Isn't it ironic?

Yeah, I really do think.
Alanis Morissette, anyone? No? Yes?

Anyways, the irony is that we escaped any water and flood damage with Tropical Storm Fay. My laminate flooring, that is only about a year old, escaped unscathed. I was so relieved!
BUT we had an air conditioner leak (I don't understand it, something got clogged and Dave had to snake it. Was it something about condensation? I don't know.) and it leaked all under the flooring in the hallway and now they are all warped and ruined. Oh, well. Things fall apart.

Speaking of falling apart, in the last month, we have had an expensive traffic ticket (which will remain blameless and nameless) to pay, a kitchen faucet to replace, brakes and rotors (I think... I am so clueless about this stuff. It is such a luxury to have Dave) replaced in Dave's car, we had to purchase a new laptop ("had to" is a bit of a stretch, but our old one was dying and we had to get one sooner or later). We had the silverfish infestation, which led to the purchase of the new faucet to fix the leak and try to deter them, and we also bought caulking and bug spray for the outside of the house. Jonathan had to get new orthotics which aren't covered by insurance, and I am just praying that they don't come in on time this week, so we can pay for them next week, after pay Friday. Oh, and when we had that leak in the ac, the first snake broke and Dave had to go buy a new one. And my right turn signal on my car is broken (the actual stick won't push up for me to signal). I know this sounds silly, but I have been trying to turn left as much as possible and not change lanes at all unless necessary. It is funny how Dave is making more than ever and we have reduced our spending considerably (I have actually been giving some regard lately to that complicated spreadsheet he has been keeping every day for the last seven years) but we are more stressed than ever about money. I know, I know, everybody is stressed. I guess I just spent the first part of our marriage (or really, the first part of my life. Even though we were never well off, my parents always provided very well for me.) just taking stuff like food and gas for granted. But now I am getting nervous (well, I am always nervous, but now I am focusing it towards money more than ever) about things like having enough. I guess my stepdad keeps saying we are headed for a Depression (he might know, since he was actually THERE) and it is freaking me out a little! Having kids makes everything so much worse. I am so fearful that they will ever have to go without (not toys or cable TV, but food and medicine). I keep reviewing scenes from Cinderella Man in my head. An EXCELLENT movie, by the way. I wonder if I would ever be as good and as strong as the wife in that movie? I guess times like that, people just rose to the occasion because they had to. And more likely, the ones who just gave up and ran screaming down the street in despair did not have inspiring movies made about them. So anyways, what am I even talking about? Money. Worry. Bothersome repairs.

Oh, and something wierd. I have always thought I was a little, I don't want to use the word psychic, so I guess I will go with strongly intuitive. Last night I had a dream where I had a discussion with someone from nursery ministry where I was comforting her and praying for her and she was really, really in despair. She was upset because she could not make her nursery shift, and I was telling her not to worry about serving in nursery, she was more important to me than that. And.... I woke up this morning, and the phone rings, and I knew it was her! (I did not check caller ID. Our phone broke too! (HA!) So now we are using an old corded phone from probably 1989.) And sure enough, she was very upset, calling in that she could not make it to nursery, and I was telling her I was so sorry... (she had a personal tragedy). I even jumped out of bed early in anticipation that she would call me and so I was able to get to church on time just in case I had to replace her on the schedule. I think that is pretty wierd. Things like this happen pretty often to me though. I think it is some form of radioactive, co-dependency-on-steroids type of thing. I am always overly sensitive to other people's feelings. I had to quit going to my recovery group because I came home wanting to drink. I would hear about other people's lives and just feel so awful for them and it would upset me so much that I would want to drink. Isn't that awFUL??? If my Mom is really upset, my fibromyalgia pain will greatly intensify. Speaking of which, I am really in a lot of pain and discomfort lately. As long as I am complaining, let's just get it all out there! My SKIN hurts. All of my skin, esp. on my upper back just burns all the time. And it's more than just that. I sat down and wrote down a list of all my symptoms and complaints and it completely filled a piece of legal pad paper and went onto the backside. I am trying to figure this all out. How do I be the wife, mother, daughter, friend I want to be while I am in pain all the time? I am trying so hard not to be a whiner (I so want to be a shiner instead!) but it has been getting really hard lately. I don't want to be this sick, whiny, pathetic person but this condition seems to be engulfing my life more and more. I think when I went down to a half dose of the medicine (remember, because I thought I was going to lose my mind?) it helped me considerably with keeping my sanity, and all of the intolerable side effects subsided. But without the full dose, I am getting none of the pain relief. I am thinking I am going to have to look into some other treatments. But, enough complaining for the night (or week, really....). I have a loving husband, two gorgeous, brilliant (YES, brilliant, I am going to use that word!) children, and lots of wonderful friends and family. I love most everything about my life. I love everything external to the pain and problems in my own body. I am very grateful and blessed, but at the same time, I'm like, come ON! Enough already!