We Came Through It Alive

Spousehole and I survived fake Christmas with his family. We arrived home this afternoon with a mommyvan full of gifts. In fact, so many gifts that we couldn't fit the kids in! We left the kids with Grandma and Grandpa and will get them back tomorrow. The grandparents are returning to their winter home in Florida on Thursday, so they wanted a little more time with the little people.

The kids had a blast, mostly. I say mostly because there was a vomiting incident with the Boy and the Girl and her 3-year-old cousin were horribly traumatized at having to be separated when cousin went home to Metro Detroit with her parents. We practically had to have them surgically separated. They adore and hate one another - with no in-between. It's a very emotionally volatile relationship. They get along great, until one touches the other's toy, then there's a "MINE!!!!" battle. Cousin is only 2 months older than Girl, but outweighs her by 12-15 pounds, so things can get a little hairy when they fight. Girl does a pretty good job holding her own, despite the weight difference. I hate to see them fight, but am kind of proud of how well Girl defends herself. I am such a hypocrite.

Spousehole and I fought in front of everyone, so maybe that will help them understand when we finally tell them we are separating. IDK. I did have a "this is so hard" (sob!) moment when Spousehole and I were alone. He held me and said it was going to be okay. Not sure what that meant, exactly, but it was nice in the moment. Between rum balls and SoCo and Diet Coke, I stayed pretty well toasted most of the time. I even ate rum balls for breakfast this morning. Spousehole's sister kept saying things like "I don't know how you put up with him" and "I still can't believe my brother got someone to marry him" and it was a struggle to tell her that I'm not putting up with him much longer. I will actually miss some of Spousehole's family. Oh well.

We did some last-minute shopping. Toys 'R Us wasn't bad at all, the mall wasn't too bad either. But the fact that the national weather service was telling people to just stay home due to the ice, snow, and wind probably helped that. We went to a movie at the cheap movies ($3.50 all shows, except I have a discount card from a radio station that gets us $1.00 off, so we only pay $5.00 for both of us to see a movie!) and saw American Gangster. It was very good. Russell Crowe was scruffily gorgeous and Denzel was hot as ever. Oh, and the acting was good too. Josh Brolin really should get a Supporting Actor nod for his portrayal of a sleazy cop. He just oozed slime.

I'll probably be back on here tomorrow, bitching and moaning about something. I may even blog on Christmas Day. If I need to withdraw from the family drama at my mom's house, I often retreat to her office (and mailing center - it is packed with boxes, packing material, photography stuff, and scales, etc. because my parents are antique dealers and sell a ton and a half on Ebay). I log onto her 'puter and surf away my troubles - lol. There's a baby gate on the door to the office to keep children and pets out, so I get a break from everybody.