In-Laws

Can't live with 'em. Can't live without 'em...actually, I wish I could. My bridal shower was Saturday. Can you guess who didn't show? My sisters-in-law were hostesses. They showed, but without some of the things they were suppose to bring. They never said anything to me about their mom. One of my friends asked when she was getting there and one of his sisters said, "She's not coming. She has to take the dog to the vet." Was the dog dying? No. Had the dog travelled just fine the 14 hours back from Omaha and been OK the twelve hours since they had returned home the previous night? Yes. Could it have waited a couple of hours? Definitely. They didn't even have the decency to tell me or call me and explain. I happened to overhear the conversation. Not one word was said to me about it. After the shower, however, the story changed. Chris was told that she had to take her rental car back before noon, but that she had to go to the vet before noon also. My shower ended at 11:30, but she could have left a little early. At least she would have been there. She dropped his other sister off at the shower, too. Her just not showing up was ridiculous, but now it's our fault. Chris was at the mall, where the rental car needed to be returned. He could have met her there and then taken her to the shower. He could have even taken the dog to the vet, but she wasn't going to ask him to do that because that would take away her excuses. If this all wasn't bad enough, now I'm being accused of not talking to Chris's sisters at the shower and not asking how his grandma was doing. What? I talked to everyone who was there, which, by the way, was about 40-50 other people. I can't spend my whole shower talking to them, but I did talk to them, so it's an invalid argument. She's also saying that I don't want them to do the rehearsal dinner because I told her that our friends offered their home and our church to be used for the meal. They also offered to cook, but I told her that I knew they already had a plan for what they were going to serve. I was just relaying the message of the offers, not telling her I didn't want her to do it. They have no other place to have the meal, so why not have it at our church which is only a few blocks from the ceremony/reception site? It was, however, only a suggestion. The sister who was accusing me of this, wasn't even there for the conversation, so Chris told her to shut her mouth and not argue about something she knows nothing. They are such pains in the butt.

Chris and I both agree that the only reason she found those excuses not to show up was because she was embarrassed to show her face where the shower was held. The last time she was over there for mediation of a family dispute, she acted like a fool in front of everyone present. We know that she was too ashamed to go there, but this is just another example of her selfish attitude. It wasn't about her and her feelings. It was so important, to me, that she was there. The mother of the groom is one of the most important guest, but not only is she having to deal with guilt of not going. She's having to deal with her son, whom she favors most highly out of her three children, being angry, upset and hurt because of her wanting to save face.

She always turns on the water works and tries to manipulate her way with Chris, but I am so proud of him because he didn't fall for it this time. He's not buying her excuses and refuses to let his family accuse me when they are the ones who messed up. If I hadn't already been certain about him before, I would definitely be now. He is amazing. I love him so much! As for the family situation, I don't know what's going to happen in the next month until the wedding, but I'm not gonna sit around and mope about it. We have let them ruin special times for us far too often, so we're pressing on to the goal of getting married and living happily ever after whether his family is part of it or not.

As far as the rest of the shower goes, it was amazing. There were so many of my friends and family there to make it special. My sister, Kaylee, did a wonderful job of organizing and planning. I was showered with so many great gifts and just blessed by so many fantastic people being there to honor me before our big day.