So late...so tired...

I should be asleep right now. I went to sleep at 9:30 to ensure that I'd be up and raring to go early tomorrow morning so Mike and I could get to the train station to go to Chicago. But I had a nightmare that was so spooky that even my tried-and-true technique of listening to Mike breathe and petting the cats wouldn't let me shake it. So now I'm typing. I think I'll tell about dinner tonight.

I bought dinner for my sister and her boyfriend. I was pretty underwhelmed. We decided to go to McDonald's (she's a super-picky eater, but she'll eat that), and we took my car since it was already warm and I'd have to move it into the far parking lot if I left it there. Her boyfriend was directing me, after informing me that I was "lame" for not knowing where the McDonald's in his town was. I offered to drive them back to Milwaukee to eat at the McDonald's there, since I knew where that one was, but they declined. At one point I asked whether the next turn would be right or left, and he told me not to worry about it since it was far off.

"Unless you're like your sister and you need to be in that lane as soon as you possibly can," he said.

"Actually, yeah, I am," I replied. Whether I'm turning right or left I like to be in the appropriate lane even if I'll be driving there awhile, just to ensure that I don't have to cut anyone off.

"Well then, left," he said. Then he looked at my sister and tsked his tongue. "Your whole family is freaks," he said.

I know he was kidding and I know I shouldn't take it personally, but I couldn't imagine Mike talking to anyone in my family like that. I nearly told him not to disrespect me in my own car, but I bit my tongue.

There were several incidents like that. Times where he'd be snide, or seemed to be barely keeping himself from rolling his eyes. When I tried to show some interest in them by asking about his religion - he's Wiccan - he brushed me off. Which, considering the fact that between the two of them they were wearing at least five pentagrams, including his tattoo, you'd think he'd be more open about it.

I remember the first time Mike met my parents, and even though he was as shy as could be he was respectful and even brought them each a book. While I don't expect gifts from her boyfriend, I do expect a certain level of respect that adults give each other. Or should give each other.

I'm not sure that he's a bad guy. He may be just a little rough around the edges, or maybe he was nervous and didn't know how to act. But I do know that he didn't get off on the right foot with me.

I also know that once my brother gets back from Japan, if the boyfriend treats Rob the way he treated me, Rob won't be nearly as civil. I hope I'm around to watch.

Man...

Tomorrow evening I'm going to go eat dinner with my sister and her boyfriend. I'm not really looking foward to this...I think the guy must be a little imbalanced. After all, they've only known each other for about a month and he's already brought up engagement. Now I know that Mike and I got engaged pretty quickly, but we were togther for four and a half months. There's a big difference between four months and four weeks. There's also a big difference between my situation at the time (26 years old, have been independent) and hers now (23, working on a divorce, jumping from relationship to relationship), and between my mental state (sane) and hers (not).

So yeah, I'm slightly concerned. I'm probably just being paranoid, but there's something about this whole situation that just gives me a bad feeling. I can't put my finger on it, but something's not right. I'm going to go to their apartment with a smile on my face and pepper mace in my pocket. You can never be too careful.

Speaking of run-ins with people who are unstable, I recently got an email and some texts from Liz. I wasn't surprised, really, being that yesterday was Valentine's Day. I figured that if she was at home knowing that I was spending my first Valentine's Day curled up with my boy as husband-and-wife, she'd feel the need to chime in. I got a mass email informing us that one of the musuem's employee's husbands had died, and telling us to contact her for info about the funeral. I feel sad, but there's no way I'm going to ask her for information about the funeral. I won't even go since she is. Then she sent me two texts (or rather, one text that was so long the phone broke it into two pieces):

(Part 1 of 2) He died! All I ever wanted you to get is life is short and love is rare. Somehow you got get married to a nice guy before getting screwed

(Part 2 of 2) not the same!

Thanks for chiming in, Liz! Oh, and also? Shove it.

Someday I'll figure out how to give her the kick in the ass she deserves. Until then, I'll just have to hope karma does it for me.

Man.

Snow, snow, snow

For the past two days I've gotten up around 4:30 and have left for work at 5 AM. My commute took an hour and forty minutes on Monday and an hour and thirty minutes on Tuesday. I don't know about you, but I think that's way too damn far to come so I can sit at school and listen to my students complain about how their bus was late this morning.

Yesterday afternoon I was anxiously watching the weather outside. Chicago was under blizzard conditions, and although the snow was lighter north of the city it was still pretty rough out there. Plus there was lake-effect snow and wind, which is unfortunate since most of my commute is along the lake. I headed home early, but after an hour of driving had only gotten about a third of the way home. The weather was worsening and I didn't think I'd be able to make it. With a sigh I resigned myself to staying in a hotel.

I called Mike and then stopped at Target for provisions...travel sizes of shampoo and soap, some basic cosmetics, another shirt to wear the next day, dinner, a magazine, and a few extras. As I shopped I began to get excited. I had recently complained to Mike that I felt like I was taking on too much responsibility around our house...what could be better than a one-night mini-vacation? Just myself, my magazine, the remote, and peace and quiet. Besides, Mike and I spend a lot of time together in our tiny apartment...it wouldn't hurt to let him miss me a bit.

Unfortunately I didn't realize how much I'd gotten used to sharing my living space with six other beings. I had purchased a calling card, and I called Mike around 6 PM and talked for 40 minutes. I had told him that I probably wouldn't call anyone else that night, but after I hung up the quiet got to me, and I picked up the phone again and talked to my dad for another half an hour. I turned on the TV to get some noise, which was nice, but the bed still felt empty without a bunch of cats sharing it.

I flipped through my Cosmo, but it wasn't as entertaining when I wasn't able to laugh with Mike about the absurd titles and articles. Eventully I just took a bath - I was disappointed that the deep bathtub didn't seem to want to fill, so I just splashed in the four inches of water on the bottom - and went to sleep. Even though I was able to stretch my limbs as far as I wanted, it still didn't seem as comfortable as being scrunched between Mike and the cats.

So much for Mike missing me - I guess I probably missed him more.

This afternoon the roads were clear and I was able to go home. I've never been so happy to pull up in front of our little apartment.

In retrospect, the mini-vacation was good for me. It didn't really give me time to relax, but it did make me feel more grateful about what I have.