Divine Intervention

My mom and my very Italian grandmother came 2/3 of the way across the country to visit our house last week. I could write several blogs about the week (and someday, I will) but I really want to make sure this one gets posted.

My grandmother is about as stereotypical Italian catholic as they come. She smells of the odd but heavenly combination of Clorox and garlic at all times. If she is not cleaning or cooking, she is bowling, at bingo, or at church. And if those weren’t enough things to prove her authenticity, well, her name is Mary, and she was named after the Mother of God, of course!

One afternoon during their visit a procession went right by my house with big banners, flags, and about 75 people following this statue shrouded in black. I live near to a busy street, but our street is completely residential, and this parade by my house was COMPLETELY random. I was actually in the shower when it happened and did not see it for myself - I thought my grandma was making it up as she told me, but then my mom came in and said she had witnessed it too. My mom said she saw a priest in the crowd and went out to talk to him and find out what the parade was. Turns out it was an annual pilgrimage from a church out east in Watkins, CO, up to the Mother Cabrini Shrine in the foothills.

SERIOUSLY? This thing walks right by the house at the *exact* time my grandma can see it? WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

So my grandma wants to know “Where is the shrine?” (At least 20 miles west.) “Where is the town they are coming from?” (According to Google maps, it is 20 miles east.) “What? They walk 40 miles? Jesus, Mary and Joseph, there were KIDS in that group! What do they MEAN, they are WALKING all that way?” (I don’t know. I have never heard of this or seen it, but according to the website for the church, it is an annual event.)

And of COURSE she wants to know… “Can we go see the shrine?”

Now, I would never, EVER have put this on the list of Places To See in Colorado. It just didn’t occur to me. It is actually a very pretty place with wonderful sweeping views of Denver and the mountains, I have been there before. But I never even thought about taking my mom and grandma to see it – but boy, they would LOVE IT. Of course they would want to see it! And since Mr. B.P. and I would never draw that conclusion on our own, well, sometimes there is no other explanation than Divine intervention, folks. So yes, Grandma, of course we can go see it!

We drove up to the shrine the next day and arrived just as that same processional that had gone by the house was climbing up the stairs to the statue of Jesus. This little day trip we made must have been the HIGHLIGHT of my Grandma’s trip out to Colorado, and it hadn’t even been on my radar. Thanks for the tip, God!

And it ENDS. Abruptly.

The day after I wrote my "I'm gonna do a half-ironman" post, well, work decided otherwise. Long story short, they decided to consolidate subsidiaries into our company for budget purposes, which means that I had to redo EVERYTHING I had already done to line up the info to reflect the consolidated company. Here in a sentence, that looks so easy, doesn’t it? Just line it up consolidated, Liz.

What they were really saying was: Liz, give up your whole damn summer. Weekends? Nope. Sunny evenings for an after-work bike ride? Forget it. You’re gonna be too tired and you’ll only have 20 minutes of daylight left by the time you get home, anyhow. Triathlon? Cancel it - you will not have the energy to train. Cancel the one in September, too. Want to go have a glass of wine with your husband? You should really just have the whole bottle because you’re WAY nicer when you’ve had some wine, and we’re probably gonna throw something else on you at 10PM that we would like to have ready before a 9AM meeting tomorrow. That wine buffer will really help keep your anger level at bay when we do that.

To sum this summer up in a word, I'd say it was AWFUL. I feel like yes, I did my job and did it well, but really - in terms of enjoying my life - I wasted my time. I have been a horrible friend - I have barely seen my friends, and those with summer birthdays didn't get an acknowledgement until days after their birthday had passed. But, thank you, God, for my GREAT friends who really helped me out when I needed it (thank you!) despite my disappearance under piles of work. I have been a bad wife, but again, thank you, God, for my wonderful husband - and thank YOU, Mr. B.P. for sticking with me on the “for worse” part. I’ve gained weight over the summer. I think anyone who knows any female can attest to the fact that Weight Gain is almost NEVER the goal. The last 2 weeks there hasn’t been a night I wasn’t drinking or crying. Or both. And to be honest, this is not a path I want to continue going down. Luckily, that path ended this weekend, I finished everything and sent it off.

There is always a positive you can take away from any situation. I found I can still do a good job under really tight deadlines and a lot of pressure – not that I want to do that. If anything, this summer has helped me see that I’d rather be happy with how I treat my friends and my husband, not with how well I do a job that does not directly affect my happiness. I also really appreciate how wonderful my Marito and my Friends are. The house, and especially the basement - are looking great. We did a LOT of work on that this summer. I guess when it comes down to it, I put finishing the basement and getting the house ready for visitors (and us) as a priority over training for triathlons. I definitely over-committed myself. Lesson learned.

So. What to do? Talk to The Powers That Be at work and see how to make the whole thing go better next time. Let the clouds of the past 2 months break up and move on, so that I can examine whether what I gave up (tears, sanity, a shot at a half IM, other races, time with Marito, Marco and friends) are worth what I got (paycheck, health insurance, job security). I can't answer any of that in an objective way right now. But I know that I am very happy this period of time has ended.

I am now off to cram an entire summer of fun into the next 2 weeks. The next 2 weeks really do look awesome, I can't wait!