I know my last post must have sounded kind of nuts to many people, but since I've been stressing about it basically night and day, I just had to put it out there, as opposed to keeping it all bottled up inside while rocking back and forth in the corner picking at myself. In most ways, my situation isn't really different from that of anyone working in any kind of high-intensity job. It's not exactly that you're not supposed to have a personal life, you're just not supposed to let that personal life interfere with work. At all. But whatever, I'm not the first person to do this, I certainly won't be the last, I should just stop wasting all my energy worrying about external forces and just deal with things as they come.
I should just listen to my own advice once in a while. Isn't it funny how it's so much easier to give advice to others than to apply that same advice to yourself? Ha ha ha, so funny! (Ahem.) Anyway, my stock advice for calming people down in the workplace, however draconian as it may sound, is, "Nobody's going to die." Well, maybe that's not advice, more putting things into perspective. Like if I have an intern who's freaking out and has fifteen thousand things to do and her pager is going off non-stop and this kid just kicked out her IV and this parent is demanding to speak to patient relations because the kid hates green Jello and there was green Jello on her lunch tray and...gaah...gaaah...GAAAAH! (This is followed by the sound of a head exploding.) It's OK. We're going to get through this. Nobody's going to die. And even though that sounds comically extreme (like saying, "Well, at least this day is better than being caught in a nuclear holocaust"), in the context of the hospital, it's kind of...less implausible. And with that perspective in place, we take a deep breath and move on with our work.
(I don't say this when there actually is a risk of someone dying, though.)
Calm down, Michelle. Nobody's going to die.
* * *
So I've been trying to chase down our nursery furniture for the past month or so now, to no avail. We placed our order all the way back in the beginning of March, at which time we were told the stuff was on backorder, and would arrive in 10-12 weeks. 10-12 somehow morphed into 14-16, and now I'm starting to get concerned that the stuff's not going to get here until Cal's packing his bags for college. It's OK, he and the dog can share a bed until then.
See, there's plenty of room.
When I called the store last week, the furniture hadn't even left the distributor warehouse in Canada yet. Canada, for chrissake. We placed the order three months ago! What are they doing up there? Chopping down the tree for the wood to build the crib? Eating Canadian bacon? Enjoying their socialized health care? Surprisingly, however, when I called this morning, the new projected arrival date in New York is actually June 10th. Whether or not this "projection" is based in reality remains to be seen, but after the stuff gets to the city, it's just a matter of setting up delivery with the store itself to get it all up to our apartment. This is easier said than done of course, because as with any major furniture delivery, it involves getting the OK from the building super, padding up the elevator, and making sure that all the stuff is all upstairs within the designated time frame--or else it's lights off for us. (Remember, we had some issues with that when we moved into the apartment two years ago.) Thankfully, one plus of this furniture delivery is that the delivery guys actually also help assemble the furniture for us, thus saving us (read: Joe) many hours of wrestling with pegs and widgits.
Meanwhile, while Cal gets the nice hardwood crib, Mom and Dad are still sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Well, not that I really mind. It's a shorter height from which to fall out of bed, anyway.
* * *
Hey, did you know that they're making a movie out of "Rent?" I didn't. Looks like they got most of the original cast back for the film version, too. Might be interesting. I'm hoping that the movie won't be quite as loud as the stage version. I think I've seen the play twice, and it seems like they're combating the staleness that accompanies a long-running show by just turning the speakers allllll the way up. I mean, I know it's like a "rock opera" and all that, but dang. Or maybe I'm just getting old. You damn kids, turn it down!
Currently reading: Was reading "One Hundred Demons," but obviously that's a quick read. Thinking about getting that Ruth Reichl book that one of you guys recommended--maybe even later today, if I can stomach the idea of walking to the bookstore in this weather. It was freaking 90 degrees out yesterday, with no apparent respite today.
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