Gray Rocking It
Today was down to Nicoya so my dear husband could see a knee specialist. Specialist recommends a knee replacement. Husband agreed only to shots and meds first, which I am glad. Everyone I know that gets the dreaded knee replacement says it is the most incredibly painful thing, worse than natural child birth, my personal metric of pain so bad you think you're losing your mind. Plus I know a number of people with very bad outcomes. No desire for that ever.
Woke up with one of those terrible head colds that makes one feel like their nose is a faucet. No fever, no lung congestion. Still I drug on through my day like a slow sloth. Only really bright spot was having a fried pineapple pie at the just opened McDonald's in Nicoya! Now Nicoya has their own "Gringo Corner" to compete with Liberia's. Nicoya has at the main intersection a McDonalds, a Burger King and a KFC. Why is it that American fast food is our main export? We have so many wonderful foods and yet this crap is the thing that goes all around the world. Here in Costa Rica though, McDonalds and Burger King still fry their pies, like we used to in the States. If the not greatest food gets exported at least I can get a greasy fried pie once in a blue moon.
Yesterday being Super Bowl Sunday we had a light lunch since my husband was going off to our friend's restaurant in Flamingo, the place with the tomahawk steaks. He brought back some shrimp and pineapple appetizers for me. I care nothing about football and the Super Bowl.
Also yesterday we got a text message from the church lady around 1 pm, which we missed because neither of us were near our computers. By 3:30 she'd started ringing all the phones. I gray rocked like a champ, told her we had plans and it was not convenient for her to swim. Zero details. Told her we were tied up on Monday and Tuesday. Again, no details.
Let's see if she attempts it tomorrow being that it's Valentine's Day and we have lunch reservations and reservations for a couples massage on the beach. More gray rocking from me.
I don't know why I let all these over the top types here get to me, why I forget to gray rock the weirder ones. It's the simplest of things, if they ask for things you aren't wanting to do, or try to fish for information, or take any action that is a fridge too far for you then you just give simple one or two word replies, disengage and shut it down completely. Works so well. I've used it on problematic family members to success.
In the eight weeks or so leading up to my trip back to Louisiana I'd gotten very depressed, and my stress levels soared as family there called with near constant drama. I'm glad I visited, but it threw in sharp contrast to me a few things. That I needed to completely disengage there too, step back after explaining the realities that none of us was going to have any ability to resolve the situation with my mother. It's taken me some time, like late last week, before I started to feel the depression and anxiety fully lift.
But lift it has, and lifted quickly. I'm glad because I was feeling too dreadful to accomplish much. I tried to concentrate on the book site and starting to do the last few things before sending my book off to an editor. It was a great distraction.
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