Growing up, I was always at the almost top of my class. Schoolwork came easy to me. I tested well. I was a quick learner, I picked things up, I got the drift, I grasped the concept without problems.

But I’ve noticed that as I get older, I’m not as quick, I’m not picking it up as quick, I’m not getting the drift or grasping the concept with as much speed and agility and clarity as I used to.

It’s frustrating. It makes me feel dumb and “less than.”

And that? Bites.

I’m sitting on the couch, blowing my nose constantly waiting for my allergy meds to kick in. After a weekend of cleaning, my asthma has kicked in, and some down time resting with the cats close by has got my dander allergies raging. That’s what I get for having a week go by without an allergy attack - I forget to take my allergy meds, and then… boom! Nonstop mucus parade. Gross, but true.

So I’m a little wheezy, and my nose is running and my eyes are tearing up, and I’m waiting for the allergy  pills to kick in, and there’s a cat in my lap and I’m moaning after each noseblow, and I’m pretty miserable. There’s a house hunting show on TV, and it’s a happy family, and they’re looking for a house, la la la, and I whimper and blow my nose and ugh.

Then? The family introduces their adorable baby, a little girl probably 8 months old. They’re pulling her out of her high chair and she makes a goofy grin and then tips her head sideways and sticks out her tongue, and I absolutely LOSE IT giggling at the cuteness.

It was the cutest thing I have ever seen and I just have to laugh. And rewind the show to watch it again, and I laugh more. And the laughter kicks my asthma up a notch, so I’m laughing and wheezing, and I can’t breathe but I can’t stop laughing, which is making me laugh harder, because you know how sometimes when you laugh really hard, you can calm yourself down by taking deep breaths? But I CAN’T take deep breaths because of the asthma and because I’m laughing so damn hard, so hard my eyes start to water uncontrollably, and I’m wheezing and laughing and making croaking noises, and my eyes are streaming and I can’t stop and I start to panic a little that I’ll never be able to catch my breath again, which freaks me out enough that I finally kick the cat off my lap so I can find my inhaler and once I calm down enough to inhale the blast I start to mellow out a little, so I sit back down and blow my nose and wipe my eyes and finally decide that I’ll be OK, eventually.

Mr. Martini asked me several times during this whole episode if I was OK, which I was, although my answers were probably difficult to decipher through the wheezes and giggles. Afterward he just shook his head and eyed me suspiciously and said, “Maybe you should sleep out here on the couch tonight.”

Holy crap, that was one cute little baby.

I’m taking a break from the parent-visit-induced cleaning extravaganza (read: freak-out frenzy). I’m trying to figure out details for a weekend trip for me and Mr. Martini. This trip will including renting a car to drive ourselves out of town for a few days.

Here’s the kicker - I can get a great rate on a car, no problem. However, since we don’t have a car of our own, and therefore no car insurance, I have to purchase the daily accident coverage on the rental. Now, many folks will say “But SpaceCase, doesn’t your credit card include some sort of insurance on your rental?” The answer is yes, it does. But it doesn’t cover everything. And I have learned (the hard way) that I will only be calm enough to drive a rental car if I’m sure that, no matter what, no matter if some uninsured motorist hits my parked car, no matter if a raccoon gets in and poops all over the interior, no matter if the semi in front of me kicks up a rock and cracks my windshield, no matter if I spill a full venti mocha latte in the trunk (don’t ask), that I’ll be covered. So I buy the insurance. Which more than doubles the cost of my rental.

Gah.

I am totally blaming this trait on my dad. He had child insurance purchased for me within days of my birth. His life motto is “better safe than sorry.” This attitude was burned into my brain for over 20 years, ain’t no way I can walk away from it now. So doubling my car rental rate it is.

But I’m still bitter about it.

I’m leaving work at noon today, so here are just a few of the thoughts bumping around in my over-excited brain this morning:

1. Thanks to everyone who commented on the strange vegetables I ate at the cocktail party the other night! I’m going to go with the folks who thought they were pattypan squash. Before I posted, I honestly thought they were zucchini grown in special containers to form flower shapes. How I managed to live my entire life without ever having heard of pattypan squash, I just don’t know.
2. I actually got some sleep this week, after posting my sleep-deprived Dumbo meltdown the other day. Blessed, blessed sleep. I actually feel energized today for the first time in weeks, and have seen a reduction in stress-dreams. It’s like I’m a whole different person today.
3. I have not gone walking since last Wednesday. Either life, lack of sleep, or crappy weather has kept me from putting on my sneakers and getting out of the house. I’m getting a little frustrated with myself, and the fact that I’m not losing weight as quickly as I would like. I even started considering diet pills to jump start my metabolism, and found a site where average people rate diet pills like nuphedrine and the like. From what I’ve read, the diet pill route may not be a good option for me. I guess getting off my butt and actually exercising is the only hope.
4. And yet, despite the fact that I have this afternoon off, I don’t think I’ll be able to fit in a walk. Ugh.
5. This weekend is going to include nothing but housecleaning since Mr. Martini and I will be having out of town guests next weekend. This cleaning will include vacuuming the front stairs that lead to our apartment, which haven’t been vacuumed since we’ve moved in. I have extra meds and asthma inhalers on hand for the inevitable allergy attacks.
6. Happy Friday, everyone! I’ll be thinking of you all stuck at work while I’m at home cleaning out the fridge. And probably wishing I were back at work myself.

1. Follow Dawnie’s Twitter link to this site, and where I see this video posted.

2. Watch video all the way through.

3. Try valiantly not to break down into sobs at my desk.

4. Barely succeed at #3.

5. Start Googling the movie to find a synopsis.

6. Almost break down in tears again once I verify that the two are, indeed, reunited by the end of the movie.

I hope I get some sleep tonight. I’m an emotional wreck right about now.