Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

9/17/2018

For most families, there is nothing more to dread than having your in-laws visit.  At least, that's how I felt. Since we lived on opposite sides of the country, there were no unexpected visits. But, when you live close to your children, there are unscheduled "drop in" visits.

Yesterday, we called ahead, and invited ourselves over for dinner. We brought pizza, and you can't really go wrong with pizza.  The girls, Bella really, loves to run around in their backyard, which is huge. Daisy not so much. The biggest problem I have is my inability to relax while we're there. I'm constantly on edge when the girls come inside the house.  Where are they? What are they doing? Did one of the dogs pee in the house. Stuff like that.

I didn't like what my Mother became as she got older. I didn't see her often, which was good as far as I was concerned. Living 3,000 miles away was a good thing for me. How she felt about it, is anybodies guess. As I became an adult, I had very little contact with her. When I called, my Mother always answered. But, what I really wanted was to just talk to Dad. 

Now as a mother-in-law, I respect my boundaries, at least I think I do. We visit to see Andrew and Stacey, but also Benjamin. Benjamin is growing up way too fast - at least too fast for me. Yesterday, he was wearing some kind of necklace with what I think were little plastic shoes attached. Oh, how I miss the baby and toddler years. But, just as I continue to age, so does Benjamin. It's just the facts of life.

While we munched on pizza, we watched a show called "Battle Bots", at least I think was the name of the show. Very expensive remote control "bots", out to destroy their opponent. I'm sure that the manufacture of these "bots" is really expensive. So, it's a fight to the finish. Bots flip over, tires come off, and major damage is done by the ramming into one another. 

For example, a lightweight bot costs around $2,000, and a heavyweight bot costs around $6,000. For me, if I invested that kind of money in the building of a bot, then I would be very disappointed when my bot is injured beyond repair. But, people do seem to enjoy this show. I found it interesting, but have some doubt whether I would actually record this show for future watching.  

As always, a very quiet ride home. The girls were exhausted. Once home, Jeff and I watched "60 Minutes", and then he was off to bed. I got myself prepared for bed in my recliner. I put on my CPAP machine, and watched one of my recorded shows.

It's icky outside today. No sunshine, just gray skies. To help my mood, I have turned on my SAD light, while I'm using my computer.

P