MIL Drama

I haven't blogged in awhile because my life has been very stressful and full of drama and I'd rather not bring everyone down with me. But I'm blogging anyway, so here it goes, you've been warned...

Rob's grandmother, Betty Ervin, passed away on Tuesday, November 6. It was a sad and bittersweet day. She had suffered for several weeks and was finally given permission by her family and doctors to die. She wanted to go weeks before that, but they wouldn't let her. She lived 78 strong and graceful years and left the legacy of a good Christian family behind her. She will be greatly missed.

So, we made the trip to Greenville, (well, Slater rather) to be with the family, go to the funeral, etc, and Rob had already scheduled to shoot a wedding that following weekend, so we stayed through the weekend. Here's where one of the greatest sources of stress for us comes in. We were just in Greenville (Slater) last weekend, right? Well, my mother-in-law is expecting us to turn right back around and come again for Thanksgiving. We're not. For one thing, since Rob had to take the extra time off for the the funeral, his boss is not real happy with him and will not give him the time off. And because we had to rent a car and spend gas money and money for food while we were in Greenville (Slater) we cannot afford for him to take the time off either. Our next reason for not going back is that it stresses Josie out, big time. The poor little gal just doesn't travel well these days, and who could blame her? I wouldn't enjoy being buckled into a five-point harness for 10 hours either! We've been home since Sunday night and she's still not really back into her routine yet. Don't get me wrong, I would love to be with the family for the holidays, too. But there's so much more than just being there involved, and I'm afraid my MIL doesn't get that. I love her, I do. I also think she's hard on her youngest son, who I happen to be married to. I've seen her use guilt, tears and the silent treatment to manipulate him way too many times. So many times, that he still hasn't broken the news to her that we're not coming back for Thanksgiving. He's afraid that she'll scream and cry at him (like she normally would) and possibly even tell him that he's not a part of the family anymore, or something to that extent. Now I know that two of my readers are related to me (uh hem, David & Mendy) and probably can't imagine this side of Aunt Brenda, but believe me, it's there. I've seen it. It's not pretty. I'm sorry that I'm even bringing it up. It really is a great source of stress in our lives at this moment, though. I don't know what to say to my poor husband to comfort him and give him hope that it will be okay when he calls his "Mama", because I don't know that it will be. Well, in the long run it will be... maybe. I dunno. She still brings up the fact (or what she believes to be a fact) that he ran away to the Marine Corps "as soon as he could to get away from her". Yes, she's actually said that. <> I dunno. I'm at a loss. I feel so bad about it all. It's not like we're not planning on coming back ever. In fact, we want to come back next month, if she'll have us. We weren't going to come back until around New Year's, but we thought it may make her happier if we come back the weekend before Christmas instead. That way we'll be there for the big side of the Ervin families' Christmas get-together. I dunno. (I'm saying that alot, aren't I?) I just don't know.

Oh, and I think I may have finally figured out my blog account, so your comments should be showing up now. I had an "anonymous" comment that sort of caught me off guard a while back, so I went nutz and put all kinds of restrictions on my account in regards to comments, but I think I've put it all back to normal. We'll see.

I'm sorry my blog for today is not witty or funny. It's not enlightening or motivating. It's just sad, like me. Boo hoo.