Fine...

I was reminded this morning that my blogging this week has been less than entertaining.  I know why. Yesterday I was in the bitchiest of all bitch moods.  I've been lucky with the hormones and haven't experienced many pregnancy side effects, like puking or crying.  However, yesterday all the little things that never really irritate me were seriously pissing me off.

I'm better today - funny how a good nights sleep will do that for a girl.  I have been struggling with sleep issues.  My doctor told me I have to "give up" sleeping on my back and so I'm transitioning to sleeping with a pillow to curl around on my side, or to prop under my hip.  Apparently, even at this small stage the baby can put too much pressure on my delicate insides and pinch things that need not to be pinched.

This is NOT my niece.

In other news, a wedding invitation arrived from my niece.  (WHAT!? You have a niece - I didn't know that!)  She's my brother's step-daughter.  (You have a brother!?  You never talk about him.)  She's a nice girl, from what I remember and it seems like she and her fella have a plan.  He's just out of the military and will be going to school.  She'll be working to support this effort and they will live together in happy newly married harmony.  Why they have to be married (she at 19) is perplexing to me.  She certainly wasn't raised in a household of strong religious convictions that might frown upon living in "sin" for a while until there is a certain amount of maturity.  However, she is not my child and I am not close enough to offer any advice.  I think showing up at the wedding and yelling, "just wait... live together for a year and see where you are." would be out of line.  Since both her mother and her step-dad experienced the agony of young failed marriages I thought they might have offered some advice  - maybe they did.  It's not like I'm there to hear it.

I'm pretty sure that since the invitation (which was adorable) showed up Monday and the wedding is in 3 weeks that they really didn't intend for anyone outside their town to come.  Related to Emily Post, my sister- in-law is not.  I'll be sending a gift in the manner in which I think a 19 year old bride will appreciate and need (cash) but I'm struggling to remind myself that the fact that my brother & SIL couldn't muster the funds to come to our wedding, or send a gift or a *^$*_%_ card was his issue and NOT my niece's  doing.   The petty, selfish part of me wants to respond in kind to how they celebrated our wedding.   It irritates me that they expect holiday gifts and things but can't reciprocate at any level. 

Jason wonders when he'll meet my brother.  I do too, and unless we pay to go visit in Utah (no, they aren't Mormons-everyone asks) it won't be until a family funeral if even then.   (Maybe my dark mood hasn't quite dissipated.)  For the record, I'm not expecting my brother to send lavish, generous gifts for the holidays or something monumental like a damned wedding, but it really gets under my skin that the annual holiday card comes addressed with simply our last name.  It really kills my mom too as if they can't remember my parents first names.

So, anyway, there will be a wedding and as much as I love weddings we won't be going.  I hope that Erika and her new hubby Sean will be happy and that the rumor that my SIL plans on moving in with them is not true.  That's a whole different, judgmental rant about things that I'm hearing second hand, so I can't report them as fact.  But, I guess if your only income is child support and your last kid has the balls to turn 18 you need to do something.  Giving up your apartment and moving in with your oldest seems like a DANDY plan to me.  Again... just gossip.