Crapalanche

Two weeks ago, Mom, Timothy, Chris and I went to Port Ludlow and – with the help of some good friends – emptied out the beach house.  We bid adieu to the place that Dad loved and where he’d spent so much time laboring over the last few years.  A labor of love.  He’d painted every wall, tiled floors, fixed plumbing, built a beautiful stone column on the deck, worked on the roof and filled over 20 truck loads with overgrown vegetation.  When we’d finally taken the last load out of the house, we went over to the condo (which we just listed for sale) and popped the bottle of champagne that’s been waiting for a sold-property celebration for three years.  (Mom and Dad had bought it to celebrate the condo selling…we took that off the market after dad died, listed the house first and their Bellevue condo instead.  After a summer of frustration and dropping prices on both properties WAY too much, both ended up selling and closing within a week at the beginning of October.)

Yes, it’s a relief to have two properties sold.  Yes, it helps…a bit.  There’s still a ridiculous amount of stuff to figure out.  Tax stuff (that I don’t even get at all and try to avoid thinking about since it causes brain-pain).  Then there’s the annoying little stuff – the home phone that we cancelled and yet they’re still charging mom for.  The cable modems that got returned and yet they’re saying they don’t have.  We just got a bill for Dad’s cell phone for the month of September.  We cancelled his phone a while ago.  I didn’t know they got reception in Heaven, but we’re getting charged for it!

I’ve been saying for a while, “I just want things to get easier.”  All the administrative broo-ha-ha from having five properties to manage (the Bellevue condo, the beach house, the Port Ludlow condo, Mom’s new place, Chris’ new apartment).  It’s just too much.  I’ve been so nervous that I’m going to make a huge mistake and royally screw things up.  It all feels way too adult.  It’s way too many utility bills for one person to keep track of.  So, we are down two places.  There are only three properties to manage now.  Yep, only three.  And, sure, it’s gotten a little easier, but it’s continued to feel like a bit a crap-avalanche.  A crapalanche. The minute one big thing closes/settles/eases up a bit, there’s something else.  We get notification that Mom’s credit card (that took 6 months to get) was ‘compromised’ in the Home Depot credit card fraud dealy and they have to cancel it (I kid you not – within two weeks after I’d finally managed to set up so many bills to be autopaid on it to simplify our lives).  Her credit card is finally back – new number, all good, up and running.  We get notification that Chris’ credit card has been compromised.  Here we go again.

I’m the biggest whiner.  The biggest complainer.  Here’s the deal: life is hard, I get that.  I realize that my problems – compared to so many people in the world – well, they’re a joke, really; a walk in the park.  And, honestly, I wouldn’t trade with anyone.  So, at what point, can I just really accept the ‘life is hard business – just work with it’ mentality?  These are the cards we’ve been dealt – play the game without being such a wuss.

I’m waiting.  I’m waiting for things to settle down, for life to get a little less complicated.  People keep telling me that it will, but maybe instead, I should stop waiting and just embrace this new ‘normal.’  It’s a heck of a lot more challenging than my life used to be, but people have said I’m not one for boring.  We’ve always tended to have more drama in our lives than is normal.  Can’t just have a wedding night without a trip to the ER.  Why have a baby at 40 weeks when you can make a more surprising entrance and have a BOY 5 weeks early?!  You know I could go on and on…but – the drama, the excitement, the stress – maybe it’s the only way I know how to do things.  It’s how we roll.  Now I gots to just own it.