What Day is It? Where Am I? Why Am I in My Pajamas?

Yiii! There is so much going on, so much to be done, so much demanding my attention that I’m in danger of ending up naked, wandering the streets, asking strangers for directions to the airport. Not that I have any need to go to the airport. And not that I’m currently naked. Or that I’d need to ask directions from anyone, ever again, if only I remembered to take my spiffy new iPhone with me as I wandered.
But goodlordalmighty! What has happened to my life? This month has been crazy. And then crazy. And know what it is?  It’s New Shit. I’m sure of it:  there’s so much New Shit in this house that it’s disrupted the balance and chi and has everything discombobulated.
The roof. The siding. The windows. The washing machine. The dryer. The new little camera. The iPhone. The docking station/charger/speakers for the iPhone.
And all the instruction manuals for everything, all in a basket, patiently waiting for me to read them, highlight them, mark them with Post-It notes.
Is it any wonder I feel just the teensiest bit crazy? Please, please:  keep your fingers crossed nothing else breaks down, OK? I don’t think I can take another piece of New Shit any time soon.
Oh. Here’s something that kind of illustrates the problem, since you don’t actually have to live in the house with me and so maybe don’t know how these things work. The camera broke, right? I mean, literally broke:  the screen shattered. It did this when the camera fell from my waistband to the ground while it was IN THE PADDED CASE.
OK. So when I get a new camera, guess what:  I have to get a better case. Right? And so I go out looking for something that’s small and light and highly padded and secure, with a neck strap so I can carry it easily and light enough so it doesn’t pull on my neck. It’s always about The Neck, of course. Sheesh. Like a spoiled princess, my neck. A whiney, kvetchy one, always whinging at me and going, “Oh, I’d better not do that. It will hurt me!  I’m too delicate for that!”
Bitch drives me nuts, you know?
Anyway. So I spend half a day driving around trying to find The Perfect Camera Case. Like that’s going to happen. Finally, after much grousing, I come home with this one:

So butt-ugly. But with potential! If you look down in the lower left-hand corner, you see some thread. Embroidery floss. I’ve ripped off the logo and picked out the colors, and I’ve cut a new neck strap from two layers of cotton and flannel, since this cheap-ass strap is about as comfortable as barbed wire. My neck is sore from the last chiropractor visit, so everything feels even crappier than it otherwise would. Whine, whine, whine.
Anyway, I have plans:  new strap in these shades of green plus orange—some fabulous batik I had in the stash (and what do I NOT have in The Stash? Hmmmmm?), plus some stitching and beading on the case itself.
See? This is how it goes. I can’t just go down and buy a well-padded black camera case and be done with it. Oh, nooooooo. I have to turn it into a major project, with stitching and beading and a new strap and, and, and. . . .
If it were the only project, that wouldn’t be an issue. But no. Not by a long shot. There’s so much to do that I can’t even think straight. It’s good—I like being busy. I especially like being busy this time of year:  yesterday it was a year since my dad died. Today would have been his 83rd birthday. Three years ago, my mother was in the hospital dying. This stretch of summer gets better, but slowly.
So the universe conspired to keep me occupied by making everything fall apart/quit working. So clever of it, no?
Add to all of that that we’ve been social lately—we had a gift certificate from a neighbor that was going to expire—we’d had it for a year—so we went out to eat Saturday night and then went over to the Hilton and sat on the balcony bar and talked to someone The EGE knew from high school. Sunday night was the lawn concert, which was fabulous. Last night we met someone for dinner—someone who joined my Creative Life yahoo group (link on the sidebar over there) and was in town and suggested we meet, so we had dinner with him and his brother, who teaches in LA.  It was great—good food, good conversation.
And then back here to try to deal with all the piles of stuff that needs to be sorted and filed and put away—there are two tables stacked with books and instruction manuals and accessories and projects. I have 4 pots of dye going, with another one to do after that.
And guess what? Tomorrow morning we leave for New Orleans. Yiiiiiiii!
So, my little chickadees, I’d better get busy. Just to give us all a little Twist of Zen, though, here’s what the non-human side of the family thinks about summertime: