The Waiting Game.

Last Saturday night, the MIL stayed over. DH proclaims in the middle of dinner, "Honey, tomorrow I'm going to take care of the kids, so that YOU can go out for a few hours.". MIL squaled in delight, "OOOH Son! You are the MOST wonderful husband!". I felt my stomach acid burning a hole right through my just-eaten fajitas. Either he said it for his mother's benefit, or he said it because she'd coached him in the car on the way over and suggested it as a great idea. Whichever. Doesn't matter. I was getting an afternoon furlough, and that was OK with me. Because when it comes right down to it, there are shut-ins that get out more often than I do. I get out of the house once a week for about an hour for food shopping. That's it. I had an opportunity, and I was taking it.

I spent a glorious FIVE hours outside. By myself. First, I went to Kohl's and got a bunch of bargains. Then, I went to AC Moore and reveled in glorious scrapbooking stuff. I bought a mini-sewing machine (I can now sew on my scrapbook layouts!), and I got a great deal on the Heidi Swapp mini iron. I've wanted that cute little thing since I first saw it. I'm a nerd and proud of it. And I'll have adorable scrapbook layouts with iron-ons and REAL stitching. Put that in yer pipe and smoke it. Then I went to the local bookstore, bought a latte, sat my ass down and read FOUR scrapbooking magazines. Mind you, I'd fed the girls before I went out, and came home in time to feed them dinner, so all DH really had to do was make sure no one killed themselves. But who am I to be ungrateful? Every Sunday should be like last Sunday.

I had words with my dad this week. I love my dad; he really is my role model. But sometimes he is a royal pain in the ass. I'd finally put the girls down for a nap, it had been a particularly bad day, I had a migraine, and I was looking forward to napping with them. I laid down on the couch, and was just drifting off to sleep when my father called. He was setting up his new home theater system and needed my help. My father (like most folks in my family) mistakenly believe that just because I used to work with computers, that I'm qualified to answer questions related to anything electronic. What I try to tell them is that nowadays (now that I'm not working with computers), I'm lucky I can operate my own computer, much less fix anything belonging to anyone else. So dad wants an A/V cable, and I snap, "I'll be happy to look for one - AFTER naptime is over". He got the idea. Unfortunately, I had to call him later and eat crow. He does so much to help me with my broken down house, that really wasn't the right answer. But seriously, you know my kids nap every day at the same time, and you know I generally nap when they do - so why call during that time? Jeez.

Speaking of the girls, we bought them a new bathtub. We'd been using a traditional baby tub for the longest, and they were way too big for that now. But we weren't ready to plop them down in our bathtub without any kind of...um...buffer. So we bought this inflatable tub that fits inside our tub. The girls have not reacted well to change. Dr. D freaked out the first time she went in; she was literally trembling. The psychologist came in and evaluated the girls this week - an event I've been dreading for a couple of weeks now. Looks like he's going to press forward with a "diagnosis" of PDD, in the hopes that it will get them the therapy they need - meaning the ABA therapy. I'm still not happy with it. But I'm moving closer to acceptance. I walk a fine line between wanting to do what's right for my kids and trying to figure out when its all too much for them. We'll see what happens.

Tomorrow, we're off to my BILs house; my little nephew is turning two. At least this trip we'll be able to travel in the same car, instead of like hobos in two cars. The drawback? We'll need to make a pit stop to pick up the MIL and the aunt. To every upside, there is a downside. Tonight I overheard DH talking with his brother about our "next house", which is really too far off in the future to really discuss. Anyway, he tells his brother that he had to "set mom straight" -- at one point, she and the aunt believed that DH would be able to bankroll a two family home for ALL OF US to live in. What they didn't understand is that a 2-family house in our area is $750,000 - easily. Now they realize that the dream of the "big house" is just that -- a dream. Almost. He tells his brother that, although it sounds harsh, he's really waiting for the aunt to pass away (she's a hard core diabetic and her days are numbered)...and then he'll just look for a FOUR bedroom house and he can bring mom to come live with us. WHAT. THE. FUCK. What DH doesn't realize is that I'm just waiting for his mother to pass away, so that I can have something faintly resembling a life of my own.

Here's this week's Friday's Feast:

Appetizer
Choose one: Popcorn, Pizza, Pretzels, Peanuts, or Pasta. - PASTA. I could live on it.
Soup
Describe your personality in terms of a particular vehicle. - A mini cooper - Cute, but fierce under the hood.
Salad
If you won a shopping spree, from which store would you want it to be? - Depends on how much I won. But I'd say Sephora
Main Course
Which television show re-runs do you enjoy watching? - CSI, Sex and the City, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Law and Order SVU
Dessert
If you could look into the future, how far down the road would you like to see? 10 years? 100 years? A million? - Ten would suffice.