Epiphany in Baltimore

2001-05-17

Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com

The week continues to continue. It's seeming to be an abnormally long week, but that could be because I'm abnormally tired. Today is only Thursday, which is hard to believe. In a bout of sub-conscious wishful thinking, I kept writing Friday on everything today.

Issues in my life at the moment:

* I have about four term papers left out of the two classes, and the four I have left are all ones that my kids e-mailed me the day they were due and gave me the hard copies of the next day. Somehow, these four got put in a different place than the other 50, and I'm not sure where they are. I'm not freaking out about it yet, as I haven't looked everywhere they could be and my room is a sty right now. Plus, they are the ones that the kids e-mailed me, so I could theoretically just print them off of e-mail. The one biggest hitch is that one of the kids is the same kid who I had to give an extension to because I lost his rough draft, so he didn't have to e-mail it to me. Thus, his could really be gone. I'm not stressed yet. But it could happen. Ugh.

* My parents' surprise 25th wedding anniversary party is Saturday. They don't know about it. Things are going well. But I got this e-mail from my uncle "Chandler" today (I've changed the their names, but left his all-caps habit intact): "I TALKED TO HEIDI (note: my sister) THE OTHER NIGHT ON THE PHONE CONCERNING YOUR UPCOMING EVENT THIS SATURDAY. MONICA AND I WERE CONTEMPLATING COMING OVER THERE EVEN THOUGH IT'S ONLY BEEN A WEEK SINCE HER SISTER DIED AND NOBODY OVER HERE IS IN ANY PARTY MOOD. NEVERTHELESS, WE DECIDED THAT LIFE DOES INDEED GO ON AND,IF NOTHING ELSE, A CHANGE OF SCENERY WOULD BE A GOOD THING. NOW, HOWEVER, COMES THE SAD PART. WE HEAR THAT YOU INVITED RACHEL. TRUE ENOUGH, SHE IS THE MOTHER OF PHEOBE, ROSS, AND JOEY AND NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE THAT. HOWEVER, SHE IS ALSO MY ---- EXWIFE--- AND NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE THAT EITHER. BEING AN EX-WIFE MEENS JUST THAT "EX" AND I NOR MONICA WANT ANYTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH HER, NOR SHOULD WE. SO WHENEVER THERE IS A FUNCTION BY ANY ONE OR ALL MY THREE KIDS THAT CONCERNS TEIR PARENTS, I TRY TO MAKE ALLOWANCES AND GO TO THEM EVEN THOUGH WILL MOST LIKELY ALSO BE THERE. AS FOR ANTHING ELSE,WELL, I JUST WON'T BE THERE. WHAT I'M GETTING AT IS THIS. IF YOU GUYS OR YOUR PARENTS OR ANYBODY FOR THAT MATTER WANT TO INCLUDE RACHEL IN WHATEVER FUNCTION THAT'S GOING ON, THAT'S FINE. ONLY WE, MONICA AND I, WON'T BE THERE. THE REASONS FOR SUCH AN ATTITUDE TOWARD HER ARE TOO MANY AND WAY TOO PAINFUL TO GET INTO. YOUR PARENTS KNOW HOW THINGS WERE WHEN WE WERE MARRIED AND AFTERWARDS AND I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP, HOWEVER REMOTE, BETWEEN THEM. THAT'S O.K. TOO. IF THAT'S THE WAY THEY WANT IT, THAT'S FINE. BUT AGAIN I CAN'T AND WON'T BE INCLUDED. ANYWAY, PLEASE DON'T THINK THAT I'M ANGRY AT ANYBODY, IT'S JUST THAT NOW YOU KNOW WHY WE HAVE TO MISS YOUR PARTY, AND ANYTHING ELSE IF RACHEL IS INCLUDED. I JUST DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH ANYTHING LIKE THAT."

* Now, a bunch of things are going through my head. First of all, I'm sort of pissed that Heidi decided to invite Rachel (by the way, did you enjoy my "Friends" allusion? Getting ready for the season finale tonight...). I still think it might be a mistake. I've met my former Aunt Rachel only a couple times in my life, and wouldn't be able to pick her out of a lineup. There's no way in hell she's coming, whether she was invited or not.

I haven't spoken with Heidi yet about why she decided to invite Rachel, but I'm guessing it's because her name was in my parents' address book and just decided to. She probably didn't even recognize the name.

However, I'm also sort of mad at my Uncle Chandler. A couple of years ago, at my cousin "Joey"'s wedding, my mom ended up sitting next to Rachel and they got along really well. They hadn't seen each other in more than a decade, but they really hit it off, and chatted during the whole reception. This created a huge rift in the relationship between my Uncle Chandler and my mom and my dad (his brother). They didn't come to my sister's graduation from high school, for example. I think it's a bit petty.

My uncle is a reasonable guy, but our families have not been on good terms at all since that wedding. Heidi sent him a long letter telling him how much his not going to her graduation hurt her. He has never acknowledged it with her (one of our theories is that Monica intercepted it before he could read it).

Anyhow, we'll see how it turns out. I still think the party will be fun.

We'll see how it goes. Meanwhile, Kevin moved the last of his stuff out today. End of an era for him. Six years in the dorms, four years in residence life. I can't wait until August 1 when I move out of the dorms for the last time...