Drama queen

It seems that drama follows me around!

(Warning, not really related to sobriety post ahead)

Last Sunday we went to a friends son's christening. It was at a Greek Orthodox church so the ceremony was in ancient Greek (apparently!) so we couldn't understand a word of it. The poor baby (who was just under 2) cried the whole way through! Afterwards, they had a reception type lunch at a Greek restaurant, which was lovely.

On each table, they had a couple of small olive trees in pots. At the end of the lunch, Mr A was eying one off. Apparently you could take one home if you were quick enough.

Anyway, we thought we would get the one at our end of the table, but when we went to get it it was already accounted for. I wasn't particularly worried as I don't eat olives, but I think Mr A was a bit disappointed.

As we were leaving, I went to say goodbye to a girl (who I will call J) who is good friends with the child's mum L. I used to work with her on my ward but she left about 8 or 9 years ago. We weren't particularly close, in fact we weren't really friends at all. It's funny how she ended up being such good friends with L as they weren't the best of friends either. But somehow, when I was on maternity leave, something happened between a few girls at work and these two ended up being best friends. I secretly called them the odd couple.

Anyway, I felt a bit awkward going up to her, but I thought we are all grown ups and I should let bygones be bygones. Plus she is good friends with L so I should respect that and make an effort.

So I went up to J and said goodbye. We said the obligatory 'we must catch up for coffee' and I noticed that she was quite drunk! Then she asked me if we got an olive tree, to which I told her no, but that was ok. She then proceeded to pick one off the table near us. The one with all the christening presents on it. She was quite insistent so I said thank you, thinking Mr A would be pleased and we left.

As we were walking back to our car (which I would drive. Yay!) Mr A told me that it was probably L's tree as it had been on the table with the presents! But he said don't worry about it and we kept walking. He had had quite a few drinks too and was pleasantly tipsy (Don't you just love that expression?! What can possibly be pleasant about having your mind altered by a poisonous substance?! Anyway, I digress... ),  and he didn't seem to think it was a problem since the tree was given to us, it wasn't like we had just taken it.

But I was worried that L would be upset with us for taking her tree. I sent her a text thanking her for such a great day, hoping to get a vibe on how she felt about the tree but she didn't get back to me.

So all the next day I worried about it. I worried ALL day. I worried that L would be upset because she didn't have her olive tree to plant as a keepsake from her son's baptism. I worried that J would say that she didn't actually give it to us and that we just took it (after all, there was history between us) I agonised over a lost friendship over an olive tree. I contemplated texting her and saying 'I think we have your tree' but I didn't.

So, by the time Mr A got home from work I was beside myself. I snapped at him and the little guy. I was like a mad person!

Mr A asked me what was wrong, so I told him. And you know what? The lovely man said he would take it to L (she only lives 5 minutes from us) He said he would explain what happened and say that I was worried that she didn't get one. He said that he knew I would feel better if we did the right thing.

So he took the offended olive tree and I waited.

I listened to sober podcasts with my headphones on as I tried to calm myself down.

Then, about 20 minutes later, I had a phone call from L. She was so thankful that Mr A dropped the tree around, but she said she would have been quite happy for us to have it. She explained that she and J had organised the trees and were so glad that they all found homes. She wasn't worried at all that we got the one off the table with the christening presents but was pleased that she had one to plant after all. She didn't text me back the night before because she was so exhausted after such a big day, and she was so grateful that we were able to attend her son's special day.

So you see? Such drama!!

I sometimes wonder if I create drama or if it follows me around. I agonise and agonise over things and it's exhausting!!

The wonderful thing though about all this, is that I didn't drink. In the past, this would have been a great excuse to pour a glass of wine at 4 o'clock to calm my nerves. I would have deserved it after all I had been through.

This time though, I listened to my podcasts, apologised to my husband for being so difficult and breathed a huge sigh of relief that the drama was over.

And once again, I had made a mountain out of a molehill!

Now, I'm off to a meeting.

A x