Tropical Depression and Summer Depression!

Well, sorry it's been a few days since my last post. As some of you may know, Tropical Depression #10 decided to make landfall here (not as expected in the above picture -- they're wrong most of the time!). I've spent the last couple of days preparing -- just in case the storm upgraded. These storms get into the Gulf of Mexico and have been known to escalate from a little Tropical Depression into a big 'ole hurricane in a matter of 24 hours. So, I needed to run out and secure the beach condo that we own. Also, there was some preparation to be made here at the house.

In other news, Hubby left two days ago for his "guy" trip to Germany. He and several friends did this very same trip a few years ago. So, in an attempt to relive the moment (I thought only girls did that kind of stuff, heee, heee!), they are all meeting again in Germany . . . to do . . . you know -- actually, I'm not really sure. I mean, what do 5 guys (4 single and 1 married) do in a foreign country?
Anywhoo . . .

**Warning . . . pity party commences below! Proceed with caution!**
I'm hanging in there or here! I'm a bit tired. With hubby's recent surgery and now his trip, I've been filling in. I'm officially the husband, the wife, the mom, the dad, the head chef, the accountant, the property manager (for two properties, might I add), the maid/housekeeper, the family photographer, the receptionist, the marketing director (been working hard on those scrapbooks), the maintenance woman, the landscape designer/maintainer (I've mowed the lawn every Friday - except yesterday when TD #10 reared it's ugly head -- so I did it today -- oh and I did put out my Fall decorations), closet organizer for my two girls (I had to rearrange their whole closet last Tuesday so that we could assess what clothes the girls would need for the Fall), the errand runner . . . and the list goes on. So, with so much to do, how come I feel so inadequate? Why do I feel like Cinderella (before the ball)? And all of those jobs are not a result of hubby's surgery -- I do most of those on a regular basis. I mean, with a husband that is absent half of the month, you do what you have to do. Unfortunately, though, I don't think I do any of the jobs well. Most times I just feel overwhelmed and under appreciated. I can't help but feel that I'm lacking in most areas . . . the house is never clean enough, the laundry basket in NEVER empty, the scrapbooks are a never ending project, the lawn has to be mowed at least once a week and apparently the flowers need more water than I've been giving them -- we've needed some throw rugs out at the condo for weeks and I've just now got around to dropping them off out there (I had a few moments when Hubby was here and the girls were taking a nap -- I ran out there to take care of that place), no! my two year cannot count to 10 -- she knows 2 and 8. Last Tuesday, I ran around here like a chicken with my head cut off . . . cleaning, organizing closets and throwing in a little play time with my children while hubby was laid up in bed. You want to know what I accomplished . . . breakfast, lunch and dinner for four, organized the girls' closet - old/outgrown clothes in bins, cleaned both bathrooms, wrote thank you notes to those who attended and gave gifts at Maddy's birthday party, colored with Maddy, took Maddy and Baby Lulu for a walk, gave both girls a bath and watered the flowers. And to top it all off . . . my hubby said, "Well huney, if you worked like that everyday, I'd have nothing to do around here." He's referring to my #1 pet peeve -- him coming home and picking up after I've already picked up. Let me explain -- if I've cleaned everything but the kitchen sink, the first thing he sees when he comes home is the dirty kitchen sink. And he immediately commences to cleaning it. Which, instead of being a grateful wife and appreciating that he is cleaning the kitchen sink, I immediately take it as a personal attack -- like my house cleaning isn't good enough. And I know I shouldn't -- but I do. So, anyway, I guess I'm going to close my pity party now. Sometimes a girl just needs to vent. After all, my contact today consisted of an 8 month old and a 2 year old.