yesterday i felt like hell.

15 had a toothache...turned into a root canal...
worried about how school is going for him,
behind on the photo editing
constant emails from people wondering about
scheduling a session or when will photos be done...
tired all the time...busy at work with my "real" job,
full to the brim with guilt and never-ending-nagging feelings
that i am falling behind
and i cannot catch up.

and then
i went to parent teacher interviews for 15
and they could not say any more nice things about him
if they tried...
he is funny, he is kind, he is doing ok socially,
polite, well spoken, no bad attitude, no trouble at all in class...
lack a little focus "but no more than all teenage boys do".
when i mentioned how the guidance counselor in his junior high
suggested VERY STRONGLY that he may ADHD (& yet, kept calling him by the wrong name)
the teacher that has him for 3 hours straight every morning,
5 days a week, said he just didn't see that in him...at all...not even a little.

i felt like a weight of 6000 lbs was lifted from my heart.

i felt like people were actually really seeing him this year.
they were getting to know him. they know he is unorganized....
they are working with him on that without tearing him down on a daily basis for it.
they encourage him and they see the good parts of him.
the parts of him that i see every day.

and it changed my whole outlook to hear that....
i came home and shared every little bit of it with him
including how when he was absent for the root canal
his teacher told me the other kids in the class kept saying
"it's not the same...15 is not here...."

:) :) :)

i am not a spa person. i love the idea of a massage...but i don't like to be touched...and i don't like having to take my clothes off. i booked a "hot stone massage" envisioning that a) only my back would have to be bare and b) they would lay a large flat heated stone on my back. i was so wrong. i was a little stressed out before i got to the spa but when i was taken to a small room and asked to "remove all my clothes" and put on the white robe....i almost left. i seriously did not know what to do...i knew that this was totally out of my comfort zone and was NOT going to be the relaxing scenario i had pictured in my head. and...just so you know...i left my underwear on. total removal of all clothing was NOT going to happen. then i had to go sit in the lounge again...naked! well...under a robe...but still...some poor woman came in and sat down. i randomly blurted out (without making eye contact with her) (or saying hello) "GETTING A MASSAGE HAS TURNED OUT TO BE THE MOST STRESSFUL THING I HAVE ENDURED!". she also did not make eye contact. {now...i should tell you here that once i resigned myself to the fact that i was there and on the table and this was happening and i may as well let myself enjoy it...i did....especially when i realized that key parts of my anatomy remained covered by the blanket for the duration...that helped as well} but still...not a spa girl. too stressful.
i had also booked a manicure (it was a package). God help that poor girl that got assigned for both my massage & manicure. first i was a bundle of stressed out frayed nerves during the massage...and then the manicure ruined me. i am not a person that is good with making choices under pressure (and by pressure, i mean being asked by someone i don't know...) this is why i avoid places like Subway...so many questions! what kind of sub do you want, what kind of bread do you want, do you want cheese, do you want it heated, what veggies, what condiments, are you getting the cookie...jesus christ...i am a stressed out ball of sweat by the time i get to the end of that line and not even hungry anymore. the manicure turned out to be a similar situation...starting with choosing the color...so many choices! all pretty! and someone standing next to me waiting for me to make a decision which totally derails me. Plus I overthink things. So I am standing there trying to make a quick decision so this girl can move on with her life and stop having to deal with me and i start thinking well...what if I don't like getting a manicure and don't want to do it again (which is likely) maybe i should get a color that requires little to no maintenance...but i like the pink!...but what do i normally wear for clothes...and is pink too young...is red too old...what is going to show less chips...ohmygod make a decision...and the poor young girl is trying to help me...by asking me more questions which is only stressing me out more...finally i pick some beige skin colored polish and i realize as soon as we start the manicure that i hate it (no offense to the girl doing it or to anyone that likes them...they are just not for me) i hate sitting that long, i hate someone touching my hands that long, i hate the waiting, i hate the drying, i hate that i have to be careful after....i think i kind of suck at being a girl...:)
today i took a long drive looking at the fall colors, drinking a maple mocha and eating gingersnaps, listening to radiohead, singing at the top of my lungs, stopping to take photos with my cell phone whenever i felt like it. and i came home more relaxed than ever. :)