What was I thinking?

Who says 15 people in one house is fun? Annie and Jason and their 2 kids made it to Houston at 4:00 Wed morning. Jimmy and I thought that they would be the only ones staying with us till we went to Cameron. Then Bobby called and decided that since he was not sure how to get to Cameron from Aransas Pass, he and Traci and their 3 would come to Houston and follow us to Cameron. Then Amanda, Pat and his girl friend and her son would come here too. Yikes! Talk about your Chineze Fire drill! So we all get ready to go Thursday morning. Everybody is ready but Jason. Seems he forgot to get gas the night before. So we all decide to head up the road and tell him to catch up. He decides to go a different way. Meanwhile Annie calls over and over asking where we are. We dont know if they are lost or what. Imagine trying to get 4 carloads of 15 people all going the same way!Not going to happen!. Ultimately, with great anxiety we all get to Cameron without killing each other. Some 40 to 50 people are expected there. We have not seen Aunt Pat and her family in 5 years. I guess it was probably a typical family gathering. Aunt Pat was sweet as usual. 2 of her sons were there with their families. One brother is a nice, easy to get along with guy. The other is a pompass blowhard who pontificates his views onto everyone. Makes you want to smack him. Jimmy's sister and brother in law were there along with their son and his girl friend. She will never forgive her son for not following the life path she planned for him. And as usual she rarely makes eye contact with me. So what else is new. Haven't seen her in 5 years. Nice going Jean! We took pictures of everybody. Then Traci's husband did his usual thing of beering himself to sleep. We took pictures of him asleep on the lawn. At least no one comes to blows. That's later.

Bobby and Traci had decided to drive back home from Cameron, but changed their minds and everybody ended up back at our house. Friday Amanda invited Annie and Traci and their families to her house for dinner. Bobby and Traci decide to go home from there. Well, once again Bobby drinks himself to sleep. Traci and the kids came back to our house. I get up Sat morning and find a 3 year old lying on the floor, only to discover she and all her kids are here. Seems she got mad at Bobby. This was after Bobby had gotten into a fight with Annie because he doesn't like Jason. Don't know why he could not take the problem up with Jason. In the mean time the 3 year old gets sick. Oh, and somewhere in the mix Bobby had gone to a convienence store for more beer and cigarettes and punched out the clerk because he thought he'd been shorted his change. He was actually quite proud of it too. Just add a little more stress for me.

Then They finally decide to leave Sat and Traci and Bobby get into a fight with me over the 10 year old. The 10 year old is 10 going on 30. She doesn't get along with her mother. Seems her mother is always playing on the computer or blogging her friends and Def Leppard groupies. We would like to be able to send Cheyanne e-mails but her mother refuses to let her on the computer because she doesn't keep her room clean. Traci and Bobby let her have a tv in her room for all the kids to watch. As you would expect the 3 and 4 year olds get into her stuff and she gets upset. Traci says that she goes into the little ones room and messes up. Somehow, I feel the kid is not getting a fair deal. I think they have set the rules so high that she is set up to fail. So they argue constantly. I suggested that they give her a little space because she is so much older than the other 2, but got a smart crack that if she wants space, they'll take the tv out. Momma also makes her watch the little ones while momma fixes supper. As a result no one is happy. Call me a meddler but the girl is pre-pubesant and need her own privacy space. Mom and Dad dont see it that way. So they got mad at me and packed up the kids and left without telling me or Jimmy bye, not even the kids. Just an average family get together.

Sunday was fairly quiet, only 2 kids crying. Annie and Jason and the kids left today about noon. Peace has now resettled on the Malitz zoo, I mean house. I still worry about the 10 year old though. What 10 year old keeps a spotless room, especially with a 3 and 4 year old allowed to roam freely throughout the house. If they would just give her reachable goals and a reason to succeed, but I know she feels why bother, no matter what she does, it's not good enough. Only time will tell.

Just your average Thanksgiving with family. Finally, I have my house back, God I love the Quiet!