Deja teen years! My sleep has been restless and my gastrointestinal tract has been rebellious.
The dreams are all family related. I discovered on the state's website that both my mother and grandmother have unclaimed funds floating about out there. (According to the state treasurer, 1 in 4 Illinoisans does.) My mom's is less than $200, my grandmother's looks to be about $500. I may let my mom's just go. After all, after I dig up all the paperwork and copy everything and go to a notary and mail it, I'll get a check for $150, that I have to split three ways. Which means I'll have to traipse back to the post office. And deal with my older sister, which is reliably unpleasant and always galling. And I will be the one taxed on the $150. Sounds like a lot of work for very little pay off. I had figured my aunt would just pocket my grandmother's money. After all, the lady died nearly 20 years ago. My aunt wondered if I thought she should split the money among my grandmother's 5 heirs (herself, me and my two sisters, and my odious Uncle Jim). I haven't answered her yet because just thinking about this leaves me feeling tense.
Then there's my cousin Rose. You know, the cousin who loves me that I lied to. I don't want Rose staying with me, but I don't like lying and I certainly don't want to hurt her. This is causing me massive stress.
So lately I've been waking up upset, with vague recollections of nightmare family scenarios. Just like when I was in high school.
And, oh, my gut! I started getting heartburn more and more regularly, so instead of taking Pepcid before a "big" or "heavy" meal (does my stomach understand these terms?) I switched to Prevacid. I've been belchy and gassy and last night I was ... worse. Let's just leave it at that. I know it's supposed to take Prevacid up to four days for full effect, and I just started. But I'm so tired of being ruled by tummy troubles. I went through adolescence with IBS, so this feels very high school, as well.
The only teenage irritants I'm missing are zits and The Periodic Table of Elements.
These are the thoughts and observations of me — a woman of a certain age. (Oh, my, God, I'm 60!) I'm single. I'm successful enough (independent, self supporting). I live in the burbs and work in the city (Chicago, the best city in the world). I'm an aunt, a friend and a colleague. I feel that voices like mine are rather underrepresented online or in print. So here I am. If my musings resonate with you, please visit my blog again sometime.