Let me clarify. I am sure that the ILs are, in fact, disappointed about not going to the graduation. But he couldn't have gone to the ceremony anyway, due to his handicap, and it would have been a huge undertaking for him to make the car trip to D.C. and stay in the hotel and all, and the stress on her would have been terrible, since she takes responsibility for his welfare at all times. She would have gone to the ceremony and been terribly torn, knowing he was alone in the hotel. They had to go, but they couldn't go. The little white lie gave them a convenient way to avoid the huge hassle, which is why I think they were relieved. I think they also feel less guilty because they were already not going to the other grandchild's graduation three days later, their daughter having more sense than their son from the get-go and telling them then there weren't enough tickets. (Although there actually weren't, in that case.) We're going back down to visit them -- all of us, both families -- on June 4 for a graduation gala. Much, much better. The ILs, btw, are sometimes thoughtless and sometimes a bit shallow-seeming, but they are good folk and 100% devoted to their grandchildren. They can be self-centered, but they are not selfish.Hey, it's complicated enough dealing with your own parents, isn't it? Dealing with your spouse's just deletes the baggage of the childhood years and loads on a whole lot more, plus it's generally not your place to call them on it. I had disagreements with my own parents and plenty more, but there was never a moment that I doubted that I could rely on them for emotional support, as long as they were still capable of giving it. If anything, Jack mellowed over the years to where we could ask him questions and even discuss emotional things, something he did not even begin to consider doing until, say, 1997. It was sometime after this point that he apologized to the Sibs and me for smoking in the car when we were little kids. He felt very bad about it and was very sincere. But secondhand smoke wasn't even a blip on the radar in the fifties. I hardly think anything was his fault.
I wrote part of my entry at home this morning, and the other part at what is euphemistically called "work." BTW, if any of you think that it would be cool to go to a job every day where there is virtually nothing to do, you are dead wrong. This is weird and it sucks. (Although I had three very lovely classes in here yesterday doing real work and I did have teaching to do. That was very good. But I digress.)
Life in exsilium is a learning experience, day to day. We have had six classes in today, although none of them needed instruction,just use of the computers. And I learned that being jammed into the back corner of a room filled with 25 - 30 seniors, all of them moving around and talking, is extremely claustrophobic. I am at the corner far opposite the room's door, so I am near windows (very nice), but when the room is full, there's a real sense of having to fight my way
out, since the aisles between the computers are very congested. Also,this is part of the school built in the 1950s, when they never envisaged a time when classrooms would be noisy. The acoustics in here are absolutely dreadful, as the room is made entirely of cinderblock. (It's painted a pale green, which I'm sure would be instantly recognized by anyone who ever went to a public school.)
I've just gotten back from an escape, which I find I've got to take here and there when the room is full of kids. This time, I walked around part of the outside of the building, which I've never thought to do before, but of course, we've had some beautiful weather this week. (Rain tomorrow, they say.) I've taken a couple of walks today, not long ones, but I hope they're helping me get back in the swing of that, too. So far, my pedometer is not showing that I've done much,
but anything is better than nothing. I'll build it up. I drank a bottle of water today, too.
In the meantime, I'm looking up nutritional values and food points, and to tell the truth, I'm enjoying it as much as I used to. If only I hadn't eaten a half dozen cookies in the middle of last night. Really got to work on that. But I got lots of good info off the WW message boards today.
Which leads to the next weird thing I'm doing, which is finding stuff online all day and copying it into email that I'm sending to myself so I can have it at home. I think I have five or six emails from me to me sitting in my inbox. Getting to be a peculiar habit.
Got to get me a life. Or in place of that, a real job would be nice. Preferably the job I have, but real.
Oh. Well.
