Regarding Baseball and Such

8 Oct

Sometimes life throws you a curveball.

And then sometimes life aims a pitching machine at your head and pushes the start button.

I’ve had some distance from the flood now, and my dear car has proved herself to be a tough old bird; she refuses to let a few gallons of water beat her. The estimate is for about as much as the car is worth, but she will be healed! I’m still in between residences at the moment, but at the end of the day there’s still a roof over my head and food in my belly, so I can’t complain too much. However, FEMA, who had been nothing but wonderful initially, suddenly also seems like they’ve been hit in the head themselves a time or two. Two days ago, here’s how a phone conversation went with them:

“Ms. Wallin? You faxed us a car estimate, but there isn’t any kind of phone number on it where we can reach the mechanic.”

“Are you sure? I don’t remember what it is, but it should be in the top box under the address.”

“No it isn’t. All that’s there is ‘Acme Body Shop, 123 Main Street, Anytown, USA, 555-555-1234′.”

“Um, that last part would be the phone number, ma’am.”

“That’s the phone number? I thought it was the zipcode.”

“Err, are you serious?”

So, I’ve pretty much given up hope that there is going to be any help for me that doesn’t come from my own pocket. And that’s okay, I suppose. It is just going to take longer for me to get back on my feet.

So while all of this is taking place, I get the keen idea that now would be a great time to get back into school. Registration has already passed, but it’s now or never! So, back and forth I go, and I have to pay extra of course, but it looks like they can squeeze me in. It takes a couple of days to get me into the system, but I keep in constant correspondence with my professor, trying to let her know that I mean business and am ready to tackle anything and will do the best I can. The very first day I was in the system was yesterday, so I go through all the assignments that have happened up until this point and get them all done in one day. I read all the chapters, make notes, go over stuff, write my introduction, and take an exam. I made a 100% on the exam, and I almost fail the “about me” section.

Did I mention that yesterday I had to miss work for like the first time ever because I’m deathly ill with what I fear is the swine flu (after all, I did have fever, body aches, sore throat, cough, diarrhea, all that fun stuff, and I do work around people with developmental disabilities so we’ve been warned that if we think we’re sick, don’t come in), but the very rude, hateful, and not thorough-at-all doctor shone a light in my ear and informed me it was sinusitis and sent me home heavily medicated. See what I mean about the pitching machine? I never ever ever go to the doctor because I feel like they’ll look at me like I’m a hypochondriac. So, I’m sick for a week, and over-the-counter stuff isn’t working, and people at work are asking me why am I there, so I pay $100 out-of-pocket for a professional opinion, and the guy–dressed in gray jeans and a gray shirt, I might add–spends less than a minute with me and is hateful at that. Um, what was I talking about again?

School. So, I’ve been attempting to take this school thing very seriously, the same way I do with my job. Being eager to please and having a “will do” attitude has fared very well for me at work so far, so I thought it would at school, too. It’s not like I’ve had the best track record with school in the past. In high school, I was the girl who could put everything off until the last minute, pass notes through class, and still make straight As. I learned quickly that once I got to college, that wasn’t going to be the case for me any longer. Now I’m the girl who likes to have a place and a list for everything. I am the girl who organizes her grocery coupons into a spreadsheet.

And so maybe I’ve been a little bit anal the past two days regarding my assignments. I want to do well. I don’t want life to be one big epic fail. So the fact that I did a very expansive mini-autobiography, and the fact that it got a 70% because of “lateness” irks me.

I brought this up to my professor, who is probably about ready to take a TPO out against me based on how much I’ve probably harassed her over the past three days. I mentioned how I had begged to be added to the system, which took them until yesterday, at which point I completed my assignments.

She finally gave in…and gave me an 80%.

So, on a scale of 1 to 10, I get an 8 in knowing myself. I’ve lived with myself for what will be twenty-six years in two weeks, and yet I am good for an 80% on Jebbica Knowledge. So, how am I supposed to excel in my other subjects?

So, for the count here, I’ve got a messed up relationship. No real home. A stinky, barely hanging on vehicle. I’ve got sinusitis. While on my period. I’ve got a rude doctor, inevitable medical expenses, and now a foot-in-the hole on my first day of class. But seriously, guys…I’m doing great!

But really. You can turn the pitching machine off now!

I knew there was a reason I never got into sports.