An Afternoon with Dad....August 18, 1999

An Afternoon with Dad....August 18, 1999

I awoke this morning stressed and with a headache. The Goddess, who is suffering from pre-marital syndrome, pre-menstural syndrome (pms squared), and who has been cooped up in bed for days with her back injury, is the source of most of the stress. When she is home and not able to do anything, I swear she conspires ways to share her pain with me.

Some of it is financial, though. With impending wedding expenses, various gifts to buy, bills piling up, a honeymoon I doubt I will be able to afford, and most of my clients away, my stress levels are peaking.

So, when The Goddess, in all her transferring woes, decided to insinuate last evening that my financial priorities were perhaps skewed, I wanted to skewer her. Praise be for distance.

It was with a sigh of relief that I accepted an invitation to go for coffee with my Dad this afternoon. He very rarely invites me out for such things, so the mere thought behind it was enough to shake, at least temporarily, the revenge fantasies I was harbouring towards The Goddess this morning in my post-insomnia haze. It gave me a bit of respite to look forward to, as well as something to do. I dragged my carcass to the bathroom to bathe, carting the protable CD player with me. I was hoping the combination of Enya and a long soak would put me in a better headspace to meet my Dad. It was relatively successful.

I met up with him early in the afternoon. Over some great java, we discussed my mom's health, The Goddess', how the women in our lives sometimes drive us insane, and what he was going to rent for a tux for my wedding. At this point, I was quite eager to share with him that there may not be a wedding, but I knew this was just my stress creeping up. We parused the tux catalogue, and after he decided on one, we headed to Chapter's bookstore to browse. Both of us share a love of books, and to share this together is a rare delight.

It was a great afternoon, and I returned home feeling much better, less vengeful, and with a better perspective.

Later that evening, feeling brave and more settled, I had a long heart to heart with my bethrothed, during which I asserted that she must stop taking her angst out on me. It is difficult to maintain a supportive position when she is directing flames in my vicinity, I told her. Thankfully, she was not so angst-ridden as to not hear what I was saying. She promised to do better. I promised to continue being loving and supportive. There just may be a wedding yet.

So, I am feeling better, The Goddess is feeling better, Reekie is feeling better; the day ended on a good note. I was not optomistic

....Blessed Be