Let the family-overload commence!
Today was a nice day overall. I woke myself up early for plans that never happened and got unnecessarily stressed out about finding out what was going on (I seem to get more stressed out about indefinite--meaning not absolutely 100% set in stone--plans than most people I know). So I blasted some arggg-I'm-stressed music in my room for a little bit, and then painted my toenails for the first time in too long while watching some of my favorite Boosh episodes. I spent most of mid-day laying outside in the sun reading, which was delightful. My dog was antsy but eventually just slept on the grass on the front lawn for a long time. Then I did some lazing around the house as usual, but not too much. And I decided to break out the old creative-zen-micro-photo, a.k.a. my adorable orange little mp3 player that I gave up on a few years ago because it wouldn't accept any iTunes music files. I recently downloaded a program that converts mp3 files to wma lickety-split, so tonight I've been converting all the music I can stuff into the little doohicky. Then hopefully I'll figure out the also-confusing organization program that came with it, and have a functioning mp3 player again! Woo! Even though I've gotten so used to not using one. Yes, I still have that old 3rd generation iPod, but the screen broke and I'm too lazy and money-broke to replace it. And I really am fond of the little orange guy.
This weekend should be...interesting. It's going to be a day of more family-gathering-type interactions than I ever wanted to experience in two days (not to mention that my grandmother called to talk at me, not really to me, at the most awkward time today and talked non-stop for what seemed like hours, me only having to say about two words, it all being incredibly awkward and I wasn't paying attention at all). Tomorrow's my 26-year-old cousin Katie's bridal shower. It's going to be small and awkward...only 14 people. I'm going to cling to my aunt and my mother, since my cousin Steph can't come, and obviously my sister can't because she's still in Chicago (she gets to avoid this whole weekend, lucky duck). And I'm going to be surrounded by Katie's weird pregnant bridesmaid buddies, and possibly have to participate in specially bridesmaid activities (my sister and I are bridesmaids). I mean, I'll get through it fine, the slightly awkward schmoozing and getting my hands henna'd up and being The Small Quiet Cousin. But actually, since my aunt will be there it may be more fun, because I always do a lot of fun gossiping with her, and she's really amusing and easy to chat with for long periods of time. There's hope!
But wait, it doesn't end there.
Right when I get home from the bridal shower, guess who will be arriving at my house? My grandpa David and Arlene. Not grandma Arlene. And not even step-grandmother Arlene, although technically she is. Just Arlene. It's not worth going into the 12000-page essay I could write about the various unpleasant interactions and family dynamics with this woman that have existed since well before I was born and have never improved. And although grandpa David is kind, he's always in his own little world, hardly interacting, barely being an active actual family member, which is really hard for all of us to deal with, since he's my mom's dad and, well, again, I don't want to go into the 12000-page essay. Basically it's always REALLY awkward, frustrating, and/or stressful when they come over or when we visit them in New Jersey or Florida, so I'm not looking forward to their annual father's day visit. Which is the most stressful of all of the visits, because A) It's father's day, which grandpa David calls "Daddy's Day", a phrase which makes our teeth grind until they're simply tiny piles of white powder, and B) We also celebrate Arlene's birthday, which is THE MOST UNPLEASANT of celebrations for a MILLION reasons. They're staying over not one but TWO nights. On Sunday we'll go with them to my aunt and uncle and cousin's house for ze celebrations, and I will get to escape with my cousin Stephanie for a while, praisedalord. Emily doesn't come home until right after they leave on Monday. But then she'll be HOME! FINALLY! And then Wednesday is WORK TRAINING, ahhh! Craziness.
I'll tell you how things unfold tomorrow...
This weekend should be...interesting. It's going to be a day of more family-gathering-type interactions than I ever wanted to experience in two days (not to mention that my grandmother called to talk at me, not really to me, at the most awkward time today and talked non-stop for what seemed like hours, me only having to say about two words, it all being incredibly awkward and I wasn't paying attention at all). Tomorrow's my 26-year-old cousin Katie's bridal shower. It's going to be small and awkward...only 14 people. I'm going to cling to my aunt and my mother, since my cousin Steph can't come, and obviously my sister can't because she's still in Chicago (she gets to avoid this whole weekend, lucky duck). And I'm going to be surrounded by Katie's weird pregnant bridesmaid buddies, and possibly have to participate in specially bridesmaid activities (my sister and I are bridesmaids). I mean, I'll get through it fine, the slightly awkward schmoozing and getting my hands henna'd up and being The Small Quiet Cousin. But actually, since my aunt will be there it may be more fun, because I always do a lot of fun gossiping with her, and she's really amusing and easy to chat with for long periods of time. There's hope!
But wait, it doesn't end there.
Right when I get home from the bridal shower, guess who will be arriving at my house? My grandpa David and Arlene. Not grandma Arlene. And not even step-grandmother Arlene, although technically she is. Just Arlene. It's not worth going into the 12000-page essay I could write about the various unpleasant interactions and family dynamics with this woman that have existed since well before I was born and have never improved. And although grandpa David is kind, he's always in his own little world, hardly interacting, barely being an active actual family member, which is really hard for all of us to deal with, since he's my mom's dad and, well, again, I don't want to go into the 12000-page essay. Basically it's always REALLY awkward, frustrating, and/or stressful when they come over or when we visit them in New Jersey or Florida, so I'm not looking forward to their annual father's day visit. Which is the most stressful of all of the visits, because A) It's father's day, which grandpa David calls "Daddy's Day", a phrase which makes our teeth grind until they're simply tiny piles of white powder, and B) We also celebrate Arlene's birthday, which is THE MOST UNPLEASANT of celebrations for a MILLION reasons. They're staying over not one but TWO nights. On Sunday we'll go with them to my aunt and uncle and cousin's house for ze celebrations, and I will get to escape with my cousin Stephanie for a while, praisedalord. Emily doesn't come home until right after they leave on Monday. But then she'll be HOME! FINALLY! And then Wednesday is WORK TRAINING, ahhh! Craziness.
I'll tell you how things unfold tomorrow...