I'm also planning what activities Tom and I are going to do when our family leaves, but I don't have the heart to do it anymore. I can't see us going off on all these fun adventures while we leave my sister back at the resort because she is "too big."
Anyway, here it is! The ring that will make Tom go from fiance to HUSBAND!
Second, my one-and-only baby brother is graduating high school on Saturday! I can't believe it! (That also means I graduated 7 years ago! Where the hell does time go to?!) We will be heading home tomorrow after work for the weekend to see him graduate. He put our whole family through hell the past few years. I think he made my poor mom age about 10+ years! But I am very happy that he is still here, maturing (as much as an 18 year old boy can, anyway!), and graduating high school. :)
My brother, Patrick. I can't wait for him to walk me down the aisle in December!
1) My great-grandma passed away at the age of 94
2) My grandma decided she IS coming to our wedding now that she doesn't have to worry about leaving great-grandma (her mom) for a week.
3) We switched our resort from S.a.n.d.a.l.s to B.r.e.e.z.e.s
4) Sis-in-law visited from Texas and caused major DRAMA!
***
So first my great-grandma, Goldie, passed away the end of April after she had a stroke. She was still in her own home with my grandma & my mom by her side. She had a good, long life. My grandma was the one who was taking care of her. Because my grandma didn't really want to leave my great-grandma for an entire week, and didn't want to deal with the hassle of traveling with oxygen, she decided not to come to my wedding. It really, really sucked but I understood. Well, since my great-grandma passed my grandma doesn't have to worry about her anymore. And she decided to come to Jamaica with us! I am really, really happy my grandma will be there to see me get married!! :)
Speaking of wedding, we switched resorts. S.a.n.d.a.l.s increased their prices and it was too expensive for my family. So we switched. This other resort isn't as fancy by any means, but it's still on the beach, the had my wedding day available, and my family can afford it. We'll make the best of it either way!
Last weekend Tom's brother, his wife, and their daughter came into town. (dun, dun DUN!) I was dreading this visit for weeks! I'm not kidding it was causing me major anxiety! So on Saturday I spend all day cleaning my house, baby-proofing, and even bought SIL (sis-in-law) special food since she can't eat any lactose. So on Sunday they were supposed to be at our house at 9pm to go out for breakfast. They don't show up until 11:30. (which isn't even breakfast time anymore! I had been up since 6:30am!) But anyway, we go out to breakfast and everything is fine. There is some slight tension, obviously, because we can't stand each other, but everything seemed to go ok. We get back to our house around noon and she takes her daughter and says she has to run to "Target" real quick. She doesn't come back until 6:30 PM!!! Then she drops off her kid and says she has to run to the "grocery store." WTF. (Apparently she was at a friend's house all day) So while Tom did get to see his brother all day, he was really looking forward to seeing his 14 month old niece who he just met for the FIRST time! But she was gone all day! So when SIL finally makes it back to our house we have dinner and then they leave since it was so late and the kid was getting cranky. We had plans to all meet up at the zoo the following morning.
An hour after they left SIL sends Tom a text that says, "Danielle isn't invited to the zoo tomorrow. She can't come." And when Tom asks why? She says, "She wasn't friendly or welcoming enough. I refuse to spend anymore time with her. If you want to see Joel or Katie you will have to do it alone from here on out."
EXCUSE ME, BITCH! REALLY?
So needless to say Tom did NOT go to the zoo on Monday and didn't get to see his brother or his niece again before they left. I didn't tell Tom he couldn't go, but I am glad he decided to stand up for me and not give into SIL's crazy demands. It shows that we are united and she can't break us apart no matter how hard she tries.
I would like to take this moment to say how glad I am that she isn't coming to our wedding! She would ruin it somehow, I'm sure. While I'm sorry Tom doesn't get his brother there, her actions this past weekend have proven she is completely PSYCHO and there is no stopping or pleasing her.
So off I went, I spent literally all day contacting vendors trying to find a date that was still available in Minnesota-- THIS SUMMER! Trying to plan an entire wedding in 3 months was giving me major anxiety. And I was really disappointed in Tom. He told me he needed his brother at his wedding. Ok...but when he is flat-out refusing to come to the wedding we planned, why change everything just for him? I get that he's your brother but my gosh! Not everyone in my family can make it to Jamaica either! My grandma is on oxygen and can't fly. And she is really important to me. But I felt like Tom didn't really care about that and basically wanted me to bend over backwards for his brother and his witch of a wife. I was not a happy person...
I found a Friday in July that was available. So I told Tom that we need to go to Michaels and get planning this wedding ASAP if he was SURE that's what he wanted. He told me he HAS to have his brother there, so yes, we had to change the entire wedding. (Yes, we could have waited until Summer 2011, but neither of us wanted to wait that long.) I told him that his sis-in-law needed to apologize to me ASAP or she will not be invited to our wedding, wherever and whenever it happens. So she sent me a half ass apology over text message and off we went to look at invitations and place cards, etc. After we got home Tom told me that "Maybe he does want the Jamaica wedding after all." WHAT?! He called his mom and talked to her for a couple hours! When he came back inside he told me that this is "our day" and if we want Jamaica, then we should have Jamaica. It's sad his brother won't be there but we shouldn't have to change our entire wedding to make him happy. (Hello! I've been telling you that for how long?!) Tom apologized for putting me through this mess, and for not listening to how I felt. I was so emotionally drained and pissed by that point that I made him sleep on the couch and think about what he REALLY wanted and I wanted a final, FINAL answer in the morning. He said he wanted Jamaica.
That was a week ago. And of today, he still says he wants Jamaica. Brother or no brother.
My nerves are so frazzled. I don't know what to think of this situation. It has caused some MAJOR drama between Tom & I. I felt like he wasn't standing up for me and what WE want for OUR wedding. He felt like I wasn't compromising in order to allow his brother to be there. (But is "compromising" totally changing your wedding? Compromise, yes. Change our entire wedding, no.)
I'm not even thinking about my wedding right now. The weather is warmer and we've been doing a lot of yard work to keep us busy. I think I'm 90% sure we will still go ahead with Jamaica. But I won't feel 100% until we book the entire trip. (Which should be soon)
Tom talked to his brother this morning and asked if he was coming to the wedding and told him what his wife said. His brother said he wasn't aware of the conversation between his wife and I. He also wasn't aware that he wasn't coming. (Doesn't this just prove how INSANE this woman is?) So he asked me to forward the saved convo to him. I told him I would HAPPILY forward it to him.(Thank goodness I saved it. I had a feeling I would need my PROOF!) Tom also told his brother that I wasn't comfortable with them staying with us this summer. And the only way I would change my mind is if she gave me a major apology and agreed to keep her nose out of our wedding plans. (I doubt she will) But he said that was fair.
I would love to be a fly on the wall in their house tonight...I wonder how he'll feel when he reads what his so-called "loving" wife wrote. Ha!
