I should be packing!

I have been silent for several days. What have been doing? I have no idea, I have not accomplished anything worthwhile. Nope, no major attack on rooms that are still not completely unpacked or organized. I have done some laundry, but it is not put away, rather it is sitting in baskets getting all wrinkled - but at least I can blame the wrinkles on being in suitcases! I have not spent any quality time in planning for when we start home preschool even though I have received all the books. I guess the huge mess in the school room is kind of a turn off. And no, I have not cleaned that either.

So what the heck have I been doing? Being a big ole grump that's what! (this is where any guys reading might want to stop and continue on to something else). Big enough to have to blog about it - that is huge! But maybe someone else who reads this might have the same problems and can work through this with me.

So what is it all about? Simple really - PMS. Since I had children my PMS symptoms have completely changed. I generally was only a cramp sufferer, I never had emotional symptoms caused by PMS. Then I had kids, now it is all different - hubby has even said that there are days when he really doesn't know what he will face when he walks in the door. Yikes!

Well, awhile ago I won a book on a blog giveaway called SOS for PMS written by Mary M. Byers. Here is a link to her website .

I read the first few chapters and realized that I was not going crazy, it was simply PMS. Simply PMS?? Yes!!! AND the good news is that it can be manageable. When I first picked it up I read a list of behavioral and emotional symptoms. I hope I am not violating any copyright laws here, but this list is from pages 13-14 of her book. She also lists physical symptoms, I may have some of them but I really don't suffer from any of those. Here are the behavioral and emotional symptoms:

• anger
• anxiety
• decreased alertness
• depression, sadness, hopelessness
• forgetfulness
• inability to concentrate
• indecision
• irritability
• loneliness
• loss of control
• mood swings
• nightmares
• panic attacks
• paranoia
• suicidal thoughts
• unexplained crying
• withdrawal from family and friends

With the exception of paranoia and suicidal thoughts I can relate, in varying degrees to the rest of this list. I now know that these are PMS symptoms because I only experience these symptoms for a few days every four weeks. Okay, so maybe I have forgetfulness all the time - but I blame 2 full years of sleep deprivation on that. I literally could not remember how old I was today - I even asked hubby. Pitiful!!!

Okay so back to the book. Soon after I got the book I read the first few chapters but never finished it. Those few chapters did give me some coping tools that were very helpful. I learned to understand the first warning signs so that I could rearrange my days and avoid situations that would unleash the PMS rage. For several months it was working pretty well. Until a few days ago. It was a pretty bad week, bad enough that yesterday afternoon I had to go find the PMS book. I knew what was happening, I just could not cope with it - it was too extreme.

I didn't have much time, but I did scan enough of the book to learn this - stress can exaggerate the symptoms of PMS. Great! So not only have we just moved and I am still overwhelmed with the chaos of unpacking and getting organized, but now I am flying to Canada with 3 very young kids. Stressful? Maybe a bit! Flying with a 3 year old and 2 year old twins will certainly be challenging. The following timeline actually serves a dual purpose. First to acknowledge the stress - I have been brushing it off a bit! But also to figure out a timeline so that I leave enough time for everything. As I lay this out I will be changing times too.

4:00 Get up, shower, pack remaining items in van - hopefully I will have most of it already in the van the night before (yeah that would be tomorrow night and I haven't packed anything yet - stress!)

4:30 Get kids into the van - I am planning on letting them sleep in the clothes they will wear for flying that day. I also need to make up breakfast bowls that they can have in the van or in the airport (nope haven't done that yet either - stress)

5:00 Drive to airport

6:30 Arrive and park. Hubby goes to get a couple airport luggage cart thingies (yes, that is the technical term) while I get kids out of their carseats, put all three carseats into a travel bag along with the items will travel with the carseat. (Nope haven't decided that yet, nor have I even unpacked the travel bags from the amazon box to test if the carseats will even fit into the bags - stress). It will be vey cramped quarters for awhile!

7:00 check in with airline and say bye to Daddy (major stress).

I will now be on my own until I see my Mom! I am not overly concerned about being in the airports with them, they are used to being out with me and are good about holding hands and staying close. I am more concerned that for the first flight we do not have assigned seats yet (stress). I am hopeful we will have four seats in a row as I want to be able to see all of them and more importantly, for them to be able to see me whenever they need to. This is an unknown and even though they are excited they have also talked about it being scary. We have had long chats about the rules - no yelling on the plane, no crying on the plane, seatbelts on at all times, and if you are scared you need to hold hands with someone. I will have a goody bag for each of them with snacks and sticker, crayons, coloring books that should be a good distraction. (Nope, have not packed those yet either - stress).

I have about an hour and a half layover before the connecting flight. Should be long enough to grab a quick lunch. I am not too concerned about this part either. How we do on the next flight will be determined by how the first flight goes, I have no idea what that will be like so...(stress).

When we get to Canada I have to go through customs. I am stressed about customs, I have done it several times before, and even twice with Sam. I already have hubby's notarized letter giving me "permission" to travel outside of the country with our children. What stresses me is that I have to get all our luggage and all three carseats before going through customs. I need to watch my kids and gather all our stuff. No doubt about it, I will have to rely on the kindness of airline staff to help me.

1pm (lose 2 hours to time zones so it will actually be 3pm here) FINALLY we will see Mimi and Papa!!! Lunch, then a 2 hour drive to their house. Very, very long day!

One point to make about the trip back - I have to go through customs after the first flight and only have a little less than 2 hours to do it! (STRESS)

So there you have it, the major causes of stress that contributed to hell week. Although I am incredibly grateful that PMS hit me this week and I am now feeling much more normal.

Now that I have you up to date, I really should be packing!