LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS LIKE A COLONOSCOPY

I have 3 hours and 45 minutes until we leave for a Thanksgiving afternoon of fun and family.  It's only 9:15 a.m. and I have already gotten three calls from my father with weather updates and freaking out by him due to the fact that we don't have four wheel drive (even though we've told him every year for the past eight years that we don't have four wheel drive).  The best part was when he demanded that I put my (fast asleep) husband on the phone to confirm that we really only have front wheel drive.

The calls are annoying but, to make matters worse, he has a point.  It has been snowing gently all morning and we have a ninety minute drive, including a seven mile stretch of treacherous dirt road leading to my parents' house, not to mention my parents' steep downhill driveway.  My father is frantically making arrangements for a neighbor to tow us out of the driveway if we can't get out tonight. 

To add to the stress of all of this is the fact that my mother-in-law is coming with us to my parents' house-- the first time my parents have seen my mother-in-law since my wedding eight years ago.   My parents and my mother-in-law like each other just fine-- but they have differing habits and expectations which could lead to misunderstandings.  I have written already about how the idea of turning on the tube and watching football in the middle of a family gathering is completely alien to my parents.

The other stress point I foresee is about wine.  My mother-in-law spent quite a bit of time worrying about what wine to bring for my parents.  Of course, the general custom is that the host does not necessarily serve a gift of wine at dinner but merely accepts it as a gift for future use; this isn't a potluck after all.  But I don't think my mother-in-law quite realizes that and she would expect my parents to serve the wine.  Plus, she is a little insecure because she feels she doesn't know much about wine and she perceives my parents as people who are knowledgeable about such things.  Therefore, if my parents don't serve her wine at dinner, she will probably assume that they disapproved of her choice.

I tried to explain to my mother-in-law that my mother has already chosen a wine for dinner but I am sure that she would appreciate the wine my mother-in-law is bringing-- which then prompted a string of anxious run-on sentences from my mother-in-law along the lines of "Oh dear I knew that I should have chosen something different I really just don't know much about wine and I just wasn't sure what would go with turkey and maybe I should bring a pie instead please don't tell me your mother has already made a pie what kind of pie would do well for dessert" etc. etc.

So then I went to my mother and said, "Look, when mother-in-law brings the wine, you need to serve that wine with dinner," to which I received a blank stare and the statement, "Oh but I've already chosen the perfect Shiraz for dinner."  And I said, "Yeah, but please just serve her wine at dinner.  I don't want her feelings to be hurt."  My mother (who is by nature very kind) just didn't understand this at all but promised that she would serve my mother-in-law's wine after we finish the first bottle.  So now I am under pressure to gulp down loads of red wine so that we make it to mother-in-law's bottle and quickly.  But somehow, I don't think I'll have a problem with drinking today . . .

Comments

[Natalie Bennett]

I find living on the other side of the world to the rellies is handy in all sorts of ways ....

[iphone zubehoer]

i havnt had to undergo this procedure myself – YET, that is (definitely dont want 2 speak too soon please!), but the people I had talked to who did do it, did say they were givensedatives n that they hardly felt anything since they were asleep for the most part… but of course like I sed, experiences can vary n different doctors may even follow different protocols as well… so my apologies if I offended any1 please..