has an account, cash the check and then I would take the money across the street to the Bank of America where I have my checking account.  I really didn't want to hold onto all that cash for long.

We attempted this yesterday.  We walked into the bank where there were two custom service representatives (they really aren't just tellers any more) who were already busy with other customers, both of which had complicated transactions.  (Or so it seemed because it took over 15 minutes before we could be helped...although I do have to say that once there was an available representative, she took the time to carefully wipe down and disinfect her area so that we could be safe.)  It didn't take too long once we explained what we needed to do and for her to hand over a big wad of cash.

Got into the car and went across the street...where the bank was "temporarily closed."  Ok, headed home.  Went on line to check out other locations.  Turns out most of them in my area are "temporarily closed."  Could I use the ATM to deposit the money?  Probably.  Am I comfortable doing that?  NO!  Most of the ones that are open are 5+ miles away.  There was one that was less than that and I attempted to go there but they had no parking lot and all the street parking within a 3/4 mile radius was either taken or permit parking only.  (Believe me they check.)  So I returned home, with the cash.  Today I will go to my local TD Bank and deposit it in my savings account there and at some point transfer it from there to my Bank of America checking account.  (Although I'm really thinking about transferring everything over to TD, but that's a whole other mountain that I'm not ready to climb.)

So what does all this have to do with forgetting to submit a form for my son for school?  Well it's been on my mind this morning.  It was on my mind when I headed to the grocery store for the weekly shopping trip where I dug through piles of hams to find a shank and not a butt because I've earned a free ham, which I would usually cook for Christmas, but I doubt if Christmas will look much different than Thanksgiving with only the three of us and what am I going to do with all that ham?  Probably cook it and give containers of it out to some relatives who live locally.  (Which is what I also plan to do with the pumpkin spice bread that I'm making next week.) It was less so on my mind as I dug through the frozen veggies which were pretty scarce and I'm trying to decide what I should do about sides for only 3 people (who can be very picky) for Thanksgiving.  And it is really safe to head to my in laws next Friday for a belated Faux Thanksgiving?  And why can't I find whole berry cranberry jelly?  What meat should I buy to feed the boys over the next couple of days? 

By the time we were checking out (yes, I'm bringing my husband still although I'm thinking that might have to end soon with the pandemic numbers going up and doing all the shopping, unloading, bagging, loading into the car and getting home really stresses me out), my thoughts were fading from the bank and focused on was my son up and getting ready for school.  

When we got home it was all about getting the groceries put away, getting the kid some breakfast. (The alarm went off at least 15 minutes prior...if he can get himself dressed and pour himself a cup of coffee, why can't he toast an English muffin?) So my brain shifts into washing the fruit that I purchased (my Covid ritual since you don't want unwashed produce sitting around), getting the kid out the door (since he wants to walk to school) and catching "Your World in 90 Seconds" (You know I have to! https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/monday-morning-mess-up.html)  Just as he's about to leave I remember that he doesn't have his water bottle. (Again, there is no good reason why he can't do this, but...) and remind him about a mask (which he does remember) and get him out the door.  (No hug or kiss for me this morning.)  I wash the dishes he left in the sink, start a load of laundry, check/answer some work related email (I should have waited) and finally sit down with a cup of coffee to watch the news.  

I'm "relaxing" before officially starting my work day and also thinking that I should make the trip to the bank after I drop off the groceries that I purchased for my aunt and that all this should be done BEFORE lunch so that traffic will be lighter and (hopefully) the bank won't be too busy.  (But it WILL be open!)  The phone rings...Yes, it's my son and I haven't filled out that form...

Clearly I am losing my mind.  Obviously I have too many things rattling around in there.  I do make notes and put reminders on calendars.  Still I am losing my mind.  AND I only have only one child and one job.  Bless all of you who have more than one of either of these.

In the big picture of life and with how our world is currently going, none of the above is important at all.  My craziness is really not all that crazy.  I AM grateful.  I am especially grateful that I have the ability to just let all the crazy junk that rambles around in my mind come tumbling out on this blog page and that you (whoever you are) have taken the time to read it.

In the grand scheme of things, my life is pretty darned good.  I am lucky.  I am blessed.  I hope you are too.

Just one question...when is it time to put down the coffee and pick up the wine?