Due to all the excitement going on around here, I’ve been beat, but now I think I have enough energy to write.

First - the visit went great! Best visit ever! And I’ve never seen them so relaxed and happy and they looked very healthy. They were also much more affectionate towards each other than I’ve ever seen and it shocks the shit out of me to say this, but there wasn’t the tension I thought there’d be and no, they didn’t cut me down or embarrass me in front of Tom or without him around. We teased each other a lot but in a lighthearted, fun-loving kind of way.

However, I’m first gonna go through all the stuff that’s not related to the visit.

The freeloader’s back. Believe it or not, it wasn’t me who noticed, either, but Tom told me he’s been around for the last few days and that he hasn’t played his music coming and going. Naturally, all that stress that took me months to shed is right back on me again. It’s a hell of a time of year for him to come back, too. No wonder I didn’t see a new rap-blasting boyfriend over there. They obviously never broke up; he just hadn’t been around for a while. Now, I don’t know if this is just a seasonal thing, or if he’s back to stay all the time, or if he was just here over the weekend and for Mother’s Day, but I’d say that if he were here a few days in a row, the stupid fuck’s back to stay. There’s no car there now, so if he doesn’t come back tonight, that may be a good sign. That may very well mean it was just cuz of Mother’s Day and that he was visiting the kid and her through this Mother’s Day weekend. If he’s back to stay, though, and if I hear that music played too loud, I swear I’ll be that freeloader’s worst nightmare. There’s no way I’ll put up with his bullshit 2-4 times a day and have to deal with their fucking summer parties and him jumping in his car to blast off when we have power failures when the monsoons hit. No way! Oh, and his current vehicle of choice is a maroon car. Of course, being the car dealer that I know he is, it’s got to have a killer stereo in it, too. That’s pretty much how all cars are made now and I’d love to kill the fucking male that invented this new kind of bass that fucking rocks the whole neighborhood!

I knew, though, that there’d be a price to pay for this visit. God’s gonna compensate me for it and make me pay for it, just like I have to pay for everything.

Naturally, Tom had to get all hot and bothered when I said I’d take care of him next door if he were to be a problem. What is it with him and neighbors? Why is it that he gets so riled up if I speak out against neighbors? He said he was just trying to give me the good news, cuz this will keep the kids away as the house won’t look so deserted. Well, I’d rather bouncing balls and kids yelling, cuz although that goes on for hours, they can’t wake me up. The bass could, and if he’s back to stay, he won’t stay quiet for long. He’ll be up to his same old shit soon enough. Also, if the kids really wanted to play ball, or if kids did that knew the freeloaders, all they’d have to do was ask one of the adults to untangle the net so they could play.

And of course, he had to go and ruin sex, too, cuz he wasn’t in the mood and just couldn’t come out and say so. As soon as I started on his very limp and not-in-the-mood dick, he had to bring up the fact that we can’t make it to California, among other things. Yeah, there’s almost always a problem with sex, isn’t there? And he’s on vacation next week and then the week after that there’s a 3-day weekend, so I’ll have to have more time with him. I really want a vibrator, cuz I’m sick of the problems with sex. His appetite doesn’t match mine, there’s always a problem, and there’s no way I can depend on him for sex. His appetite’s just too low for that and there are just too many damn problems. The kid just isn’t worth it. And Tom’s saying I’ll be pregnant after my next period is bullshit and I’m sure we both know that. He says that just like I never thought I’d see my folks again and I did, I will be pregnant someday. Right! We’ve never had a normal and full-time sex life and we never will and we’ll never have a kid, either.

Chicken pigeon’s also back. I couldn’t believe it, but he showed up the second day that my folks were here.

I think that’s it, as far as non-visit stuff is concerned, but of course, I’ll remember more things along the way. Also, what I write about the visit may not be it, cuz I’m sure that with that, too, I’ll remember more over the next few weeks or so.

Tom was great as far as handling the visit with my folks. He was very understanding, adaptable, and there wasn’t a jealous bone in his body, so that’s great. As I said, it’s something about Kim, but anyone else is OK.

Mom and Dad got here Thursday morning and they left real early this morning and are probably in Texas now. They were in Mississippi for their first night, Texas for their second night, and New Mexico for their last night.

All through their visit, I was constipated. It fucking figures. I was at 110 yesterday and right after we said our goodbyes, I started to shit again and am now 107.

OK, now I’ll try to go in order of events.

They came while he was asleep at around 3 PM on Thursday. When the doorbell rang, I was like, oh my God! This is it!

I opened the door, and there was my daddy! We hugged and kissed, and then I ran to Ma, who was just getting out of the car. We had a long hug and some kisses, and then we unloaded their car (which was a very nice, comfy, roomy car).

Later...

Larry just called. He wanted to know if Mom and Dad were here so he could wish Ma a happy Mother’s Day. Tammy left a message earlier about that, too. Anyway, I told both Tammy and Larry that the visit went well and I’ve got letters on their way to Larry, Kim, and Bob, and a welcome back letter for my folks.

Larry still sounds really bummed and said that with it being Mother’s Day, it was a bad day.

Anyway, Mom and Dad brought so much stuff! They had to have spent thousands on us with the stuff they brought and bought while they were here! It’d be impossible for me to list every little thing they brought, but I’ll cover the bulk of it.

A nice, yet shocking and unexpected thing they brought with them was a card from Marty and Ruth and candleholders with candles. The card said that they wished us a happy visit and much happiness. I got them a thank you card and that’s going out tomorrow, too.

Here’s some of the stuff they brought us and an explanation of some of the stuff, too. They got me 4 pairs of shorts/shirt sets, a bra, a sweater, and a nice pair of pink canvas shoes. I hate sweaters, though, so that’ll probably go to Laura.

The freeloader’s back, but I only knew so by the car door shutting. So, he’s not ready to blast off yet, huh? Anyway, yes, they’ve reconciled. He’s definitely back for good. In fact, they probably never broke up but just didn’t get along too well for a while. It really sucks, though, to know he’s living there again cuz now I’m all stressed out. Don’t be, I tell myself, cuz I’ll just set him straight for good if he blasts off. That’s all I have to do. There’s no need to feel this way. Relax! And God? I’m not gonna pay for my parents’ visit. I shouldn’t have to and I don’t “owe” anyone anything for seeing my own family.

OK, enough of the shit freeloader and onto what they brought us. They also brought Tom a couple of pairs of shorts and several T-shirts. Also, flags, a wind chime, and a jewelry box with tons of stuff in it. Everything from lotion to bath and shower stuff to hair stuff and perfume. There were also some really nice watches, rings, necklaces, bracelets and cosmetics. One of the rings and one of the bracelets they brought were gorgeous with diamond chips. There were also holders for toothbrushes and soap. One of the lipsticks (dusty rose) was the perfect shade I’ve been looking for for ages. There was also hair stuff and just so much in the way of makeup and beauty supplies.

Yes, there were a few things I didn’t want, like a couple of pairs of old scissors, some little baskets, and some pens. The pens will go to Ma. We didn’t need it, but she brought some luggage, too.

They brought a cute little holder for spare rolls of T-paper for the bathroom and a funny roll of T-paper with wrapping that said, “Generic toilet paper for cheap assholes.”

There was a framed picture of a moon and other little designs on it, which I put over my bed. A bunch of cute little figurines that I put in both bedrooms and the living room. A couple of cute teddy bears, a glass heart-shaped dish, the carved rabbit that Larry may or may not have done, a big piggy bank, a little bottle with a shell in it, tablecloths, and a few kitchen decorations. A glass jar of pasta and a basket with fake fruits and veggies.

They also gave us a couple of pillows which will be great for the couch. That way we won’t have to keep dragging our pillows out from our beds.

There were 3 signs with cartoon characters that you drive their stakes into the ground to make cute lawn decorations, and some long silk flowers, which I’m going to use to redo and put over the doorway that separates the kitchen and back room. A few of the flowers fell out and I put them in these two tiny hand-painted flowerpots that they sent about a year ago.

We got a gorgeous waterfall for our anniversary. It’s a castle with trails for the water to cascade down, two pool rafts, a banana holder, Tupperware, a big matching bowl and platter with flowers and fruit on it, a little index card booklet with some recipes, and a little design you hang that’s got a fish and some flowers onto a big thick rope-like thing. They also got one of these flower hangers for Ma and a juice cup and a couple of little stuffed animals for Parker and Nickolena, which was very nice of them.

Later...

Yippee yahoo! Blackie man left without a sound. Maybe 2 or 3 of them left, cuz I thought I heard 2 or 3 doors shut. Please, God! Don’t let him return tonight. Let him just be here very occasionally. Please! Please let there continue to be weeks when he’s not here!

Anyway, they were here for about an hour when I got Tom up. Tom and my folks were so happy to finally meet. They were impressed with Tom, just like I knew they’d be. And Tom was impressed with them and was glad to see us get along so well.

So, that first day, we talked and yes, they let me show them my drawings and pictures from photo albums and my favorite journal covers. It turns out that Ma has the same journal as one of my journals. Her friend Teresa, Gene’s wife, got that for her for the trip.

They said they enjoyed the trip much more than they thought they would, cuz the scenery was so beautiful. Especially through Texas. They say they’ll do the trip again and that they also still want us to go see them in Florida.

We took some pictures with both our cameras (Ma thought it was so cute how I’d sit next to Tom in his chair). Speaking of pictures, she says she’s gonna send Larry, Tammy and I old pictures. That’ll be nice, but she says not to expect them right away.

She says Goldie, Al, Boo, Max, Charlotte and Jim say hi and this is shocking, but now Lori’s married too, and she says they both have kids. I didn’t think Lori would ever marry, but Dad said he didn’t think I’d ever marry just like I didn’t think I ever would.

Anyway, Tom and I are the only ones on both sides of the family with no kids. Everyone has kids but us.

I read Tom the funny T-paper wrapper and as I stuck up my middle finger, which the diamond ring was on, I said to Tom, “Now if I get mad at you, I can really show you in style,” and my parents and he giggled at that.

Dad said something quickly about the reason why Marty and Ruth hadn’t called is cuz he told them not to bother. Whatever. But their gift was nice. I really didn’t expect it; that’s for sure.

At 5 PM our time, we jumped onto AOL to harass Tammy. Ma did the typing and to my surprise, her typing sucked. She used to be really good. In fact, she’s the one who taught me how to type. She and Tammy both can’t spell, but they enjoyed themselves (basically teased each other), and this time they said they liked me better than her and I even printed out the conversation, which they thought was neat. I guess it depends on where they are. If they were in CT, they’d like her better than me.

Then Tom showed them more stuff about AOL, then we went to Denny’s for dinner. There, I got a tough steak but enjoyed myself nonetheless.

Yes, Mom and I did discuss kids, but it was a quick and nice chat we had. She just said that we don’t have to hurry and that there doesn’t have to be any kids. Well, of course. But I told her we would like just one and that I didn’t think it was fated to be, but Tom does and says to just wait and see. And also, we’ll live our lives whether or not we have a kid and do whatever we can do. Ma says you can’t just up and go with kids. As Tom said, we can’t always just up and go with the two of us, cuz things take time, planning and money. In fact, there’s no way we can make it to California and it’s obviously not cuz of a kid. It’s cuz we just don’t have the money to do the trip the way we want to, so we’ll do an in-state trip during his vacation. A kid didn’t stop us from going to see them last May, either. Lastly, I told her that our top priorities were a kid and a new house and that we’d give up anything but each other for these goals. I think I also did tell her that our insurance covers the bulk of in-vitro, in case we ever need that and we hope not. It really wouldn’t be fair to watch 15-year-olds and crack addicts get kids for free, while we had to take out a loan and pay thousands for one.

Ma also said that if she were starting all over again, she’d either have no kids or just one kid, but that that didn’t mean choosing between the 3 she’s got. I should’ve told her she’d choose me if she had to choose, but I didn’t think of it at the time. I think just one is great cuz one is enough and that way you don’t have to worry about siblings fighting so much (God, I should know!). And not giving them equal attention (I know what that’s like, too!).

I told them how Andy was doing and that I still keep in touch with Kim and a few others. Ma asked how Andy’s dad was doing and if Marla was still big and heavy. I said, of course, she’s had two kids. Ma then said, “What’s that got to do with it? I’ve had three.” Well, that goes with the territory, and having kids and being a mom means being a bit meaty.

So, if I’m remembering correctly, after Denny’s, it was off to their motel, which is right next to Denny’s and I think that’s when they gave us a cute little silverware set. They didn’t bring the silverware with the pink handles, but I told her she could send it if she liked. This one, though, hangs on a rack and it’s got 6 knives, 6 forks, 6 teaspoons and 6 tablespoons. It is quite flimsy, though, but the spoons are fine for stirring coffee.

On day 2, we drove over to their motel and in both cars, we went to Target where I used my money for a nice, colorful, striped bikini. What they bought for me was a super nice sleeveless tie-dye shirt, a big oval roasting pot, a big green bowl and platter and 4 green soup bowls. Boy, was I psyched for the soup bowls. The ones we have that are part of the green/white set were just too small for a can of soup. So, I gotta cross off soup bowls from our list. This is when I got the thank you card for Marty and Ruth and Ma got cards, too. I guess their friends Gene and Teresa have an anniversary coming up. The day I’ll mail out Tammy and Bill’s anniversary card.

Before I forget - that damn mouse! I still haven’t caught Fuzzy. You should’ve seen the look on Ma’s face when I told her there was a mouse running around loose. It was so funny! She thought Piggy and Bunny were cute, but as expected, she could’ve cared less to see Gizzy. When I catch that mouse, though, I’ve got an idea to keep him from escaping.

I was a bit hurt that they didn’t tell me Ma had a stroke. Dad said that they didn’t want to bother me. Bother me?! I’m their daughter. And I told Dad that I care enough and love them enough to want to know these things and that nothing they could say could bother me or burden me and that I want to help if I can and if I can’t, the least I can do and would want to do, would be to listen.

I meant it as a compliment when I told them they’ve changed. They’ve really loosened up and I think they’re easier to talk to and that they understand me better. I also think that they see that I’ve changed and can handle a lot more than I used to be able to and have stabled out. I’m still a bit hyper, but that’s my nature and who wouldn’t be wound up over seeing their folks for the first time in 5-6 years? I’m sure they also agree that admitting our past faults have helped us to move forward and get along better and the same goes for not judging each other by our past ways.

So, after Target, Dad and Tom went back to the motel to swim and chat and Ma and I went grocery shopping, then came back to the house to cook a really nice dinner of meat, potatoes, yams, and a really great and refreshing dessert. Of course, Tom didn’t dig the dessert, but he ate the main meal. Dad said to Tom, “If you don’t like it, throw it up.”

I asked Dad if he’d mind sitting in one of the hard chairs that had no cushions and he said, “That’s OK, I have a soft ass.”

Ma was right. The stuff’s easy to prepare and I’m looking forward to cooking more stuff from the recipes she wrote up for me. That was so nice of her to take the time to do this, too.

After dinner, I went for a swim, but ma chickened out of that one. Said it was too cold. Dad and Tom came out to chat with us too, and Bunny was out and about in the yard.

On our way back into the house, Ma said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve had to walk through shit,” referring to the bird duties. Yeah, I remember all the dog poop at the beach and in our yards in MA.

Mom and Dad left shortly after dinner, then returned later with a wonderful surprise for us that we really needed. A glass cooking dish that’s great for heating up leftovers, a new can opener, some new utensils, and silverware that was very solid and strong. The silverware’s got green handles and 4 pieces each of knives, big forks, little forks, big spoons and little spoons. When we get a dishwasher, this will be great for it, cuz the old set had skinny handles and would fall through the container it’d wash in.

On day 3, the final day, Tom and I went to his ma’s house to pick her up to meet with my folks at Red Lobster. Before leaving his ma’s house, though, she showed me a few little pieces of paper that Tom had written when he was in the 3rd grade and I could even recognize his handwriting! He was writing about the pros and cons of two of his brothers as well as Mary. Now there’s another of the many joys of motherhood I’d love to enjoy (yes, I know there are hardships, too). But the saving of its first pair of shoes and stuff like that would be cool and I’m sorry I have to miss it.

No, Tom’s mom didn’t go on and on about David and Evie’s kids at the restaurant. She got all the Nickolena talk out of her system prior to going to the restaurant.

Anyway, my folks were thrilled to meet his ma and ma was thrilled to meet them and was very impressed with them. They were impressed with her, too. Dinner was great and of course, I got lobster.

What was weird about it, though, was that this lady took our pictures. Tom said a lot of restaurants do that. Oh, do they? I didn’t know that. The lady said the pictures weren’t in and we didn’t wait for them. Tom thinks they really did have the pictures, but that they came out lousy. Yeah, that was probably cuz of me. I never take a decent picture, be it posed or relaxed and caught off guard. God only knows how I ended up modeling for Favors.

So, out in the parking lot, Mom and Dad gave me the detergent they used to do their laundry while here and a really pretty night light with little seashells in it. Then we dropped his mom off and went home.

Later on, Mom and Dad came to say their goodbyes and for the second time, Ma did the I love you sign with me.

OK, these are the basics of the visit and if I remember more, I’ll write it up.