So the blog’s been quiet as of late, & though I kept thinking I’d update, days became weeks. Now  granted, life’s been busy, but that’s typical here. My radio silence has been more than that. Life’s been busy, but it’s also been more difficult.

You know those periods in your life when it feels as though you’re swimming along -just like Dory in Finding Nemo,  & a giant wave crashes over you? You come up gasping for air, thinking:

just keep swimming,

just keep swimming,

just keep swimming, swimming, swimming,

But then another wave knocks you down. And another.

That’s what life has felt like for the past month or so.

There are various reasons that have made life challenging as of late, but the dilemma for me was- do I share some of those things, even though they’re more serious? I like to be real here, but I also like to keep things light. Those of you that hang with me know I love to laugh, to make YOU laugh, & to find the funny amidst the chaos.

So I decided to be real & share why some things have been hard, but also how I still find the humor…

It started with financial concerns. Money is tight. Living on one income doesn’t quite cut it, but my working brings back student loans & a mess of childcare. So we’re muddling through that stress & anxiety, we ended up riding….

 The Vomit Comet.

HARD. One by one, it hit every family member. Everything goes out of whack when a stomach virus strikes a large family, & we’re no exception.

Then it hit me, too. HAAARRDD.

Now I’ve birthed six babies, so I’m no shrinking violet…. except, apparently, when it comes to stomach viruses. Because about 3 hours in, I was curled in a fetal ball on the bathroom floor, weeping softly between heaves.

Thankfully, The Captain was able to take off the next day from work so he could help with the kids while I recovered.

You know what’s worse than a stomach virus?

Finding out your mom has breast cancer while having a stomach virus.

My mom had a biopsy done prior, & came for support. And the only support I could give was verbal, because giving her a stomach virus by hugging her is NOT very supportive.

So this news has obviously thrown us all into a tailspin. My mom is undergoing a double mastectomy within a week, & thankfully lives a few doors down so we can offer support.

Here’s where it’ll get funny…. in a kind of pathetic-but-still-funny way.

(Stay with me.)

So between financial stress, family illness, cancer, & the normal chaos of juggling six kids, life has been hectic & overwhelming.

And decidedly NOT fun. Or funny.

I’ve been having myself a little party:

PITY- PARTY OF ONE.

Until I got jolted from my pity. And by jolted, I mean, smacked in the face.

…..LITERALLY…..

The Captain has been organizing the household preparations for my mom’s surgery, & one item was to acquire a full sized bed for guests to use in Mom’s house.

He found one an hour away, & although he tried to recruit help to move it, no one was available. So at the end of a very long & draining day, I was going to have to help him with the furniture.

You know those straw-breaking-camel’s-back moments? This was one. Moving a bed is not a big deal. But moving a bed when you’re broke, your mom has cancer, your dad died of cancer, you cleaned 3,466 kid messes that day, you’re exhausted & overwhelmed & scared… then it’s a big deal.

So I cried. Like a big baby. Ugly cried about how sad & overwhelmed I felt.

And The Captain listened, patiently & lovingly.

Then I snapped out of it. I put my big-girl pants on, washed my face, grabbed my coat, & prepared to kick some a$$.

Little did I know, my own a$$ would be kicked.

We started moving the minivan seats- they fold into the floor. As I pulled the strap on my side, it wouldn’t budge. Pulled harder… nothing. Leaned in, pulled, and-

BAM!!!!

SMASHED IN THE FACE.

Image Courtesy of www.giphy.com

So bad. So, SO bad. Instant blood in my mouth, & that inner mantra of, “please not my teeth please pleeese don’t let my teeth be broken, pleeese oh no that’s blood…”

I was spitting blood onto the sidewalk; The Captain ran over, trying to assess what happened. And it HURT. Tears are streaming from the sides of my eyes, from pain…

… but also from laughter.

Because it was ludicrous. It was absurd. It was so ridiculous that I couldn’t stop laughing. And that confused The Captain more, which is made me laugh harder. 

My teeth were fine, but one had cut the inside of my mouth on impact. And as he was inspecting it, The Captain kept saying,

“Oh… but it’s so SAD. This is just so SAD!”

Which made me even MORE hysterical- with LAUGHTER.

Because there are times in your life where it feels like everything is going wrong. Those times when you’re getting hit with crisis after crisis. The times when it’s hard to hold your head up because it’s so crushing. So wrong.

But sometimes all it takes is a SHOCK to the SYSTEM -in my case- a bloody lip– to remind you that feeling sorry for yourself does nothing. Finding the humor, even in the bizarre, can be a lifeline to getting through those times.

I can’t change some of my crappy circumstances. But I can stop them from changing me for the worse. While some moments aren’t funny, some still are. I can have both.

And did we pick up the bed? We sure did. And laughed even harder when The Captain said, “Make sure you tell them I didn’t punch you in the face, ok? They might think I did. No, don’t- then they’ll REALLY think I did. Just don’t bleed on the bed.”

Things have been hard. But I’m still standing. And I’m still laughing.

“She is clothed with strength & dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.”

                                                                                                                                      -Proverbs 31:25 NIV