Mother’s Day, Birthday, Three Day Weekend, Burn Out

This was one of those rare three-day weekend situations where I am ready to go back to work. Don’t get me wrong, it was a decent three day weekend, but I feel pretty burnt out right now.

Our oldest came home late Saturday afternoon. They were off work from Sunday thru Tuesday, and their birthday was on the 13th, so it worked out that they could be home for both Mother’s Day and their 24th birthday. We were also going to be meeting their girlfriend for the first time. In a strange case of happenstance their girlfriend was in our oldest’s 2nd grade class and they were friends. But our oldest transferred to a new school for the 3rd grade and they never saw them again until 15 years later when they reconnected.

Anyways, it was going to be a busy weekend where I did a lot of work with not much time for myself. And that was the case.

Saturday I had my coffee with dad, which was nice. My wife had a meeting in the morning, and when she got home we headed into town to pick up everything for the Mother’s Day festivities and for Monday’s birthday celebration. After we got home I was outside mowing and cleaning up the clippings. I put together dinner which was chicken burritos and fresh salsa. We met our oldest’s girlfriend. Her name is Tor and she’s very sweet. She even brought my wife some Amish cookies for Mother’s Day.

Sunday morning I put together potato salad and put the burgers together as well, so I’d be ready in the afternoon to get things going on the grill. I ended up washing my wife’s Ford Flex, as well as my oldest’s Rogue and my son’s girlfriend’s car. It was a beautiful day for vehicle washing and they all needed it. Before that my wife and I headed into town for some last minute items, but for the life of me I don’t remember what that was.

The Mother’s Day festivities were fine. Burgers, dogs, grilled chicken thighs, potato salad, and baked beans were served up courtesy of me. We picked up a plant for my mom for Mother’s Day. While everyone sat out front chatting my dad joined me on the back porch while I cooked everything up. We had a couple beers and some great conversation. My mom got to meet Tor and she seemed to do well with all the new faces she was meeting.

By 8pm I was falling asleep in my chair.

Yesterday I took off so I could hang out with my oldest on their birthday. 24. 24 years since my wife and I had our first child. Almost a quarter century old. Doesn’t seem possible. They got up and picked up a couple drinks from a local coffee shop for us and I made us a couple egg sandwiches. My wife got off work early so she could go with us to lunch, and my son went with us as well as he had the day off. The food was good, but my quesabirria was pretty greasy honestly.

Anyways, we got home and my wife put together a birthday cake. Afterwards she and our oldest went to pick up our other daughter’s dog from doggy daycare and I put together chicken tenders, homemade mac and cheese, and roasted brussel sprouts(our oldest’s requested birthday dinner.)

It was a nice dinner and the cake was great.

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I have to say, I’m pretty burnt out. Despite the nice visit and the good food and great weather I’m just fried. May has always been one of those months. Besides car insurance being due, there’s Mother’s Day and two birthdays(our oldest and middle kid.) It’s a month of big expectations and money going out the window. It’s the kind of month that stretches me to the fullest; financially, emotionally, and physically. At one point last night cooking dinner I just felt completely defeated. Like I’d never get the food done in time. The whole weekend felt like one task after another with no time to just sit and enjoy the moment. I did some of that with my dad grilling on the back porch, but most of the time I was in a constant mental run. Going from one task to the next not really thinking about how I should be celebrating and not anxious and agitated.

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I’ve made a concerted to NOT be stuck in my head all the time and just enjoy the moments over the last few years. The last year has been a lot harder to do that because of all the issues our middle kid had; be it relationship issues, dog issues, or health issues. The last couple months have gotten a lot better in that regard as our kid’s situation has improved greatly. But I can’t just shut down my brain and go into auto pilot. I’ve never been wired that way.

We’ve got our middle child’s 21st birthday next Monday, the 20th, so it’ll be one more week of brain buzzing and feeling the feels and contemplating the passing of time, yadda yadda, etc… We’ll get through it and it will be nice. It’s reason to celebrate, as she’s gone through a hell of a lot and we are proud of her for all the hard work she’s done to get here. But everything is still a bit of a struggle, and your kids turning into adults legally able to buy alcohol is a firm reminder of how old we’re getting and how quickly it all goes.

Well that, and washing 3 cars by hand in one afternoon is also a pretty good physical reminder of how damn old I’m getting.