Life Gets in the Way

And so it goes with any kind of daily writing I say I'm going to do. . . Life gets in the way and I inevitably stop after a few solid weeks (OK, days).  I say I'm going to blog but then reality sinks in.  By the time all 3 curly girlies are in bed, I'm wiped.  I usually end up falling asleep on the couch by 9 and when The Doctor wakes me up a couple of hours later, it's all I can do to brush my teeth, wash my face and fall into bed.

I am proud to say that I am just about 5 months into my renewed Orange Rhino journey and am still going strong.  Whenever M sees that I am really upset and she thinks I am going to yell, she calls out, "Orange Rhino!".  The Orange Rhino (the woman whom I consider to be my guru) has a saying that I made the home screen on my phone and that has become my daily mantra.  She says "Love Trumps Anger".  3 little words that normally are not used together and yet put together, these 3 little words get me through my most trying moments (and let me tell you, for as funny as L is, she has a lot of trying moments).  It doesn't matter how upset a situation is making me, when I remember that love trumps anger every time, I immediately defuse and am able to handle the said situation so much better.

Monday was a tough day.  It was the day of the first Passover Seder, The Doctor donned his chef coat and was cooking dinner for 19 people and we were expecting 14 of those people at 6 pm.  L didn't have school so I was going to go to my kickboxing class.  I never get to go Mondays, so this was a rare treat for me.  Just as I pulled into the parking lot of the Dojo, my phone rang.  After I answered, all I heard was bits and pieces. ". . . the stove is not working!" ". . . meatballs are cooking, tzimmes is cooking. . . 20 pound turkey I still have to get up!"  The Doctor is always levelheaded.  He doesn't get excited easily.  Most of the time, it's annoying, because I get excited over the least little thing.  I'll show him something I find super exciting and his reply is always, "That's nice".  I knew there was a problem when he was quite excited about this.

We were both a little upset, sadly for different reasons.  I fully admit, I had no idea what my role in all this was and couldn't understand why I had to give up my kickboxing class to come home and stare at an oven that wasn't working.  The Doctor was frustrated that I didn't see the graveness of the situation and we both ended up hanging up, neither one of us feeling much better.  Not five minutes later and my phone rang again.  This time, it was The Doctor that I'm used too.  He was calm and collected and told me to go to Bed Bath and Beyond.  We were going to cook our Seder dinner in crock pots and this wonderful pseudo Master Chef figured out how to roast the turkey on the grill.  All of my Bed Bath and Beyond coupons that I insist on collecting came in handy and we pulled dinner off without a hitch. What I am most proud of is the fact that we were able to get through the day joking with each other and  supporting each other.  We could have yelled, screamed, fought, called each other names, etc, etc, but that's not really our style.  As stressful as the day was I was still able to keep things in check and even when B and M came home with piles of homework and a ton of curiosity, I was able to keep cool and calm.

Not yelling is still an every day struggle.  Is it ever going to get easier?  Will I ever have moments where I'm faced with an upsetting situation and wanting to yell isn't my first reaction?  I certainly hope so but until then, I'll just keep remembering that Love Trumps Anger every single time.