babybloomr

A stop at my beloved local library, then a drive in the country and a veggie plate lunch at Miller’s Grocery. I loved my life today.

Let me begin this entire post by saying that one of the many pearls of wisdom I have acquired in my many, many years of living is that stereotypes usually exist for a reason.

Oh sure, there are insulting stereotypes that are used to mock and malign people– but I’m not talking about those. I’m talking about the ones like…. oh, I don’t know…  maybe like, “Artistic/creative types are usually not all that great at crunching numbers/anything that involves math..” (Excluding of course, Bill Gaither, but come on– he’s a freak of nature.)

I personally hate this particular stereotype because Russ and I both embody it to the fullest. Also? We have apparently given birth to two little artsy-fartsy daughters who are missing the numbers gene as well. Seriously, you’d think between the four of us there’d be ONE slightly left-brain person, right? (Irony– it’s whats for dinner.)

This truth is especially self-evident these days because we (and by ‘we,’ I resentfully mean ‘I’) have spent most of this lovely spring day simultaneously wading through the bewildering morass of paperwork that is involved with securing Madi Rose’s college scholarship money for another year AND talking endlessly on the phone to try to sort our way through the minefield of documentation that is needed to get prequalified for financing so we can make an offer on a house that I’m really excited about but don’t want to talk about yet because A) I might jinx it and B) if I get all giddy and start squeeeeing all over this blog about how excited I am and then we lose it again like we did the last one I might throw myself in front of a bus.

Ok, not really– apparently we artsy types have a tendency to be just a wee bit over-dramatic as well as math-challenged.

But my point–and I do have one– is that both of these situations today involved filling out a monumental crapload of forms all requiring a crapload of numbers. And here’s the truth: I suck at that. And Russ? EVEN MORE SO. Honestly, when I’m faced with a bunch of blank lines I need to supply answers for, I get kind of panicky, my face freezes and then this happens:

Now before you go putting your armchair diagnostic panties on,  I do realize of course, that I’ve totally psyched myself out about this over the years. Filling out forms may be a pain in the whatsit, but I am not a complete idiot. I do know how to count and make change, I actually manage to be a grown-up functioning member of society most of the time–but  I absolutely have a mental block about this stuff! So there you have it, folks: “Hello, my name is Tori and I have math-anxiety.”

( OK, can’t breathe, get me a paper bag!!!!)

Is it just me, ‘Bloomr nation?

I would invite any of my fellow suffers to leave a comment commiserating with me– you can cyber-high my five. And if any of you are of the math genius persuasion and cannot possibly understand what the big deal is– well, you can leave a comment too, but I may or may not call you an asshat under my breath…

(What can I say? I’m a charmer.)