I agreed to go to Mom's for Thanksgiving dinner because both of my sisters insisted I go. I agreed to go after Jean said that if I took the train to Forest Park, she would pick me up and drive me to Mom's just in time for dinner and then we could leave as soon as we were finished eating. The idea was that, because I cannot stand the smell of cooking, arriving just in time to eat would solve that. Because I really have been very tired lately, I could leave as soon as we were finished eating to get home and hit the bed by my now usual 8:30-9:00ish time. Democrats do not go into a hostile zone without an exit strategy, and that was the plan.
My day started at 0600 when the alarm went off. Apparently I had forgotten to turn it off the night before. After figuring out I did not have to go to work, I rolled back over and went back to sleep. I was awoken around 8:00 by a wrong number. Someones mother was calling at the butt crack of dawn to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving and my number was only one digit off. Lucky me. I woke up feeling like crap. My body still hurts from tensing up in the MRI (that experience still haunts me too much to write about it) and I was nauseous as all hell. So, I spent my morning putting up some Christmas stuff and fighting off nausea and dizziness. I thought about backing out from the plan, but told myself I really just wanted a good home cooked meal. The thought of possible leftovers motivated me as well.
As a bonus, I got to talk to Michael on yahoo all morning to discuss the upcoming move. We also got a chance to chat about what they did for Thanksgiving. Apparently, the boys visited their friends houses and timed it to show up right after everyone ate. By doing so, they got "leftovers" and did not impose on their friends' families in the middle of dinner. They apparently hit 3 homes and were very well fed. Michael had no clue what their dad did for the day. Michael was spending the night at a friends and had no further clue where Ian was or what he was up to. Happy freaking Thanksgiving! Before you start into the excuse of, "But they are living in Japan...", keep in mind that they live on a US military base. Apparently everyone else on the base was eating turkey, just not my ex.
Harking back to the plan, there was then the reality. Based on my experience with taking the Red then Blue lines to Maywood, I always allow for 2 hours travel time. I figured the trains would be moving faster based on low volume use, but that they would be coming less often due to holiday schedule. So, in the spirit of compromise, I left the house about 3:20 thinking I would get there around 4:45ish. As we all know, the best laid plans.....
At around 4:15 I sent Jean a text (she never answers her phone) saying I was about 15-20 minutes away from the Forest Park stop. We had agreed to keep in touch because I was taking the train out and allegedly, she was only 3 minutes from the station. When I arrived at the station at 4:30, I immediately called (again, she never answers her phone) because I was now a half hour early. It wasn't that I would mind waiting, but if she was really only 3 minutes away, I figured someone could swing by, pick me up, and we could leave from Mark's relatives house whenever she wanted to go.
I wound up standing outside the station because some drunk homeless guy with his pants around his knees (not making this up) kept trying to touch me. I will say that he kept trying to pull his pants up, but he was not very successful. While normally this shit doesn't bother me, if you read the earlier part about waking up feeling like crap, you would understand I was just in no mood for this. Apparently he was unwilling to go outside so I was safe outside. Did I mention I was the only white person there and this is not a great place to hang out? When she finally sent a text at 5:00 telling me that they were going to take family pictures and then come and get me, it hit me like a ton of bricks that I would be spending another 15-20 minutes out in the cold. I just couldn't take it so I turned around and went back inside and went home.
I went to the Anvil, had a few glasses of wine, and then went home and had cheese and crackers for dinner before finally turning in around 8:30.
Jean did send a text a short while later saying she was glad to give me an excuse to bail. She missed the point. IF I really wanted to bail, I would have called her (or rather texted her, she never answers her phone) and told her the truth that I was tired, nauseous and dizzy and just stayed home. I did not go all the way out to Forest Park to bail, I went out to get a ride to Mom's for a great Thanksgiving day feast that couldn't be beat (and leftovers).
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8 comments:
I am tired of inconsiderate assholes...both ex and current! What the f**k does it take to be civil or sensitive?
Lara says:
Harken bake to the Dominican Republic and your battle cries "I am a Lawyers Lawyer!"
"I WILL start an international incident if I have too!"
heh.
You texted me at 4:24 that you were 15-20 minutes away, and then at 5:02 you texted me that you had been there for 30 minutes and were already on your way home. Your family isn't even convinced you were ever even there jerkstore. NEVERMIND the fact that we agreed to meet there at 5pm! Once again you never really do see things the way EVERYONE ELSE does. IF you really wanted to go, you could have waited INSIDE the warmth of the station (you know, since we selfishly offered to pick you up AND drive you all the way home), but since you were probably smoking, you were outside. I also think its hilarious that your friends think YOU are civil and sensitive and your family isn't, I never knew demanding and bossy equals civil and sensitive, that's hilarious. Is it CIVIL and SENSITIVE to tell your boys who live in Japan that you have cancer by telling them to read this stupid blog???? THAT WAS YOUR ORIGINAL IDEA, remember? Or have you created some new lie that took over THAT reality? Should I pull up the email where you tell me, Amy, and mom what time your appointment is and that we have to figure out which one of us needs to give you a ride. NO please, no "I could use a favor", just one of your usual demands, just like the normal Catie. How much of this crap do you think your family is going to tolerate before they FINALLY get fed up with your shit Cath? Happy Fucking Thanksgiving.
He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else (Benjamin Franklin)
Before I respond to the below, I checked my phone to make sure. The text went out at 4:19 saying 15-20, but I followed up with a phone call at 4:32pm BECAUSE I was so early. YES, we agreed to meet at 5:00pm, but you knew I would be relying on the redline and the blue linek, running on a holiday schedule, so I am sorry I could not make them arrive "on time". YES, you offered to pick me up and drive me home. I seem to recall I didn't want to go and this was your bribe to make me go. You kept telling me you were only minutes away. I waited outside in the cold because some drunk homeless guy kept trying to touch me. I would be more then happy to show you my CTA usage pass to prove I was actually there. For the record, I was NOT smoking.
I sent you three an email about my appointment telling you to figure it out because it was easier then calling everyone to find out what their schedules were and because ALL THREE of you had said you would give me a ride. Sorry if that sounded demanding. Trust me Jean, I want nothing from you and I now know better then to expect anything. Should I post the email where you ask me to help cater your wedding? REALLY??
See Cath, the point is, IF you really wanted to go to Thanksgiving dinner, you would have waited. But you didn't, so you clearly didn't want it THAT bad. And you said yourself that we had to "bribe" you to get you to go, so you clearly didn't want to, so why do you rant online about missing out? The bigger point that you seem to be missing is that you don't ask for things Cath, you demand, you tell, you boss, its your way. You don't ask for help, you tell people what to do. Yes I asked for help with the wedding and explained that I would do all the planning and was only asking that you help facilitate the day of (since you are so good at bossing people around), but given the fact that you mocked our idea AND you're not a liscensed caterer, its a non-issue at this point. I thought you volunteered to help cater a few months ago, but that was before you had your "cancer" license to say whatever you want about people online and think it has no consequences. If you could find a way to ASK and show RESPECT Catherine, you could expect everything from me. But maybe I just can't recognize your warped version of civil and sensitive...
So now you've cancelled having Amy help you on Thursday because of all this? REALLY?? Amy genuinely wants to help you (versus me, I need selfish motivation to be bothered to do anything), she could care less about being told what to do, and this is how you repay her kindness. So now you can push the family away and I'll be your excuse for that. And then jump online and blog about how mean/selfish/unwilling to help/argumentative your family is. Doesn't all this game playing just make you more exhausted?
Hey Catie,
Still enjoying the turkey from the other night...seriously, the best either Bob or I have ever had. As I relayed the story over dinner, the one thing that never changed Thanksgiving to Thanksgiving was my poor, late mother cutting the turkey saying, "Why is this goddamned thing so dry again this year!!!!"
Ah, memories. Thanks again for having us over.
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