And Of Course, The Anniversary Card
11.14.7

I'm terrible about sending out cards of any kind; always have been. Birthday cards, anniversary cards, thank you cards...for whatever reason I always get them in the mail at least a month late. It's one of my bad habits that I'm trying to work on.

Two days ago, I sent out a large stack of cards that I had been meaning to fill out for quite some time. There were 3 thank you cards for birthday gifts (overdue since August 17th), a birthday card for my dad (September 10th), and of course, the anniversary card for my mom and stepdad, who married on October 14th.

I suppose I've been putting off more than just greeting cards lately. Not too long ago I completely stopped paying bills for a month. Obviously, this led to a few extra fees and late charges. I'm not entirely sure why I've been procrastinating so much lately, but I have a theory. I think I've just been feeling a bit overwhelmed by life these days. Too many things have been piling up on my plate, and I never have enough time to sort through them. Between running Everything's OK, the constant chore of updating this site, my various daily responsibilities, some large projects I'm working on, and most recently my attempts at getting involved in the Ron Paul campaign...well, I just feel like something's going to break eventually.

That's really beside the point, though.

Now, where was I? Ah, of course...

Yesterday I called my mom to see how things were going. I talked to her for a few minutes, and eventually asked what she's been up to. At this point, she told me that most of her time lately has been spent getting the house ready to sell. This was the first I had even heard about them moving, but I tried not to sound surprised (I didn't want to risk the possibility of looking like an ass if she had told me about it before). Trying to continue the small talk, I asked where they were planning on moving.

"Well, I don't know where Mike's going...but I'm probably going to Indiana."

So, there it was.

I've personally always liked Mike, so this surprised me to some extent. On the other hand, I probably should have seen this coming. It seemed like every time I spoke with my mom, she had something to say about his drinking. I always imagined him as the casual beer drinker I used to know, though...a few Coronas each night, maybe. Apparently, the problem had been escalating since then. As we talked about her plans and the reasons for the sudden separation, she informed me that he's been drinking (in her words) almost a quart of rum a day.

I won't get into it too much, except to say that I wish she didn't have to go through this right now. I really hope that he'll get his shit together in time to save the marriage. Unfortunately, that probably won't happen.

As my mom and I were wrapping up the conversation, however, I found myself awkwardly mentioning, "So...in a few days...you're going to get an anniversary card in the mail. You can just ignore that, I guess."

The irony was not lost on her, and we at least had a good chuckle...