10 December, 2006

Crying Over Shattered Deodorant

I am a wee bit stressed out lately. So many big things are happening all at once and this Saturday, I lost it. Let me tell you about it all.
  1. Over the last ten days, our lives have changed dramatically. We are in the consideration of the birth parents for this child to be born early February. We are the only parents being considered and we will hear in the next few days if they want to meet us. If it works out, we have to get the funds together in very little time and prepare for the baby. We have done so much but I worry that there is so much left to do.
  2. Thursday, I fly out to visit Snapdragon and see him graduate with his pre-med degree. I also get to visit my dear friend Chica, Psycho Kitty, and Rae. The down side is that I will be seeing my parents. I so do not want to see them or talk with them about the adoption. They are so very unpleasant. So that part of the trip is wicked stressful.
  3. I had two moles removed about a month ago. Two weeks ago, I got a call from the doctors office saying that they "could not rule out cancer" in one of the moles and they needed to "shave the site down." It was clear that I was talking to the secretary and she did not have any good answers about what "could not rule out cancer" meant. I plan to find out tomorrow. Deep down in my brain, I have a very strong belief that it is not that serious. But my god, hearing the C word in relation to your body is quite frightening. This one tipped the scales over to the side of crazy Saturday.
  4. Also, over the past two weeks , I had one abstract for a conference turned down as well as a manuscript for a journal. I have had maybe two rejections of conference abstracts EVER in my career, and I present a lot. My other three manuscripts were accepted for publication with minor changes. This one, one of the reviewers seemed to have it out for me. I revised that damn thing four times for her. My rejection letter contained the comments from both reviewers. The evil one had five things she did not like, things like arguing that it is not actually a pilot study. The other reviewer said it was ready to publish. This is my first manuscript to be rejected. I know it is all part of the process but I feel like I have lost my golden touch. I realize this may seem rather petty or dumb in relation to the other things like adoption and mole cancer worry, but these goals have a very important meaning to me.
  5. Christmas is coming and that is always a stressful time. I don't feel at home with my in-laws. Now don't get me wrong, they are super nice and caring. It just is so very different from what I grew up with. I miss my family a lot during the holidays but know what I miss does not exist anymore. I love Peaches and my private celebration of Christmas. That is so wonderful. The spirit of the holiday lives in that wonderful evening each year. There is no complaining about gifts, yelling that someone ruined the green beans, fear that someone will not like a gift and berate you, or being left out or passed over because I am gay.
  6. We were planning a party and we needed to clean the house, cook the cookies, make the other food, and get ready.
  7. Oh, my period started that day and I was severely PMS-ing with the erratic moods.
  8. My cold from THANKSGIVING is still around and getting worse.

So, I was so crazed that I picked stupid fights with Peaches. I tried to rein it in but it kept busting through. Finally, I was getting ready and reached for my crystal rock deodorant. It fell into the sink, slid across the bowl of the sink and did an Evil Kenevil jump over the counter onto the trash can lid where it shattered into a zillion shards of odor killing sharpness. I stared at it and started sobbing. It was immensely stupid to cry over my deodorant but then that really was not what I was crying over, now was it.

Today is day two of my period so the irrational, hormone influenced emotions are gone. I have apologized to Peaches and together we processed "like good social workers" the whole fight picking incidents. She is a wonderful woman and I know I am very lucky to have her love.

The cookie party went well. Our many wonderful friends we had not seen in a while came and it was just so nice to sit in the room with loving friends. We saw a few more this morning for breakfast. Everyone is so supportive of the adoption, asking about it, offering help, expressing excitement at the prospects of this baby.

Tomorrow, I find out about the mole. I'll let you all know.

I got my plans on how to deal with my parents. Chica and Psycho Kitty are coming to Snapdragon's graduation so that will help buffer the parents. My therapist helped me rehearse what to say to set limits. It will be ok. It is just scary when you only have seen them twice in six years and both times sent you to therapy afterwards.

As for the manuscript, I have another journal picked out and just need to work on undoing the stupid edits of the evil reviewer.

I am going to Price Chopper tomorrow to buy another crystal deodorant.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi! I don't remember how I stumbled onto your blog, I think via Catherine Newman's blog and then your wife's and then you, but I just wanted to say that, while I don't know you personally, from what I have read you both seem so genuinely happy and loving with each other, I just know that you two will be wonderful parents. I am so excited and happy for you!!!! Babies are just so fantastic ... I digress, however, as the main reason I was writing is that I have had (many) moles lopped off and one of them was a malignant melanoma. After the initial scrape I had to undergo what sounds similar to your "shaving the site down", and they took it out completely. I understand that this is fairly common and the procedure wasn't bad, so please try to not let that tip your scales again until you nail your doc down to more specifics. I hope you have a wonderful day and upcoming trip, I wish you peace and love and good fortune in all you do. Stick with your plan for your parents...while you are still their kid you are also your own person now, and like you said, what you miss about them doesn't exist anymore, and that isn't bad, it just means that you have changed and grown up. Take care.

Hashbrown said...

Thank you Shelley. It is really kind of you to write all that. I am sure it will be ok today with the doctor. She was very gentle last time. I am looking forward to learning exactly what is going on with that site.

Thank you for your observations about Peaches and I. We do love each other very much and are very happy together. She is the best! I know we will do our best to be good parents to our child.

Canada said...

Oh sweetie, it sucks when your whole world collides into crappiness and deoderant shards(and pms!). Breathe deeply before the doctor, and be thankful that you got the moles removed to begin with - a good step if one is a little off. Your doc sounds great.
As for the parents, I'm so glad PK and the Chica will be there with you. I know it means the world to Snapdragon to have you there for his grad.
Some reviewers are just bitchy. You still rock, and you are so committed to research! There should be more MTs like you (sadly, I have no desire to do any research at all - you can do my share, 'kay?)
And regarding the adoption - if she's meant to be yours, it will all work out. I know that somewhere, there is a baby for you and Peaches - how can there not be? You're going to be amazing parents. Keep us posted!
xo

LymeAware said...

It sounds like you just have LOTS on your plate. I'm surprised to hear about your getting turned down for a conference- usually they're looking for lots of presenters. Sometimes they are quirky though- for random reasons. Maybe it's not random though- with everything else that is happening for you, maybe presenting would have been too much. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. ? :)

From everything I read on your and Peaches' blogs, you just sound like wonderful people. This sounds like a tough time, but also a time of change. Good luck.

Psycho Kitty said...

Aw, honey. I am sorry it is all so hard, and that your parents are such PITAs. But we are going to have fun, us, and if your mother gets out of line, I'll sit on her. You think I'm kidding.
I'll call you tonight.

Clementine said...

You are all so kind! I'm so glad that Hashbrown can write a post like this and get such warm, kind responses, both from friends she knows in real life and from folks she's never met.

And Hashie, this is a crapload of stress. I think you're handling it with remarkable grace and optimism, and that includes the whole "sobbing over deodorant" incident! We'll just take things day by day, together. Okay?

I love you!

love,
Your greatest fan

Hashbrown said...

Thanks everyone. You are all great.

Anonymous said...

Oops I almost called you your REAL NAME because this post made me want to give you a big hug.

Listen sister, I've been here with the PMS, that's for sure. And that's a lot of stuff to carry around! No wonder you freaked out!

We all love you and of course by now things are looking up since it took me forever to leave this comment. ;)

I can't wait for Hester Willa! I'm so excited for you guys and wishing you luck of course!