yellowducky's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Crazy Family I'm back from the Land of Oz, and my trip was as surreal as Dorothy's ever was. I waited at the airport for an hour for my sister to pick me up. She wasn't caught in traffic, or in an accident or any of those other completly valid reasons to be late picking up a beloved sister from the airport. No, she was simply late. Then she informed me that we would be driving around Wichita for the next couple hours finishing up a couple errands she needed to take care of. Okay, that's fine. It gave me time with my adorable nephews. Who, by the way, gave me the best hugs of my life when they came running up to me at the airport! We ended up back at the airport two hours later to pick up a package my sister said was being delivered to her. While we were waiting for it, some man came up and hugged us. I about slugged him in his tenderest of male parts. Luckily (depending on how you look at it) I turned around first, it was my father, who also happened to be the mysterious package my sister was picking up. He was flying in from D.C. He was supposed to fly into K.C. and drive down. The next couple of days marched by in a blur of me trying to avoid my father's hugs and my anxiously waiting for my brother to arrive (he and his girlfriend had car trouble). They finally arrived on the day we were out of town. My brother later told me that they walked into the kitchen, and there was a dried, decimated turkey carcass on the kitchen floor, covered in flies and surronded by the cats and dog. The animals had pulled the defrosting turkey off the freezer and eaten it. They pooped all over my sister's house and then ate again. Mind you, this is my brother's girlfriend's first introduction to us! I never saw the mess. I was in the car with my mom and the four kids. We allowed two eight year olds to give us directions and got lost somewhere in rural Kansas for about two hours that night. I'm calling it a miracle because I know I would have puked if I had seen that. My mom ended up with strep throat and wore a blue mask for the last few days of my visit. We started calling her Michael (as in Jackson). She's not as weird as she sounds. Her husband is undergoing intense chemotherapy and is very susceptible to everything. Again, though, quite an introduction for my brother's girlfriend. Who, by the way, is wonderful. She had her own moment, though. We were in the kitchen decorating my sister's birthday cake and she stabbed in the boob with her knife. Yes, that right folks. Stabbed me...in the boob. I yelled for my brother who came running in. When I told him he rolled on the turkey-infested floor laughing. We called her "BP"--boobie-pooker--for the rest of the week. I assured her it wasn't her fault, they just kind of stick out there. As much as I like her, it was a little hard. Not because of her. Not at all. Just becuase I'm used to it always being Jim and I. The two of us laughing at the rest of the family (in a very loving way of course). This is the first time I've ever had to share him. It's good. I know it's good, and I'm so grateful he's found someone who makes him happy. It will just take a little getting used to, is all. My mom has to be one of the funniest people I know. She started telling stories while we were in a restaurant, and soon had us laughing so hard my brother couldn't lift his head off the table. People around us were laughing, even though they didn't know what the joke was. My stepfather, who was up getting his chemo treatment at the hospital, heard about what a good time his family was having. I love small-town Kansas :). What I don't love is my father. This visit was his last chance and he blew it. I've decided that I'm going to be setting up some pretty strict boundaries and severely restricting his contact with me. He was an abusive, manipulative person when my mom was married to him, and even though his tactics have changed, he's still an abusive, manipulative person. He creeps me out when he touches me. He came into the living room when I was watching t.v. and laid down with his head in my lap. This is a man I have seen MAYBE a week every 4 years. I barely know him. Then, when he was meeting a friend of my sister's who doesn't know our family history, he had the nerve to take credit for how we were raised! He's just lucky we were in church or I would have taken his head off. He's so pompous. It was good to see my brother and my mom, though. More importantly, I saw my Uncle--probably for the last time. He's dying of cancer. Strange thing- the hospital we went to see him in is the last place I saw my grandfather. His son who lives in Taipei and who I haven't seen in 5 years walked in while I was there. It was great to see him again. It was hardest to say goodbye to my mom. It always is, though. 1:33 p.m. - December 28, 2002 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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