So I've been absent from Daddy Rabbit recently, mostly because I have tried to turn over a new leaf with my in-laws and haven't had much to say. It was around Fathers Day when it happened. We were going over there to cook steaks for dinner, which neither Mr. Twinkle or I particularly wanted to spend our Fathers Day doing, but they said that's how it was going to go down. So let it be written, so let it be done.
After getting upset that Mr. Twinkle wasn't having a dream-come-true Fathers Day, I decided to be done with worrying about any of that whole crazy clan. If he doesn't want to stand up to them at the expense of his own Fathers Day, it's his problem. If they don't ever think I'm good enough, it's their problem. I have majorly relaxed around them in the past 2 weeks or so, and I can tell a real difference in my own sanity. To them I'm sure I'm still alternately considered an unfit mother and an uppity b*tch; the difference is that I don't care.
We went to pick blueberries on Fathers Day (something Mr. Twinkle did want to do), and it was his idea for me to make a homemade shortcake dessert with blueberries, peaches, and fresh whipped cream. He wanted me to take it there; I felt weird about taking a dessert when MIL's whole self-identity is wrapped up in baking better than anyone else on the face of the earth (or so she thinks), and FIL worships the ground her cakes cool on. Plus, I had to ask myself, "Why do I keep trying?" But we ended up going through with it, and it really made me feel like an adult to actually contribute something to a family dinner. No one in that family contributes...because MIL likes to be in charge of everything that everyone eats/does, and how they socialize. My shortcake sort of represented a little piece of delicious independence. Also, MIL found out that I do, in fact, eat whipped cream. Now she knows it's Cool Whip I shun, as any sane person living in today's food-conscious climate knows.
So things have gotten better there, and I haven't kept a tally of all the big and small ways MIL tries to make me feel inferior, and the biggest beneficiary of this new-found attitude is me. She actually texted me this weekend from Denver, to ask me if Twinklette has a upf-treated beach hat for our upcoming trip to Aruba. Old Twinkle would have screamed about it to anyone who would listen, "Hell no, Twinklette doesn't, and screw her!" New Twinkle forgot to mention it to anyone for a few days, and then laughed it off as typical. (Both old and new Twinkle would go shopping for just such a hat before MIL has the chance to ask me in person, which reminds me I need to get on that).
Anyway, I didn't even get on here to write about all that...I just felt my absence needed to be explained.
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I got on to say that Mr. Twinkle and I went to a late-night dinner at Steak And Shake after a dull party with no food on Sat. night, and we ran into a certain Junior League-lovin' sister-in-law of a certain Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. And I said hi to her and we chatted for a little bit, because she has always been lovely to me even though our League cliques and philosophies have differed through the years. She mentioned her brother-in-law in the conversation (something about a power outage and a sprinkler system), so when she walked away, I started to explain who she was.
Me: I know her from Junior League. Her sister is married to [Senate Candidate]; that's who she was talking about with the sprinklers.
Mr. Twinkle: Oh, cool. You know the sister, too, right?
Me: Yes, she's nice.
Mr. Twinkle: Wait a minute--are they part of that family of sisters who tried to take over the entire Junior League through both the board and the nominating process?
I just beamed with pride.
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