On a day when you just learned that a deadline is two weeks sooner than you thought it was and your boss is melting down and you realize you’re going to have to pull a couple of almost-all-nighters to catch up, what is the last thing you want to hear? In my case it’s, “Honey, can I ask you a big, big favor?”

I could have blown him off, I guess. It wasn’t super important in the grand scheme of things (just important to him). But I sighed and shut down my laptop and drove all the way home to grab something he’d forgotten. Baseball. He plays baseball for “fun” (although what those men find fun I consider severe punishment. You should see his poor legs! And they certainly don’t treat it as “fun” when they lose!). So I found the field and dropped off his uniform shirt.

My idea was to work on some stuff on my laptop while watching the game. I did not account for three important factors:

1) My back still hurts. No desk = more pain.

2) Bugs. I couldn’t sit still, I had to keep whacking bugs on my arms. ICK. Not a good working condition.

3) I did not expect a bunch of friends of the ballplayers to show up with their toddlers. Mostly men, with little 2 year old boys. All running around screaming/laughing directly behind me. I ignored it for a little bit, but the bugs kept interrupting my thought processes and then I’d hear the kids again. Toddlers don’t usually get to me that bad. But today it seemed another parent arrived with a stroller every 10 minutes and I just couldn’t take it any more.

I packed up quickly before I had an all-out meltdown, said goodbye to Den, and cried all the way to my car. Then spent the drive home in a kind of numb post-cry state.

I spent the rest of the evening and into the night working at my computer. Good progress has been made. I feel a little less like screeching.

So back to the favor. He promised me that he would do anything he could to help me out since I did him such a big favor on a really bad day for favors! I thought for a while. Sometimes he tries to tempt me with buying me something, but I say to him DUH that’s our joint money so I’m no better off! Then when I got home I found it sitting right in front of me: the kitchen. With pots and pans still dirty from the dinner he cooked yesterday, the dishwasher full of clean dishes I haven’t gotten around to putting away, the counter covered with empty boxes (why?!) and other random items that never made it back into the cupboard. So when my husband called I said, “You’re going to clean the kitchen.” He agreed. Told me to leave it all, he’ll get to it first thing after work tomorrow, clean it all.

As I was working I’d wander into the kitchen to grab a quick snack and freeze at the sight. I’d think to myself, shit, I should put the dishes away and wash the pots and pans so I can clear off the counter. You know that sinking feeling, that if you don’t do it now it’s only going to get worse.

And then I realized, I don’t have to worry about it! I can grab my snack and skip out of the kitchen and get back to work completely guilt-free!

Best returned favor ever. Or it will be. Ahhhhhhh.

::

Today when I saw my chiropractor I sheepishly admitted I’d done something stupid. I told her about the trampoline. She looked at me with dismay. “You’re not ready for that!” Yep. Yep, I figured that out. I felt like holding my hand out so she could smack it and tell me I was a bad girl. LOL

The good news is that she says I will certainly be jumping on a trampoline one day again. The bad news is that it won’t be now. Or soon. She reminded me that pregnancy does a number on your body and you need time to heal. I guess I just forget. I feel so good most of the time, you know? Most women after pregnancy have a newborn to take care of so they don’t even consider getting on a trampoline or whatnot. I don’t have that anchor to remind me to take it easy.

But my body has clearly had enough and it’s telling me to go to sleep. My neck is hurting and my arm is going numb. *sigh* Time for sleep… if I can.