Can I Breathe Now?!?!...Transformers, the Czech Republic, Kid Social Life & Mangled Cars

No matter how much planning I do and simplifying and organizing and doing things ahead when I can, it never fails that I end up with one crisis after another at the Holidays.
Something unforeseen always throws a big ol' monkey wrench into the works and the metaphorical wheels come flying off the cart!

Is it just me or does this happen to all of y'all too?

I don't think I would know how to behave it everything went smoothly and nothing came up.

I've been like a Jack Russell Terrier chasing his tail for the last few days.
It's been one thing after another with no down time whatsoever......I am plum wore out!

Nothing major, just the usual day-to-day stuff with some psuedo-major complications thrown in and then a big heaping pile of Holiday time stuff on top.

Why is is that every danged group, team, club, class, society and organization that your kids are a part of feel the need to hold some special event at the Holidays?  My kids aren't way over scheduled like most of the kids in this country are.....you know, the kids who are on 3 kinds of sports teams per season, take some kind of physical activity lesssons, then take music/art/theatre lessons every week, then belong to scouts or 4H or some other group, belong to a band or choir or chorus or are in a play, etc, etc., etc.
And then there are the religious affiliation groups/clubs they participate in.  No wonder the kids in this country are burning out and developing ulcers at 10 yrs. old!

Why do every single one of these entities have to have something going on at the Holidays?....Some thing that you have to "do" something for?......bake for, organize for, fundraise for, sell tickets for, donate things for, give money to, haul kids around for.
And each kids has multiple groups/clubs that need you to do for them.....and times the number of committments by how many kids you have and the demand on your time, energy, resources and sanity is MIND NUMBING!
And then add on top of all that, the things YOU as a family want to partake in/do/fund/organize personally and you just need to give up sleeping for the entire month of December to find the hours to get it all accomplished.

Am I the only one who just feels squashed like this at the Holidays??
Tell me I am not......please!


*Friday we got hit with a very large "car maintenance" list of repairs for Hub's car.
*We are dealing with some financial issues with a relative....again after he totaled his car.
*Running ragged toting #2 son to rehearsals/practices.
*Trying to keep track of the comings and goings of Daughter.
*Delivering fruit and candy orders from fundraiser.
*Spending time putting Rite-Aid pillage items away.
*Going through things to donate to the Salvation Army and the Food Bank.
*Standing in the excruciatingly long lines at the PO because people show up CLUELESS about how to pack a box(or pack it right there at the counter!)and can't decide on WHICH RATE to ship it!argh!!! For gosh sakes, step out of line and figure out what the heck you are doing BEFORE you get to the counter!
*Digging through the storage unit to find things I sold and forgetting to bring my flashlight!
*Daughter wanting cookies for her French class party.
*#2 Son wanting brownies for his Band Xmas party.
*Band parents wanting baked goods to sell at the School play....that makes 3 different baking chores within a 3 day stretch!
*STILL trying to get the Xmas tree put up.....we are on Week #2 now.lol
*Trying to keep up with the eBay work.   I got hit with a massive amount of sales yesterday(ok, so this is a GOOD problem to have!)so I was up until 4:30 last night packing orders that had to go out today.
*If I am selling and shipping stuff, I also don't have time to list new stuff to replace what I sold....but trying to list stuff anyway.
*Driving relative around to do his errands because his car is totaled.
*Having to work in a Cookie Exchange and Giveaway during this insanely busy time.
*Trying to throw together & or order our Xmas gifts.
*Getting Hubs ready for a business trip this week.

And this is all on top the usual chores....like cooking, cleaning, laundry, pet care, grocery shopping, errands, and of course!....running to Rite-Aid!lolol

Just to tell you how improbable my life is sometimes, listen to what happened this weekend.....
I sold a Transformers toy to a guy in the Czech Republic.  Stood in line for a full 1/2 hr on Sat. morning to mail it off to him.
Saturday night I realize at 2am that I shipped him the WRONG TRANSFORMER!!!
(I had 2 different ones for sale on eBay.)
So even though I am going to loose money now because I have to send him the correct one on my own dime, I pack it up and get it ready to go Monday morning and I go to bed.
Sunday morning after I get up, I go online to end the listing for the toy I sent him by mistake(since I don't have it anymore to sell).
And guess what???
I find out that while I was sleeping SOMEBODY in SPAIN bought it!
Seriously.....I have had that toy for 8 years and NO ONE has even looked at the thing on eBay.....I send it to the Czech Republic and suddenly, someone in Spain buys it!LOLOLOLOL


Yes, this is my life......


Luckily(I think I mean luckily?!lol), I do have a 2nd of that toy I sold.  So Hubs and I go to the storage unit Sunday and after ONLY going through HALF of the boxes there, we find it.....well, "I" found it. ;-)
But the package is less than perfect.
So I have to email the guy in Spain and tell him the whole sordid tale, and that I have another one I can ship him but the package is not pristine, if he still wants this one....and I hope that he is fairly fluent in English and understands what exactly I am saying, because I KNOW that my writing is ESPECIALLY understandable after I haven't slept for 3 days!!lol
And I send him photos of the item's condition.
And now I sit and wait....and wait.....and wait some more until he decides if he still wants it or not.

Heck, I should have just canceled the transaction and let him leave me a negative.
But instead I invest even more precious time in this suck-hole situation in the name of  "doing the right thing".
Sometimes it pays to just be an unethical heathen instead.....lol

I've run the relative to do their errands, gone to the PO again to mail the international packages I can't pay for online, hit Rite-Aid, hit the grocery store, gotten Daughter's Birthday Ice Cream Cake, I've reconciled my bank statement and fed & put out the doggies.
I am now going to sit down and relaxing for the first time in 3 days.....well, I will after I finish writing this post.
I'm cooking an easy dinner(leftover shrimp I had boiled and I'll add them to a side dish package of Noodles and Alfredo Sauce and heat up a box of frozen veggies)and then I may go take a hot bath and go to bed before 7pm.

And I will come up for air and breathe.

Sluggy