I'm Already Dreading the Holidays

Thursday, Hubby told me his parents were coming for Thanksgiving; he and his brother had discussed it with their parents when they went elk hunting last month. As I looked around my gutted dining room and the debris dump at the end of the kitchen, I thought about grabbing the nearest gallon of paint and throwing it at him. Then he said his parents said they thought they could manage the drive to Denton (where his brother lives). I breathed a sigh of relief and Hubby walked off, not knowing how close he had come to having his head splattered with paint.

Later that night, I called my in-laws to thank them for the birthday present I had gotten in the mail. After a bit of small talk I told Mother-in-law that Hubby told me they were coming to Brother-in-law's house for Thanksgiving and found out they were planning on coming to stay with us too. I told her our house wasn't fit for company, with the work being done in the living dining room, window boarded up, gaping hole in the wall to the kitchen, and all the stuff piled into the living room. Oh that's ok, she said, we don't mind. But we only have two chairs to sit in and no table right now, plus Brownie took one of the beds when she moved into her apartment so we don't even have enough beds. That's ok, she repeated.

My mother-in-law is a kind, loving woman but she does get her feelings hurt easily so I couldn't just say I didn't want them to come. It's not that I don't want to see them, it's just hard for me to want to be here, I certainly don't want to entertain right now. I'm not even going to try to cook a full meal that we all have to stand up to eat. So I called my mother who lives in the same town as my in-laws. Brownie had already told her the other grandparents were coming, and mom was wondering why we hadn't invited her, but bless her heart, she wasn't mad about it. Then I told her I had just learned of it myself and the reasons I didn't really want company right now. She was relieved because she couldn't find anyone to board her dog, but didn't have any advice how to get the in-laws to change their mind about coming.

When I confronted Hubby with inviting his parents here for Thanksgiving, he said he didn't really invite them, they just said they wanted to come, and besides he thought we could get the work finished by Thanksgiving. This was Friday before he left for a weekend of deer hunting. I don't know when he expects to get this done when he is too tired to do anything on weekdays after work and then goes off hunting for the weekend.

Today I called my sister-in-law and found that she doesn't want them to come either. She is in the middle of remodeling her bedroom, scraping that popcorn junk off the ceiling, and making comforters and curtains, and she doesn't have enough beds either unless someone sleeps on the living room sofa bed. Her daughter and son-in-law are coming and bringing their two hyperactive Alaskan huskies. My sister-in-law said that when those two dogs get together with her German shorthair, they jump all over the furniture and everyone in the room. Fun.

So now I have to lower the boom on Hubby to uninvite his parents without hurting their feelings. We might be able to get this house presentable by Christmas, but not in three short weeks. Wish me luck.

Until next time, may you have blessings and help for the holidays,
Marti

P.S.
Thanks for the prayers and well wishes everyone. Hubby called his brother and parents and all agreed that Thanksgiving wasn't going to work out. Unfortunately, his parents' reason is because my mother-in-law isn't feeling well. I hope it's just a simple matter of just getting her blood pressure medication adjusted.