Ok Woman, Where Are You?

This post is a direct response to Shannon, who asked:

OK WOMAN. WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?!

:-)

Actually, that's a good question.

I've disappeared from the blogosphere because things in my personal life got, well, a little out of control. We've been dealing with some behavioral problems with The Kid lately, which has sapped a lot of my motivation for just about everything. By the time we are done with her passive-aggressive and obstinate tendencies for the day, I feel like a shriveled up husk with nothing left. Add to that two days of yom tov (the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah), one day of shabbat (the sabbath), plus several days' worth of client melt-downs because I was out of the office on Thursday and Friday, and it creates a situation where I completely fell off the face of the earth for a few days.

It's been a tough week, and I'm expecting things to get tougher before they get easier. Another couple we know, who finalized an adoption on two kids just a few months ago, also struggling with their oldest adopted child as well. Maybe it's in the water, or maybe it's just the time of year where pre- and post-adoptive kids start melting down in a big way.

The Kid's birthday is coming up, and I expect some more challenging behaviors around that. Her birthday wish list includes such inexpensive items like a cell phone, an iPod (and no, a Nano or Shuffle just won't do), and a trip to a very distant, pricey and rodent-infested West-Coast amusement park. She's going to be mightily disappointed, because my budget for this birthday wasn't all that big to begin with, and all her recent behavior struggles haven't left me in the mood to open the tap to the Gift Shower very wide.

Yeah, I know, color me bloody selfish, but when The Kid is acting like a Royal Pain in my A$$, I'm just not inclined to spend a lot of hard-earned cash to feed her Royal case of The Gimmes.

Anybody want a kid? I'll rent her to you cheap. (Okay, well maybe not, but it's fun to think about, sometimes)

Diet-wise, I'm not sure where I am. I've been so busy running around like a crazy person that I suspect the news isn't good, and I'm kicking myself for missing the last weigh-in for the May Day Weight Loss Challenge. I've pretty much avoided Mr. Scale for the past week or so, because I just don't feel like I have the emotional bandwidth to deal with more challenging news.

It's been a tough week, and I'm wishing I could pack my kid, my job, and my scale into three separate boxes and ship them off to parts unknown.

But I do know my stress level is over the top. When I wake up in the morning, my jaw is clenched so tight I can barely open it. Too bad it won't get stuck that way -- then I'd really lose some weight!