"Do Something Difficult" Monday

Current mood: nonplussed

This was a busy day.

After the housecleaners left, Chuy and I went to breakfast at Denny's. Then, we dropped off some film at Costco. I edited my blog template to reflect my two favorite colors, purple and green. Then, I returned the movies we rented last week and got a manicure and pedicure (Royal Flush Blush, same color as last time). I washed the towels and bathroom rugs. I cooked dinner (Shake 'n' Bake chicken with Stovetop chicken stuffing, and a side dish of peas). Turned out really delicious.

Then, since I have to do something difficult every Monday (a promise I made to myself to do during this summer), I opened up a discussion with Mom about her behavior yesterday.

On Sunday morning, she got really mad at me because she wanted to go to the movies and I had already committed myself to cleaning out the garage. Her thinking was that it was Sunday and she had to work during the week, so I should go to the movies with her on the weekend.

When I reiterated that I had planned to work on the garage, she yelled, accusingly, "You don't want to spend time with me!", got up, and left the apartment.

What the..........???? We hadn't made plans to go to the movies and, since the housecleaners were coming today, Chuy made it clear that he really wanted the storage boxes and boxes of books in our livingroom to be gone by then. Besides, I was truly looking forward to working on Stage Three of my "Great Garage Makeover" summer project.

Anyway, I did end up working all day on the garage (from 10 am to 3:30 pm). I am very pleased with my progress and don't regret one bit of how I chose to spend my day.

When Mom came home, she didn't speak to me until about 5:30 pm when she asked if I wanted her to heat up the leftover steaks from the night before (she cooks Saturdays and Sundays, and I cook Mondays and Tuesdays).

We ate dinner and everything seemed somewhat normal. However, in our typical fashion, neither of us mentioned her little outburst and her storming out.

So, although (because) it was difficult, I brought it up today. She started crying almost immediately. My intention wasn't to make her cry, but to find out what the problem was.

Before the discussion was over, she had yelled, "Why did I even move in with you?" and said she was going to move out, blah, blah. *sigh*

Of course, she had to tell me that I want everything my own way (which is true, and I'm not the least bit apologetic about that, by the way) and acted like I was keeping her from doing........who knows? Her life is pretty good here. She thinks it isn't. Whatever.....

Anyway, we established that if she had diarrhea and needed the bathroom immediately, that it was okay to say, "It's an emergency" instead of saying "Let me know when you're done in the bathroom." When someone says "Let me know when you're done in the bathroom" it's code for "You're taking too damn long in the bathroom. It's my turn now." Since I don't take long in the bathroom (15 minutes at most) I tend to get very PISSED OFF at anyone who tries to hurry me up. Therefore, it's usually counterproductive to try to hurry me. However, I know what it's like to have diarrhea hit you all of a sudden (a family trait, perhaps??) and there have been times when I told Chuy to clear out of the bathroom, pronto, 'cuz I couldn't hold it for one second more. If my mom had let me know she was sick, I would have gotten out immediately, toothbrush in hand, or whatever.

She also said that she feels like a boarder (a claim which is RIDICULOUS...I would charge her much more rent if that were the case!), etc. She needs to learn not to count on me to provide her social life. I don't have any friends. Obviously, I'm not very good at being social! It would seem, therefore, a folly to expect it of me. Before the discussion was over, I was in tears, too.

Anyway, I guess she feels better now. We'll see.