It's all about the potatoes...

Of all the gifts my grandmother passed to me--gardening, stubbornness, my birthday--the one that would really like to return is the ability to make a mountain out of a molehill. A day wasn't complete without something to worry about, to obsess over, to suck the good right out of the morning, afternoon, and night. I learned well from my grandmother.

These days are busier than ever; I've started my practicum along with the last required classes before graduation, there are three teen-agers in the house now, and Mr. P's business is growing. Someone is constantly needing something RIGHT NOW--clients, kids, pets, school, bills, laundry--and with my keen sense of mountain--building, well, dirty laundry isn't just dirty laundry, it's klieg lights and sirens highlighting my failure as a mom/wife/human being. My children will need therapy to restore their self-esteem after going to school wearing dirty socks.

Well, I understand that this kind of thinking will get me nowhere except and early grave or the doctor's office with migraines, all by my lonesome because neurotic people are MISERABLE to live with, so I've been asking. A LOT. It goes something like this:
"JESUS HELP ME! I'M GOING TO BE THE HEADLINE ON THE FOX NEWS CHANNEL TONIGHT IF I DON'T GET SOME RELIEF!"

That's not a question, I know. I always intend on asking for help, it just comes out a little different.

And then it's time to make dinner. Again. I have a thing about plain food--if I serve plain food, I feel like a---say it with me--failure. My cookbook collection is a little overwhelming. Does anyone else have pickled ginger or kefir lime leaves on their condiment shelf? Asking Mr P doesn't help--
"What kind of potatoes do you want with your hamburger? Hash browns, scalloped, twice-baked---"
"Just put boil them and put some butter and salt on them. You don't have to waste energy going all gourmet on the potatoes!"

The clouds parted, sunshine flooded the room, and the angels started singing.
Not really, but that's how it felt.

If I can just go all gourmet on the potatoes, I CAN put all of my energy into this one thing instead of 400 little things. I CAN MAKE IT ALL ABOUT THE POTATOES!

And it works. Life is much more about living because I have a place to focus my neuroses--
say it with me-It's all about the potatoes.