Stubborn? Who? ME? (Crazy Week, pt 3)

CRAZY WEEK, part three

Wednesday: OMG! I cannot possibly tell you everything that happened yesterday! What I would give to have someone to babble to about it. I could talk for hours. The whole day was one series of major stories after another. I miss having someone I can do that with... just chat on the phone for hours about our day, especially the crazy, intense, important ones like yesterday was. Craig will hear listen, while he watches tv, but he won't hear me or retain any of the information. I could talk to Baby-Mommy but she is always off doing things or on her cell phone. I talk to her more via IM while she's at work than in person, despite Baby being here so much. And her life is so complicated right now that she would half-listen between cell phone calls and again, not hear or retain. I used to be able to talk to my mom but there are so many things I can't talk to her about, and her hearing has become bad so she can't talk on the phone and she won't visit me here because our house is non-smoking and she won't generally go out places because she's agoraphobic and when I suggest me going over there to hang out and visit, she always has an excuse. Besides - she's out of town. LOL Which is why I babble so much here, I guess, although typing it just isn't the same as telling someone about it.

At any rate, I'm going for the super-cliff notes version of each major occurrence from yesterday...

Due to child care situation, and with prior permission from him, I brought Baby to my drool-therapy appointment. The shrink just loved her and she was a total angel for the entire appointment. I could have dropped her off at the day care earlier but no... I'm not stubborn. LOL

Drool-therapy: OMG! I totally shrinked the shrink!! It was... OMG OMG OMG!! I turned the tables on him and started off by asking HIM questions and ended up the whole thing revolving around him, what I know of him, what I don't know of him, (NO, I'm not a stalker!) what he does that works that other therapists haven't done, what other therapists have done that didn't work that he doesn't do, right down to how I can tell what mood he's in by his eyes and how his morning went by his appearance. But the way it was presented... OMG OMG OMG!! I totally shrinked the shrink!! It was FABULOUS!! And only very minorly an attempt to avoid other things - some of these questions, I really had to get off my chest. There was only one major issue I was completely avoiding (my arm) but that can't be because I'm stubborn... not ME! LOL

Daycare: I dropped Baby off at daycare. I was SOOOOOOO nervous. I feel just awful for dumping her like that in the first place, but I *HAD* to make sure I saw Grandma and I couldn't exactly take her with me... (considered it) So I'm freaking out dropping her off. I was more nervous about leaving her at the daycare (for no valid reason - the place and people seemed awesome!) than I was about leaving Kid-4 at kindergarten. Baby can't tell me if something went wrong!! So, I dropped her off, paid for her, went to the car and promptly had a full-blown panic attack followed by a crying fit before I could leave to drive to Grandma's. *rolls eyes at self* And she isn't even biologically my Baby! (She did fine, BTW...)

Drive to grandma's: most of the way was fine. I did get totally lost in the teeny tiny little town she is in (how do you get lost in a town that small?!?!) And I kept calling my mom's cell for updates/directions/etc and leaving her messages - only to discover much later that (*BLUSH*) it wasn't her cell phone number... How creepy I did that when the prompt just recently had been about a strange voicemail from someone you don't know...

At Grandma's: I got there about 3:30 and I was the FIRST person all day to wish her a happy birthday!! None of the relatives had been there. None of the staff had said anything. No one. (*insert extreme anger here - why hadn't I skipped therapy and come up earlier?!?! stubborn... *) But I did get there and I hugged her and wished her a happy birthday and she had NO CLUE who I was until I told her my name, where I came from and that I was my mom's daughter. THEN she recognized me! I brought her flowers and a balloon and a card Kid-2 drew for her plus one from all of us. She was thrilled. She and I talked for about an hour and then the day got good!

First my aunt who is supposed to be her primary care-giver but tends to ignore her completely showed up and visited. Then my mom and my aunt showed up - they'd decided they could handle that after all and took my aunt's car up. Then my cousin came. Then my other cousin came. Then my other aunt came. By that time, there were too many of us to be in her tiny little room so we had moved to the activity room. We talked and laughed and told stories. We had to repeat them to Grandma a lot and she still didn't understand much of what was going on, but she was happy - four of her five daughters were there and not fighting, plus others. At one point, Grandma said it was the best birthday ever. *cheers* SUCCESS!! being stubborn pays off.

Grandma got very tired after a while. So one by one we left and finally it was just me, my mom, and my aunt. So we left Grandma, with much kisses and hugs and everything, and went to dinner. Now, I love my aunt but over the last few years, she has become a bitter old woman who is so angry all the time that she blows up frequently and says really mean things to anyone unfortunate enough to be in her path. (Some of the things she's said to me are burned forever in my mind.) So the prospect of going out to dinner with her was as appealing as The Black Plague. But I do as I'm told and off we went to dinner... (She's more stubborn than I am - it would have been useless to argue...)

Dinner: count me totally shocked, surprised and immensely pleased... we had a blast! She was nice and friendly and funny and laid back and she didn't pull me aside to remind me how much pain I have caused her and my mother over the years and, well - it was fun! I don't know what my mom said to her between Monday night and Wednesday evening but WOW!!! It was like having my favorite aunt back... I wonder if it will stick.

The drive home: NOT going there. Let's just say my nice 2 and half hour drive home took 4 and a half hours and was routed through Columbus because I was too stubborn to stop and figure out where I was.... *growl* Got home at 3:30 in the (*insert expletive here*) morning!!

END OF CRAZY WEEK, part three
(just think, that WAS the super-short cliff-notes version...)

"It's a mad, mad world..."
(Mad World, Donnie Darko soundtrack)