Is it a sex blog? A mommy blog? A bitch & moan blog? Um, . . . yeah. This is my place to be totally honest. In my real life, I feel like I'm always lying to somebody about something. Here, I am totally honest. Brutally so. However, no matter what bad things I say about my kids, I adore them and would never ever really, say, sell them on Ebay. The husband, often referred to as Spousehole, is another story. Oh yeah - if you are under 18 (or if you are my husband), please leave now.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Oh, What Have I Done?

Yipes. How do I let myself get talked into these things?

Spousehole had suggested that he fly up and then drive down to S.C. with the kids, cats, and me. I thought it was a terrible idea. We would surely fight if we were cooped up in a vehicle together for 16 hours. It was be miserable and claustrophobia inducing. 4 people, 2 cats, 16 hours. Even worse, he wanted to drive it straight through without an overnight stop. Eight hours for me, eight hours for him. I could think of nothing more miserable. I told him that it would cost more money to fly him up than it would for the kids and I to stop for the night in a motel that takes cats. That worked. Spousehole hates to waste money, so the idea was dropped. Praise the Lord and Hallelujah!

I've told you all how much I adore my Dad, right? I have the best Daddy in the whole entire world. He would do anything for me or my kids (or my sister and her son). When my Dad talks, I listen. 9 times out of 10 he is right.

But this time, I think he was wrong and I let myself get talked into something I will regret.

Being a dad who worries about his baby girl and who has traveled long distances with unhappy pets and knows how insane they can be, he was pissed when he learned I had talked Spousehole out of flying up and driving with the kids and me. "The kids will be easier to deal with when you have another adult in the car. The cats will be easier to calm," he argued. I made my arguments about using the DVD player in the van to entertain the children, the fact that the cats will just go to sleep after a time, and that Spousehole and I will argue to the point of wanting to kill one another if we are cooped up that long together. He could not be dissuaded. I pointed out that with the cost of movers and the fact that Spousehole's company is giving us a mere pittance toward the move expenses (less than 25%), we just couldn't justify the cost. Then Dad starts in with "What if you get sick on the way down?" which is father-of-a-diabetic-speak for "What if the stress fucks up your blood sugar so bad that you crash the car and kill yourself, your children and your cats?" That's it Dad: prey on one of my greatest fears, however very, VERY unlikely since I regulate my blood sugars very well thankyouverymuch and have never, ever had a hypoglycemic episode while driving. Then, the coup-de-grace: "I'll pay for his ticket to fly up here. Just do it. Go book the ticket right now."

So without even discussing it with Spousehole, I sat down at the computer, got the cheapest one-way fare I could find and booked it. It will SUCK for Spousehole, because he has to change planes twice(!) but oh well. It was cheap, cheap, cheap. I will have to drive to an airport in another town 40 minutes away to pick him up because I saved $75 flying him there instead of our town, but the gas cost is still much less than that. And he will be here for my birthday, which is bonus. I doubt he'll get me a gift or anything crazy like that, but hopefully he will be nice to me. After all, I'll be an old lady and one must be nice to the elderly, right?

So despite my extreme misgivings, we are all driving down to S.C. together. One big happy. Right. Spousehole didn't even complain about me booking a plane ticket without discussing it with him. And about me booking a flight on a Friday (cheaper than Saturday) without first checking if he could take the time off work. Weird. Of course he was thoroughly pissed at me about some other things, so maybe buying him a plane ticket without discussing it with him was the least of the concerns in his eyes.

Gawd, I am seriously dreading this trip. I was kind of looking forward to driving with the kids and cats - in a "we're on an adventure!" and "I'm master of my own destiny!" kind of way. Now I'm just foreseeing being trapped in a vehicle with my perpetually pissed-off partner and our petulant, peevish progeny. Not pleasant. Not at all.

To blog is a self-invasion of privacy

12 comments:

Alfro said...

Bunny
I think your Dad may be right (No I'm not as old as your Dad, and yes, I'd do you if given the chance.), but I think you'll be better off with the extra help in the car.
If your lucky maybe you and spousehole can bond a little over this trip.

Best of luck in the new locale, and happy birthday.

Lady in red said...

happy birthday when it happens.

I think you are caught between a rock and a hard place here.

I am sure it will be easier with another adult but I am equally sure it is not going to be easy being stuck with spousehole in such a confined space for such a long time durig what will be a stressful drive anyway.

good luck

ZigZagMan said...

well.......dad has a point. Glad to see you guys atleast working it..:)

ZigZagMan said...

and happy 39th....again........:)

The Creeper said...

I'm wondering if this is why exhole always drives up to get the kids, just him and his daughter from his second marriage...they'd kill each other in a car for that length of time? I haven't seen his new wife in years, just him and the boy's half-sister. I'm not so sure I'd want to make his drive (1200 miles one-way in a car with a 5 yr old, turn around and go back two days later with 3 kids), but maybe that is how he keeps his sanity?

I see both sides. My parents would worry, but damn, you know from past experience how it is likely to turn out.

Here's many wishes for a pleasant drive.

The Creeper said...

BTW, if your dad was truly trying to be helpful, he would have volunteered to drive down with you, taking the two days, then bought his own one-way ticket back home.

I'm just sayin'. ;)

Bob said...

CD player with a headset might be the answer to an agonizing trip. You could sing. Turn up the music. Count cars. Meditate. Hope it all works out.

Polt said...

One word sweetie: Valium. For you, Spousehole, the kids AND the cats. What the hell, eh? :)

KIDDING....

Goodluck with the trip...

HUGS...

Vixen said...

Oh.

Yeah. Good luck Bunny. I hope it's much better than you are anticipating!

Anonymous said...

i am sure your dad is looking out for your safety and best interest of you and the kiddos...but i understand where you are coming from! Hope the trip goes as painless as possible!
~viemoia

Brian Gardes said...

Sounds like a reality TV show in the making! Can you vlog the experience for us?

Desmond Jones said...

"perpetually pissed-off partner and our petulant, peevish progeny"

Amazingly awesome alliteration, Bunny. . .

We drove to FL once w/ 4 kids, and Molly 6mo pregnant. Stories on tape did a nice job keeping the kids mellow. . .