*Off*

I've really been out of sorts lately.  My daughter was here visiting which always puts me in the very best of moods.  We had a wonderful family time - shopping, eating, coffee, shopping, (Did I say "shopping"?)  After she left I've been very *off*.

We had a very large adoption event last weekend.  Just about 40 cats were adopted in total, and that number in itself should've had me singing happy songs from the rafters.  But my daughter was here and I wasn't able to properly participate in the  event.  I feel like I led the troops to battle, but never stepped foot on the field. 

Our usual high level of organization wasn't quite up to speed either.  We're so fortunate to have strong volunteers who picked up MY slack, but I still felt guilty as my cell phone rang with questions and I'm in the mall  shopping, or in a nice restaurant eating, or laughing, or doing anything fun while they dealt with a weekend of insanity. 

After the umpteenth dirty look from my family for taking these calls I started to get really angry.  "YES, I have other responsibilities this weekend and YES there are people who are picking up the slack for ME so I can be here with ALL of YOU!"   (I'm not talking about my daughter - she was very understanding.)  But the men in the family?  ARGH!!!!   

I showed up to the event on Sunday afternoon to insure that all the cats were picked up by foster parents or taken where they needed to go.  I explained to the family that I would be back in a few hours.  It felt like 15 minutes when my cell phone rang..."Mom, where are you?  It's been almost THREE hours!!!!"  

Cripes. 

I ended up with more than a dozen cats that needed a place to go after the event.  I had five stops to make all over the city with upset, crying, pooping cats in the car and a family waiting for me at a restaurant.  

Believe me.  I didn't have it half as bad as some of the volunteers over the weekend.  We had tiny orphaned kittens dying in a foster home, and an unhappy, hissing adult cat that got loose in the Petsmart store and I wasn't there to help clean up after the event.

 I need to say, "It was just one of THOSE weekends" and get on with life.   Somehow, I haven't been able to shake it, so  I had hoped writing about it would work.  It helps, but I'm tired and catching up.  David and better not mention his lack of clean underwear or the dried cat hairball at the bottom of the stairs.  I'll get to it...dammit.