Breaking Radio Silence

After two weeks of not posting, I figure it’s time to start writing.  Even if my writing will consist of mostly wedding stuff (yes, this is a fair warning to all uninterested parties), it’ll be better than nothing, right?

As the days count down (and yes, we’re now in “day” territory in my mind as opposed to “weeks”), I find myself paradoxically relaxed about the whole thing and stressed beyond belief. Relaxed because the big things are getting done and I’m sure the day will go off with just some minor hiccups here and there.  I’m alternatively stressed because the personae dramatae of this event are starting to display their quirks. On my side, chief among them is my mother: not only is she going crazy over every detail (going so far as to remodel the kitchen and steam clean the carpets), but she’s started making demands of me that I thought had been settled.  For example:

When we learned that my uncle, his wife, my other uncle, and my cousin and his wife would be attending, my mother threw open her doors to them and filled every bed in the house, including her own. She and my father are forced to relocate to a friend’s house for two nights.  My option of staying with my parents the night before was essentially eliminated; I will be honest and say I would have opted to stay in a hotel with IP, but I was irked that my mother so quickly put our relatives ahead of me in the sleeping room queue.  No matter, though—I thought this was an easy out for me when everything was said and done. Not so, declares my mother! I am to stay in a house full of strangers the night before my wedding, with my older brother being the only immediate family member in the house. IP’s lodging wasn’t even considered as my mom believes we should be entirely separated the night before the wedding—the fact that she basically tossed my fiance out on his ass the night before the wedding really got my blood boiling.

I explained to my mother that I a) would not be comfortable staying the night with people I do not know (nor care to know) and 2) I wanted to be with IP the night before the wedding. My mother screeched in my ear that it’s tradition and I basically heard the equivalent of a foot-stomp over the phone; I was informed that I would be staying at their house as it is the “right” thing to do. I told her I was going to talk to IP and get back to her, but I plan on telling her that the whole staying at their house is a no-go for many reasons, but that this is the last discussion we’re having on it; our decision is final. She’ll probably protest like crazy, but in the end, what can she do? Chain me to a bed?

IP might like that, actually.

The whole situation pisses me off because not only am I an adult, but we’ve made it a point to go against the grain when it comes to this wedding. Why this is such a sticking point with my mother, I’ll never know. But it’s taking every ounce of will power to not pick up the phone and fight this through. When we talk next, I want to be firm and not allow her to pull me into a fight. When she complains, I will say, “I’m sorry you feel that way, Mom” and drop it. This really isn’t worth the aggravation.

My one wish for this wedding would be that everyone relax, sit back, enjoy the food and booze (which, by the way, will kick ass), and just breathe. There’s no reason to go nutty over the wedding details, large or small. IP and I have it all under control—shouldn’t that be enough?