Familied-out
Aug. 18th, 2002 12:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
semperfionaI arrived home this evening about 8:45 after a week in Estes Park, Colorado, for the sporadic/quadrennial family reunion. It wasn't bad, though it wears on me to suppress my natural reactions and opinions.
My sister pissed me off the very first day. We were swimming in the hotel pool, and she saw my navel ring and tattoo. "Tattoos? Belly button ring? Where did mom and dad go wrong?" I bit my tongue to prevent myself from telling her "Fuck you," since that's not a word that gets used in our family. They pretend it doesn't exist. But my cousin's daughter (11 years old) told her "My mommy has one, she just got it," and that made me smile. I always thought that particular cousin might be a little cooler than the run-of-the-family, if not as cool as Mike. She wasn't there, though, unfortunately. In fact very few of my cousins were.
Most of the week was spent in Kathy's company, however, and she wasn't quite such an ass the rest of the time. She does have a knack for the cutting remark, though. Friday morning I went to the laundromat with her and my mother. Mom had folded some of Kathy's family's clothes for her, and Kathy was re-folding them differently.
"Picky?" I asked.
"No, Jeff is. His mother folded his shirts this way, so now I fold shirts this way."
"Ah. If Ray wanted his laundry done a certain way, he did it himself."
"And that's why you're no longer married."
Grrr. There are far too many assumptions buried in that statement. I don't have the energy to tease them all out and rant about them. But that is typical Kathy fare, and I had more than enough of it this week to last me quite a while. My parents and auncles were much less judgemental, thankfully.
Because Rosa was not willing to be parted from me hardly at all, I ended up spending much of my time watching her and Kathy's 4 year old. I'd have actually liked a bit more time with the other relatives, and I definitely wanted more chances to play pinochle, but it wasn't bad. At least the children weren't picking at me.
Wednesday evening was a small escape from the family: wombats Lori and Evelyn each drove up from their respective locations and we hung out for a while and chatted. Lori is taller than I am. It is not a terribly common occurrence that I meet women who are taller than me, and it was a bit odd to walk beside her and look up at her.
Thursday night all of us went over to Pat and Dave's RV to watch a video of my uncle Paul's medical mission work in Uganda. Rosa was in their bedroom sleeping, and then threw up her dinner all over Pat's new white bedspread. Ack. I took her back to the hotel, and she proceeded to throw up some more over the bed there. I called the front desk, who did not answer. Finally I put on a robe and walked down there to ask for new sheets. A few minutes later they brought me *one* sheet. Better than nothing, at least. Then I called Mom and had her run to the supermarket for me to get some children's Motrin and have been dosing Rosa on it ever since. She has still been sick though not as bad.
Today Pat and Dave took Rosa and me out to breakfast, and then we headed back to Denver to catch a plane. I called Lori to see if she wanted to hang out on the way, but no one answered, so we went to The National Center for Atmospheric Research to waste a bit of time, and then to DIA. Nothing of interest to report after our return.
All week I kept having flashbacks and tactile memories of sleeping with Jen (not to mention yearnings for more of the same). Wonderful things, but somewhat out of place under the circumstances. I kept thinking what a good thing it was that no one in my family is telepathic.
Monday:Get up 4:30 am. Get Rosa up 5:00. Leave home 5:30. Arrive Estes Park 11:30. Hotel room isn't ready until 3:00. Have lunch at a local pizza parlor.
I asked Rosa what kind of pizza she wanted. She said, "Spaghetti pizza." I told her there was no such thing, and then started reading her the pizza options...only to discover there was in fact such a thing. We ordered it. It was exactly what it sounds like: spaghetti with marinara sauce baked on top of a pizza crust, and covered with mozzarella cheese. Not exactly my idea of the perfect pizza, but it was edible and Rosa liked it.
Then we went to the tourist information center and picked up some pamphlets. Walked over to Lake Estes. Saw a herd of elk on the golf course.
The elk were not at all afraid of humans: rather the reverse. There was a fence there, from behind which a number of people were watching them. If small children got too close to the fence (or stuck their heads through it), the alpha female would stalk toward them threateningly until they backed off.
Went to the supermarket, then back to the hotel to collect our room. Went to Pat and Dave's for dinner with nearly everyone, or at least everyone who arrived before late that night.
Tuesday:Went to Sprague Lake with Kathy, Jeff, Josh and Kara and Josh and Megan.
Yes, that's two different Joshes. By the end of the week Rosa was calling Kathy's son "Josh" and my cousin "Joshua". Considering she started out calling him "Michael" for some reason, that's an improvement.
We all had a picnic then walked around the lake "hunting ducks" and climbing on various rocks. After that, we went back to the hotel and all went swimming (and that is when Kathy pissed me off).
Can't remember anything outstanding about that evening.
Wednesday: Glacier Gorge to Alberta Falls, and Bear Lake. Lunch at Hollowell Park. Again with Kathy, Jeff, Josh and Kara. Mom offered to watch Rosa for the evening so I could go out with "my friends" (who I never did explain any further than that, and no one asked. I was going to say they were from Amber List if I had to say anything, since I didn't want to explain what Wombat was all about.) Nice dinner with Lori, joined later by Evelyn after a bit of a cellphone debacle. No one remembered to take any pictures, sigh.
Thursday: Whitewater rafting in the morning, Mom and Dad watching Rosa again. The river was very low, but it was fun. Rosa getting sick in the evening.
Friday: Laundromat in the morning. Since most of the family was going on a long hike and I knew Rosa wouldn't be up to it we just hung out with Mom and Kathy--and I got to play two whole games of pinochle, yippee! I even won the second one. Then we went to Endovalley for another picnic. I was going to drive up Fall River Road and back, but by the end of lunch Rosa was demanding to go home, so we went back to the hotel for a nap. Some swimming after she woke up.
Saturday(today): Breakfast with Pat, Dave and Paul. NCAR. Airplane.
I knew I was home the minute I stepped out onto the jetway and was greeted by a wash of hot humid air. Yay St Louis weather. Not. I was getting rather used to being chilly in the mornings and evenings! Even the heat of the afternoons up in Estes wasn't really hot, because it's so dry and also there is always a stiff breeze.
And now it's bed time.
My sister pissed me off the very first day. We were swimming in the hotel pool, and she saw my navel ring and tattoo. "Tattoos? Belly button ring? Where did mom and dad go wrong?" I bit my tongue to prevent myself from telling her "Fuck you," since that's not a word that gets used in our family. They pretend it doesn't exist. But my cousin's daughter (11 years old) told her "My mommy has one, she just got it," and that made me smile. I always thought that particular cousin might be a little cooler than the run-of-the-family, if not as cool as Mike. She wasn't there, though, unfortunately. In fact very few of my cousins were.
Most of the week was spent in Kathy's company, however, and she wasn't quite such an ass the rest of the time. She does have a knack for the cutting remark, though. Friday morning I went to the laundromat with her and my mother. Mom had folded some of Kathy's family's clothes for her, and Kathy was re-folding them differently.
"Picky?" I asked.
"No, Jeff is. His mother folded his shirts this way, so now I fold shirts this way."
"Ah. If Ray wanted his laundry done a certain way, he did it himself."
"And that's why you're no longer married."
Grrr. There are far too many assumptions buried in that statement. I don't have the energy to tease them all out and rant about them. But that is typical Kathy fare, and I had more than enough of it this week to last me quite a while. My parents and auncles were much less judgemental, thankfully.
Because Rosa was not willing to be parted from me hardly at all, I ended up spending much of my time watching her and Kathy's 4 year old. I'd have actually liked a bit more time with the other relatives, and I definitely wanted more chances to play pinochle, but it wasn't bad. At least the children weren't picking at me.
Wednesday evening was a small escape from the family: wombats Lori and Evelyn each drove up from their respective locations and we hung out for a while and chatted. Lori is taller than I am. It is not a terribly common occurrence that I meet women who are taller than me, and it was a bit odd to walk beside her and look up at her.
Thursday night all of us went over to Pat and Dave's RV to watch a video of my uncle Paul's medical mission work in Uganda. Rosa was in their bedroom sleeping, and then threw up her dinner all over Pat's new white bedspread. Ack. I took her back to the hotel, and she proceeded to throw up some more over the bed there. I called the front desk, who did not answer. Finally I put on a robe and walked down there to ask for new sheets. A few minutes later they brought me *one* sheet. Better than nothing, at least. Then I called Mom and had her run to the supermarket for me to get some children's Motrin and have been dosing Rosa on it ever since. She has still been sick though not as bad.
Today Pat and Dave took Rosa and me out to breakfast, and then we headed back to Denver to catch a plane. I called Lori to see if she wanted to hang out on the way, but no one answered, so we went to The National Center for Atmospheric Research to waste a bit of time, and then to DIA. Nothing of interest to report after our return.
All week I kept having flashbacks and tactile memories of sleeping with Jen (not to mention yearnings for more of the same). Wonderful things, but somewhat out of place under the circumstances. I kept thinking what a good thing it was that no one in my family is telepathic.
Monday:Get up 4:30 am. Get Rosa up 5:00. Leave home 5:30. Arrive Estes Park 11:30. Hotel room isn't ready until 3:00. Have lunch at a local pizza parlor.
I asked Rosa what kind of pizza she wanted. She said, "Spaghetti pizza." I told her there was no such thing, and then started reading her the pizza options...only to discover there was in fact such a thing. We ordered it. It was exactly what it sounds like: spaghetti with marinara sauce baked on top of a pizza crust, and covered with mozzarella cheese. Not exactly my idea of the perfect pizza, but it was edible and Rosa liked it.
Then we went to the tourist information center and picked up some pamphlets. Walked over to Lake Estes. Saw a herd of elk on the golf course.
The elk were not at all afraid of humans: rather the reverse. There was a fence there, from behind which a number of people were watching them. If small children got too close to the fence (or stuck their heads through it), the alpha female would stalk toward them threateningly until they backed off.
Went to the supermarket, then back to the hotel to collect our room. Went to Pat and Dave's for dinner with nearly everyone, or at least everyone who arrived before late that night.
Tuesday:Went to Sprague Lake with Kathy, Jeff, Josh and Kara and Josh and Megan.
Yes, that's two different Joshes. By the end of the week Rosa was calling Kathy's son "Josh" and my cousin "Joshua". Considering she started out calling him "Michael" for some reason, that's an improvement.
We all had a picnic then walked around the lake "hunting ducks" and climbing on various rocks. After that, we went back to the hotel and all went swimming (and that is when Kathy pissed me off).
Can't remember anything outstanding about that evening.
Wednesday: Glacier Gorge to Alberta Falls, and Bear Lake. Lunch at Hollowell Park. Again with Kathy, Jeff, Josh and Kara. Mom offered to watch Rosa for the evening so I could go out with "my friends" (who I never did explain any further than that, and no one asked. I was going to say they were from Amber List if I had to say anything, since I didn't want to explain what Wombat was all about.) Nice dinner with Lori, joined later by Evelyn after a bit of a cellphone debacle. No one remembered to take any pictures, sigh.
Thursday: Whitewater rafting in the morning, Mom and Dad watching Rosa again. The river was very low, but it was fun. Rosa getting sick in the evening.
Friday: Laundromat in the morning. Since most of the family was going on a long hike and I knew Rosa wouldn't be up to it we just hung out with Mom and Kathy--and I got to play two whole games of pinochle, yippee! I even won the second one. Then we went to Endovalley for another picnic. I was going to drive up Fall River Road and back, but by the end of lunch Rosa was demanding to go home, so we went back to the hotel for a nap. Some swimming after she woke up.
Saturday(today): Breakfast with Pat, Dave and Paul. NCAR. Airplane.
I knew I was home the minute I stepped out onto the jetway and was greeted by a wash of hot humid air. Yay St Louis weather. Not. I was getting rather used to being chilly in the mornings and evenings! Even the heat of the afternoons up in Estes wasn't really hot, because it's so dry and also there is always a stiff breeze.
And now it's bed time.
