Thank god

The roofers finished a day early and I am back in my own house!!!! Having lived in my parent's house for most of my life, I have to say I DO NOT MISS IT!!!!!!!!! The level of chaos, noise and just overall lack of peace and quiet is incredibly difficult for me to handle and the past 24hrs were very hellish.

A year of living in a small 5 room house, with just me, the dogs have gotten use to my routine, and aren't use to 2 floors and 9 rooms to race around in. They were off the bloody wall. M my corgi was really reactive and barking at every little noise (and there were lots). He's not usually a barky dog, but he decided to become one last night and today. He also got way over the top playing with my parent's young dog. My father kept screaming at the dogs every time they got on the sofa and the chair, which was often (I let the dogs on the furniture, and when we lived with my parent's the dogs use to be allowed on the furniture. My father couldn't quite comprehend just why the dog's weren't staying off the couch NOW!). And N was his completely anxious and neurotic self reverting entirely to the many neurotic habits he had when we lived in the uber stressful environment of that house.

My stress level went through the roof. I could not sleep. There was the freight train, the crickets, the fans, the incredibly uncomfortable bed, the blinking light of the VCR that was in the bedroom. Even with my meds it was bad. Early in the morning I moved down stairs and tried to sleep on the couch and had a slightly better time of it until the sun began beating down on me and a sliver of light came through the window right where my head was. It was a bad night.

I now remember why I was so stressed the years I lived there. My parents, sisters and I work on different wave lengths. They like background noise and the TV and the radio and they actually answer every phone call (I LOVE caller ID and the 'mute' function on my phone). I can't live with that stuff. My nervous system freaks out. They live less than a block from the train line. The entire house rattles when the freight trains go by, blaring their horns. I can't cope with that. I'm surprised I did for the near 15 years I lived in that house. They like talking to each other. I like living in relative silence. It's just a completely different way of living them and mine. And I am so grateful that I now can live in a way that works better for me and it has been so important in my not being so sick this past year. My stress levels have gone way way down and my health improved. Imagine that. I'm not blaming my family, we are just neurologically wired very differently and I live a very different life than them in many ways.

So now I am back home. And it is quiet, other than the a/c going on low. The dogs are all settled and peaceful. And I like it very very much! Tonight I will be able to sleep. And tomorrow will be a better day.