mania from heaven?

This past week has been... interesting.  A few times I found myself wondering if I was really quite sane, even a little bit, I mean.  I just was so stinking.. happy.  Nothing bothered me.  I wasn't required to be "flexible" about a thing.  I pretty much accomplished nothing.  And, wow, was life amusing this week.

My children, and the assorted random friends who showed up, seemed to think they deserved lunch.  I freely admit that I disagreed.  But I pretty much forced myself from my busy business of doing nothing to throw some pasta in a pot.  While elder spawn watched (and why exactly wasn't she making the noodles anyhow?), I "opened" a box of spaghetti.  Unfortunately, it was already open.  So when I lifted the box, the enormous box of spaghetti dumped its contents directly below it.  On my feet.  I looked down- this hurts way more than you'd think by the way- to see a spaghetti sculpture impaled on my feet.  I seriously looked for blood.  After I finished laughing.  And laughing.  And laughing.  Rebecca joined me in laughter for a while until she thought maybe I'd laughed just a little too long.  Then she left the room as she realized cleaning up was going to have to happen.

The next day, another friend over for a lunch- even more culinarily delightful than spaghetti.  Then her mom called to make a plan to acquire child.  A plan that involved a trip to the library and Rita's.  I was all about it!  So we went to the library.  Rebecca disappeared upstairs.  This is important because we actually left her behind and had to go back to get her.  Anyhow, chaos at the library included a chance meeting with several kids from my class this year.  Including the one Katie calls my "nemesis".  Absolutely not.  This boy provided me with endless laughter this whole year.  Anyway, I made the mistake of telling this boy that we were going to Rita's also after the library.  So we all went together (as his mother and sister really had no choice), me, my two kids, my friend, one of her daughters and this other family.  Amusing already.  We did have the private girl table.  Thank goodness.  So. The spaghetti incident happened to come up in conversation, which made me laugh again.  My giggles morphed into guffaws from the looks on my daughters' faces when they realized that I actually cooked that stinking spaghetti.  Um, yea.  I wasn't throwing a pound of spaghetti away (especially since I wasn't eating any of it anyhow).  Well, then there was some flailing about (I did mention that Katie was with us, right?) and Katie hit Rebecca's spoon which did the predictable double flip, spewing gelati all over the table and assorted other places.  This sent the psycho (me) into absolute gales of laughter.  Then there was Katie holding a spoon full of stuff while also laughing, a constant stream of ice stuff dripping on her legs and clothes.  Which was also hilarious to me.  I was laughing so hard, I could barely see the stares of horror around me and those 3 stuffy ladies LEAVING Rita's in a huff.  I couldn't even look at my friend.. who, while completely wonderful, is NOT like me. 

As we're leaving, Katie tells me that she thought my "nemesis" was really annoying.  This made Rebecca and I laugh all the more.  Day 1 of school I knew this boy was Katie's clone, from the constant loudness, absolute unsolicited opinions, in your face all the time, all the way to the matching forehead scars.  Oh, yea, and he never listened to a word I said.

The last time I had a week even a little bit like this past week, was the end of April or early May.  I found myself just walking around smiling- even more than usual.  I must have looked completely simple with that smile on my face.  No apparent reason.  It took me days to realize why I was so happy.  I'd just finished a free-for-all.  April was Easter and all that goes with that.  The final weeks of my Penn State course which entailed the final written project and the horrific presentation.  And the culmination of Rebecca's middle school musical and my being in charge of ticket sales- ticket booth is great fun but a big time commitment.  So all of this finished up.  So here I was, in the situation of no longer smacking my head against a wall and it felt good.  So my foolish smiling was the absence of chaos and stress.

Not really being very bright, it wasn't until my week of utter laziness was coming to an end and my corresponding mania was ebbing, that I realized I was so manic, happy, and amused this week because I wasn't banging my head against the wall again and it felt good.

So I guess it's a good thing that there are very few weeks that are like these.  Or maybe it's good that I can vent happiness.  Or maybe I do really need therapy for incredible mood swings.  I think I can safely say that a little bit of laughter in life is good.  It feels good.  According to Reader's Digest, it's the best medicine.  I know for darn sure, when your life is filled with people who may or may not listen to you, who may or may not take initiative to make their own stinking lunch, who may or may not think you are a public embarrassment, it's a good thing to be able to laugh at them and yourself.