Is It Saturday Yet?

Well it happened. Today my visit to Slippery Rock delivered all the frustration and anger I had been dreading, and thought I might avoid, earlier in the week. See I have never been comfortable around the grandmother-in-law (GIL) because I...well I...I don't like her. Something about her just isn't right (plus she canceled all the hotel reservations for the hubby's dad and aunt and herself for our wedding citing the danger in Hurricane Rita who was suppose to hit the weekend of our wedding meaning she missed her grandson's wedding-BTW I live in Dallas which is no where near the coast-also GIL managed to fly to California to see her daughter but has never been able to make it to Dallas). The last time we visited years ago we stopped in a McDonald's to grab a bite to eat and she thought that would be the prime opportunity to trim her toenails that were bothering her in her socks right there in the middle of the restaurant! Then she had the audacity to complain about a restaurant who didn't have the proper white tea cups. Really?

Why did I expect any less this go around? Honestly I didn't which is why I was so nasty about the trip up here. As mentioned before, part of this trip was to also help ship a set of dishes that the GIL insisted we have. Actually, she was quite put out that we refused to drive up here with a two-year-old in order to take the dishes back with us. In her lunatic state, she wanted to wait till we got here to bother taking them to Staples and shipping them (another issue: she expected us to set aside an entire day for a 30 minute errand). It turns out ole GIL isn't as loony toony as I assumed. We got everything to Staples and once it was all packed up and labeled MY HUSBAND AND I WERE EXPECTED TO PAY FOR THE SHIPPING!!! What the hell?! Are you effing kidding me? I DON'T NEED THE DAMN DISHES AND WAS ONLY BEING POLITE IN AGREEING TO GO ALONG FOR THE SHIPPING EXPEDITION. $100 was spent on a set of dishes we'll never use and don't have room for. I was livid! The manipulative crone got us to pay to take those stupid things off her hands! Even if I had liked the dishes and contemplated keeping/using them, I sure as hell don't want them now!

Naturally that put me in a wretched mood. I figured whatever GIL had planned for the rest of the afternoon might take my mind off of it. NOPE. She expected us to kill 3 1/2 hours between Staples and dinner (my son missed his nap today because of her stupid plan) just sitting in the "mall" and letting Will play in the indoor playground. Ah! We could have let Will nap and then met up with them to go to Staples, and I wouldn't have been bored out of my mind. Obviously that did not improve my temper. I hoped it wouldn't get worse, oh but it did.

We got to the restaurant for dinner (I actually enjoy Eat'nPark) and Will started to whine a bit. Of course he did because he was exhausted. She started sort of whining back, "Oh are you thirsty. Do you want water?" I let her know that he would be fine as soon as the server came around and got him milk. She passively chastised me and said to Will, "You want water don't you. Yes Grammy will get you water." Then she looked at me condescendingly and with a dismissive tone demanded, "We'll have some water." Uh okay psycho. Do I look like I work here or that I'm indentured to you in any way? She actually expected me to go and hunt down a server somewhere in the restaurant and get water for my son. (I must have misheard you because you said Grammy would get the water so get your old ass up and find a server yourself!) When it was clear I was going no where because my son was just fine waiting for the server she began to holler at her husband (a total gem by the way-I like him the same amount as I dislike her) who was slowly making his way to the table, "Get the waitress. Go over there and get her!" No joke. She sat there and did everything but snap her fingers at her husband. Good grief!

I know a lot of this is probably lost in translation since you really have to experience the GIL to know what I mean. I am just grateful that we won't have another all day GIL experience while we're here.

More pics of my cutie-patootie:

 Daddy bought him a Pirates baseball bat and ball. He insisted on holding it in the car.

 Yea for indoor playgrounds at the "mall."

He was so stinkin' pooped that he actually fell asleep while eating dinner. My fellow mom's out there know how frustrating that is to watch your child battle both sleep and hunger.