Family Issues...

Ack! I swear I have been on the phone with one family member or another all freaking day today. Not because of any crisis, but because we're trying to plan Memorial Day weekend. And it is a royal pain in the boot-ay. So here's the situation - my dad and my stepmom and three stepsisters live in Texas, and we don't see them all that often. I've talked about my dad before but in case you don't remember I'll just say that he was kind of bitter after my parent's divorce and my mom's subsequent move to Colorado, so most of our interactions are laced with guilt and loathing. But on a very happy surface. Good times. Good times. I do love him, there are just a few issues.

Anyway, so last year my dad bought this place on a lake near Austin, and he was all "yeah, you guys can go anytime, it'll be great." So last year the boy, my sister and I all went down and spent a weekend on the lake with my dad and stepmom and a good time was had by all. And then this year rolls around and my sister, her BF (my B-in law, as you'll recall) and my husband all decided we wanted to go down there and bring along my husband's BFF and his wife (one of my BFF's) and it would be like a fun party on the lake type thing with the six of us.

Well I broached the subject with my dad in January, and he seemed a little hesitant at first, mostly because if we were coming to Texas, he wanted to see us. Well I suggested we all go to Midland first, spend a couple of days with him and the rest of the fam, and then we could the "kids" could all head to the lake and it would be all good. Well that seemed to be okay with him, but now that we're getting down to buying plane tickets he's kind of hemming and hawing and acting all weird about it, talking about going to Austin to show us how the boat works and maybe staying for the weekend and on and on.

I know he just wants to see us all, but frankly, hanging out with my dad for the weekend is not what our friends (who we've already invited) signed up for. But it is my dad's house, and with the guilt issues and what not, I can't exactly tell him "no, you can't come." So I did the next best passive aggressive thing and called my stepmom and told her how we were feeling and asked her to talk to him. The bottom line is, I love my dad and do want to see him, but he was just not part of my "party on the lake" vision.

So. Now that I've gotten that all out - here's the problem. My sister is now saying "I don't care if he comes" and I feel like I'm being the bitch. And it sucks. For some reason I am always the bitch. So what do you guys think? Should I just get over it and let dad horn in on the weekend?

I'm hopeful that my stepmom will know how to take the right path with him and it will be all good, but I'm just so damn concerned about hurting his feelings right now. It sucks. I'm 28 years old and all the sudden I feel like a blabbering baby idiot.

On the fitness front, I've had a great day and am planning to take it into the evening as well. I hit the gym for a cardio zone class - that's where you get on your cardio machine of choice (mine was the treadmill) and move the intensity up and down depending on what the instructor is telling you at any given time. I love it so much. I really push myself and burn a ton of calories, which is always a positive thing. I swear my face is still red and it's 5 hours later.

Tonight we're having a belated 30th birthday celebration with the boy's parents, but I know the menu where we're going and I've already made a choice - the orange-cranberry glazed chicken. Can't wait! Let's just hope I can control myself around any dessert that comes my way.