It Takes a Village

So.
I have:
1) Some sort of bronchial infection.
2) A suddenly present 16 week "bump".
3) Cabin fever from a week-plus of nearly non-stop rain.
4) An out-of-state move approaching in just over two weeks.
5) A dog who is turning increasingly anxious at the sight of packed boxes and other signs of upheaval.
6) An urge to sell or toss almost everything we own (thank goodness I have the husband to temper this urge to a reasonable degree).
7) A sense that I can't be nearly as productive as I'd like to be given the limitations of sickness, pregnancy, and full-time responsibility for a highly active and mischievous toddler.

Sometimes you need help in these situations.  Sometimes you need a break, and to buy some shirts that fit you before things get ugly.  Sometimes you need to drive somewhere in the car listening to NPR instead of "Sing Along with Putamayo Kids" and collect your thoughts, and hatch some plans, and get some things done.  And this is where the village comes in and where debts of gratitude are owed this rainy Tuesday.

I'd like to send a major shout to of love and gratitude to my dear friend who hosted the little man this morning so that I could zoom over to one of my least favorite places to go in general, and especially with toddler in tow, the mall.  Maternity gear was necessary, and I was being defeated by the online shopping gods who offered me only XS and XL on nearly every site.  My days of pre-move freedom are numbered, and she saw that I was getting flummoxed and generally defeated in my juggling act and stepped in gracefully with a helping hand when I needed it the most.  Thank you, friend.

And I'd also like to say a hearty thank you to my sister, who endured 30 minutes of blurry, harried iPhone photos, in order to help me weed through 1001 nearly identical and quasi-ill-fitting ruched tank tops until I found one that was half decent.

She currently has roughly 20 of these in her text inbox, and still appears to like me.  That's love.

I am a Libra, you see, and should never be sent shopping alone, as I cannot decide for the life of me what to purchase.  I'm grateful for the advent of photo messaging and for the patience and availability of my sis.  Pale, sick, hurried solo maternity shopping is not for the faint of heart, and clearly back-up was necessary.

Further shout outs go to the husband, who weathers my Libran retail adventures with patience and good humor (for the most part) and who has pulled double the weight around the house as I've coughed and hacked my way through the last week; and also to my other sister, for giving me the tough love and telling me to just shut up and take care of myself as I kvetched to her last night about my inefficacy and lack of exercise and productivity.  Finally, shout outs to the little man, whose sweetness adds levity to any situation.

Here's hoping that I can pull it together, kick the cough, pull on a roomy maternity tank, and get back to business here soon.  Till then, my heart and my gratitude go out to my village.