semperfiona | Evening rescued...

So I had a pretty good day, out shopping with Rosa. I bought her a pair of butterfly wings, which she wore around the house for a couple hours. We made a cake.

"What color of cake do you want?"

"Yellow." We made a lemon cake.

"What color of frosting?"

"Pink."

So we had enchiladas for dinner, and lemon cake with pink frosting for dessert. Then Ray arrived to collect her for the evening, and all hell broke loose. I exaggerate. But it wasn't very nice, anyway. Rosa offered him some cake, he accepted. But she had dirtied her diaper, and as usual he said "Your mommy will have to change you." She insisted he do it. So he did, fussing and bitching the entire time, and ordering me to get him the requisite materials. Then he has the audacity to tell me I'm in a bad mood. I told him he says that to me first thing every time he sees me, and he said, "You're always in a bad mood." Did it ever occur to him that it's not me? That he picks and pokes at me until my mood changes?

I showed him the newly decorated bedroom, mostly because I'm proud of it. He complimented my work, thankfully. And then Rosa decided to announce that "That's Auntie Jen's room!" referring to the other bedroom I had been using. She said it several times over, and even high-density Ray caught on. He asked me whether she's moving in. I said, "Probably sometime soon," being intentionally vague. He dropped the subject, and we went downstairs to eat cake.

Then we had a fight about money for the daycare. I owed them some money from a couple weeks ago, and had told him I'd give him a check if he'd just pay it tomorrow. But my new checks are missing in action, and my checkbook is empty. He got real shirty with me and insisted I give him cash. He drove me to the ATM to get it, too.

Then he dropped me off at home, and after I kissed Rosa goodbye, got out of the car to talk to me. Lecture me, more like. He told me I was verbally abusive. I told him he was being rude and difficult for not even being willing to consider a delay in my paying him. Then he announced, "I am very concerned about Jen and Phaelen moving in. It's someone I don't know raising my child--or helping raise her."

I was so stunned and insulted I had no idea what to say, and just stood there for 30 seconds or so before walking away in silence and slamming the gate behind me. I came inside, immediately got online, and IM'd Jen. Told her I was having a bad evening, gave her a quick rundown of what he'd had to say, and said, "I need to get out and away from these stresses."

She said, "What time is that Four Feathers playing?"

After a few minutes investigating the movie listings, we agreed that she'd come pick me up at 9:00 and we'd go see it at 9:40. And so we did, and it was good and we laughed together--not at the movie, except for me saying "We come here to cewebwate mawwidge" when a porkchop-bewhiskered vicar showed up briefly, and a couple of other snide comments--and held hands and felt good about being together. 'Twas lovely, and now I feel much better.

The movie was quite good. I had no idea what to expect. I'd never even heard of it until she mentioned it. But it's about one man's attempt to redeem his reputation in the eyes of his friends, and more importantly, himself.

Is it just us looking back or were scarlet uniforms singularly stupid of the British Army? And after the Revolution, why didn't they figure out it made them targets, and that not every enemy was going to docilely line up in rows to be shot at?