Saturday, September 22, 2007

9/20: What I Accomplished Today

1. Level 36 Draenei Warrior. Desolace. Dinged 37.

2. Book group. We read Abundance. Really good book.

3. Television and Pogo badges.

4. Today's BigFishGame is Jane's Hotel. The game is okay (if uninspired; we've all played this before), but the English is terrible, terrible, terrible; the laughs at the language were better than the game. ("Shall" is used in one of the instructions. Really.)

Friday, September 21, 2007

9/19: What I Accomplished Today

1. Started getting RSVP from out-of-town invitations. It's going to be all right.

2. Television and Pogo badges.

3. Level 35 Draenei Warrior. Soloed the Dead Mines (hurray!). Did some Stockades quests. I can't remember whether I finished Stranglethorn today or yesterday. Dinged 36 at some point.

4. Finished Grammar Alive and started Making Connections with Graphic Novels.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

9/18: What I Accomplished Today

1. You know, people in their 40's who live for their mother's approval above all else are sad. It's even sadder when the mother in question is an appearance-obsessed narcissist. Nobody's going to win in that situation. It's just sad.

2. Much of the day was eaten up by Co-Vivant's 50th, but I did manage to prep a class, grade three classes, and teach a class.

3. Television and Pogo badges.

Did I mention that we finished Seven Women last night? Very interesting study.

4. Read some in Grammar Alive! It's a short book, and I still haven't finished it. For about six weeks, I've had trouble reading in long stretches. (You may have noticed.) This is also part of the problem with #1 above.

5. Level 35 Draenei Warrior. (Everybody's at 35 now, and I've begun moving this character from 35 to 40! Very 'citing!)

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

9/17: What I Accomplished Today

1. Prepped a class, graded class, taught a class. Most of the day.

2. Started a movie, Seven Women; will finish it tomorrow. Worked a little on Pogo badges.

3. Level 34 Night Elf Priest. Started Alterac quests. Dinged 35. Stats check & mail check

4. Will probably play either Builds-a-Lot or Paradise Pet Salon now.

Monday, September 17, 2007

9/16: What I Accomplished Today

1. Won Puzzle Day. 'Bout friggin' time.

2. Level 33 Night Elf Priest. (I don't remember where I left off yesterday.) Racetrack. Dinged 34. Stranglethorn. Was hoping to ding 35, but didn't quite.

3. Television and Pogo badges.

4. Now here's the drama that was underlying the day: As I mentioned before, Co-Vivant's birthday is coming up in a few weeks. When I let her sister & brother know what her plan was, they basically said, "No, let's do this instead." And I thought about it and sort of acquiesced, but when I got home and suggested that maybe she wouldn't have a birthday dinner, or one with so many people, she was disappointed. At that point, I knew a) she's only going to have one 50th birthday, and if she's disappointed with it, I did a piss-poor job. That will not be happening if I can help it; b) I was played. This is humiliating and embarrassing; I know her siblings' tendency to do this, and I still let it happen. Stupid, stupid, stupid. (They also said some rather offensive things about not wanting to buy food for some of Co-Vivant's friends. I thought that was right up there on the List of Rude, Jerky Things I Have Heard People Say.)

Since they didn't want to participate in the birthday dinner she wishes to have, I just sort of mentally wrote them out of the planning picture. The party they wanted to have would have been very nice, I'm sure, but it contained Surprise Party elements. Surprise. Party. Two of her least favorite things. In this Surprise Party scenario, while we're eating her birthday dinner, she's either thinking that we're cheap-ass or that nobody cared about her and wanted to come; either way, her dinner is spoiled. That doesn't strike me as a fun birthday dinner.

So as I announced this morning, as breezily and non-judgmentally as I could, that we're back to the original plan, but they won't have to buy anyone food but themselves, Co-Vivant's mother said, "But parties are usually planned by the family."

I didn't really let this register because I was focusing on trying to keep the conversation light at the time, but as I thought about it over the course of the day, this made me...well, furious. Humiliated. Frustrated. Co-Vivant and I have been together for ten years. I've been to all major and nearly all minor family events in those ten years. What am I, chopped liver? Things I wanted to ask: So while your husband was alive, if he had a birthday party, did you plan it, or did his mother?

Further resistance was coming from Co-Vivant's sister, who seemed stunned that a) I might have relevant input to this party and b) I wasn't just going to quietly accept what she came up with, whether or not it's what Co-Vivant would enjoy. What I wanted to ask: her husband is within a few years of his 60th birthday. Should we be checking with his brothers to see what they plan?

She also mentioned that she and her mother had been batting this about for months. How very nice. So have Co-Vivant and I. The way I look at it, half of those conversations are irrelevant if the other people aren't informed of the conclusions.

I'm left with two choices: a) It didn't occur to them I might plan her party because we are a lesbian couple. b) It didn't occur to them I might plan her party because of some personality trait of mine. I have news for them: I am a highly trained, highly educated professional, and I have planned bigger, harder events than this. I am very good logistically. I am more than capable of planning a birthday dinner party, thank you very much.

Co-Vivant had been out of the room when her mother made the comment about plans usually being made by the family. The implications of that comment really didn't hit me for about four or five hours. Then I was really upset and told her what had happened. She was just furious. I think she's been sort of taking this whole ridiculous, stupid drama in stride, hoping it would all blow over as most ridiculous, stupid dramas do, but she's just realized that this situation isn't okay.

Blech.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

9/15: What I Accomplished Today

1. Read in Grammar Alive! and did clerical stuff while the lady cleaned the house and Co-Vivant used this computer to design her invitation to her 50th birthday dinner.

2. Took lady who cleans house home and had dinner.

3. Television and Pogo badges.

4. Level 32 Night Elf Priest. Arathi Highlands and Theramore. Dinged 33.

5. BigFishGame is Japanese board games, both of which I know; they're okay, but I'm going to play Paradise Pet Salon for a little bit instead.