At first it was cute, and at the end of every meeting or discussion, inevitably someone would push the button and we would all be entertained by the very polished voice of the “That Was Easy” man.

Over time, this button began getting on my nerves, to the point that I wanted to throw it at the next person who pushed it, because I realized that most of the time when the button was pressed it was not an easy situation – so it became more of a tool for sarcasm than anything else.

Fast forward a few months. My 8 year-old daughter was at work with me one day and she was busy setting up her space in an empty cubicle nearby. I was giving her items from my office for use on her desk, and one of them was the Easy Button. I handed it to her and looking a little annoyed she said,

Mom, haven’t I told you before that NOTHING is easy?

What could I say? She was right. So we threw it in the trash. And that was the end of my easy button.

I am feeling absolutely exhausted. Mentally, emotionally, physically – all of the above. I just need to be honest. So there you have it. I am working very hard to be thankful for things (reading this blog can tell you that) but sometimes I am just so freakin tired.

I have to go to back to school night now, so as not to disappoint my 3rd grader. Tomorrow night is back to school for my teen son, who is, by the way, in his room sulking right now because I blew up at him about not doing his school work. He is 15 and so very good at it. He hates school and is completely not motivated. I am at wit’s end about that. How can I help him find his motivation? Any (appropriate) suggestions are welcome. In the meantime I will try to keep my cool.

I will go upstairs now and try to make myself look as un-tired as possible so that I don’t come off as being the mom that sucks when I visit my daughters school tonite. Wish me luck.

At least we are recognized for something other than politics.

Currently I am working very hard to maintain a positive mental attitude.

When I enter in to this unfortunate circumstance, I am in need of a “Reality Check with a Thankful Spin”. Here are my 5 steps that work every time:

1. Understand that we cannot control the actions of others – only how we choose to act, and remind ourselves to take the positive, productive route.

2. If work is the source of our stress, we must remind ourselves that it’s only a job – and in the grand scheme of things, the issue at hand will have little impact on the overall direction of the universe.

3. At the end of the day, if you can say you did everything you could to “do great things” and “make a positive impact” then it is a good day!

4. Keep an inventory of “Thankful Reminders” on hand to bring you back to what is important - photos, letters, memories, music, a long walk, or anything else that helps you get back to the moment to enjoy the miracles that life has to offer.

5. Focus on the “Possibilities” rather than your challenges. Picture yourself in whatever that means to you. It will go a long way.

Now, I don’t usually like to talk about my ailments – because I don’t want it to increasingly become the topic of conversation as I grow old. But there is a point to this, I think. I was a little headachy all day (I chalked it up to the poor air quality and the fact that it was 100 degrees outside and the barometric pressure was dropping) but by 3 pm I had a full-on, I-can’t-see-with-my-eyes-open, get-me-out-of-this-place, can-someone-turn-off-the-sun, I-feel-like-I-got-shot-in-the-neck-migraine.

Of course I had no migraine medication, so I stuck it out with ibuprofen and steaming hot showers with a mix of essential oils, closing all of my shades and windows, and covering my eyes for the majority of the afternoon.  Basically I dealt with it, and it was horrible. I really needed an Imitrex.

I found out last week that my healthcare plan limits Imitrex to 4 tablets per month. Are they joking? Do they realize how debilitating migraine headaches are AND that Imitrex is the most popular medication available to treat them? I guess THEY have decided that migraine sufferers should have no more than 4 per month – this of course after extensive research?

Apparently, there is a limit to how many headaches you are supposed to have!  I must have missed the memo.