More than one kind of turkey!

My goodness. I really need to write more than once every two months, otherwise what is the point.
The home computer crashed the other week so now I sit at the public library with all the deprived kids and do my email. Who has time during the day.

I was out of town on business for a week and I hafta tell you, it was probably the most stress free week I've had in a looooong time. It was sheer bliss.

No partner around to worry about. No one telling me how to do anything. I mean stress at work I don't mind, but this spousal unit of mine is really starting to take its toll.

Two topics today. Thanksgiving and Renovations. Mutually exclusive, but both annoying involving the same third party.

My spousal unit hates painting. Despises it. His big problem though is that he can stand anyone else who isn't a perfectionist painting the place either.

One of his "young friends" broke up with his girlfriend. Said girlfriend is someone looking to get into decor/organizing/ game and started using our place and spouse's tutelage to get started. So the spouse decided to offer her a painting job... without consulting me. I told him I was not quite thrilled with this decision. Her constant cheery chirpiness and awe under spouse's eye gets to be irksome after a bit. So our "Eldon" ( remember Murphy Brown?) shows up when she is not on shift and does whatever the spouse leaves her to do. Fine.. nice job, but she is starting to re -arrange my living room, move things where I don't want them. I move them back and Spouse seems to think her way is better.

I need to find some graphic ways of displaying what my little living/dining room looks like and what I want vs what she thinks.

Ok... so maybe I am being a bitch, but... if I want advise, I'll ask for it. My kids and I already have ideas, which dad/spouse doesn't want to know anything about. His disparaging remarks on any thing I or children suggest is now going from irksome to hurtful.

Now we get to Thanksgiving weekend. We always have turkey on Sunday rather than Monday.
I had planned on going to church that Sunday and spouse was up earlier than the norm for him... around 9 AM. He started fussing with the turkey and messing around what is normally MY domain. I couldn't do a thing right that day. The turkey was not cleaned properly. The stuffing wasn't made well. ANd it went on. I decided to do a very immature thing and took my cup of coffee to the bedroom, shut the door and started reading rather than listen to his every comment, but something, I have been doing for the last 20 years!

Our oldest had not turned up at home that previous night either and while I was pretty sure I knew what had happened I wanted to stick around and wait for a call. And our "Eldon" showed up and started commiserating and trying to evoke something. I wanted to slap her and tell her just shut up and paint.

I decided to head out for a few hours and leave the spouse completely in charge. I had some errands to run. I came home and decided rather childishly to not join the family for dinner. "Eldon" had apparently been invited. Why? I have no idea as I knew that she was having another dinner the next day with her own friends.

I behaved rather badly, but didn't care. I pleaded a headache and went up to the bedroom and watched movies.
Spouse did all the cooking, cleaning and putting away. I did nothing. This has never ever happened before.

A good friend suggested I might be jealous. Knowing what I do about the spouse - his need for attention and a chance to show off his peacock feathers, perhaps this is true. He's been busy giving "Eldon" advise on everything from finances, buying a car to home repairs. I roll my eyes, and she seems to eat it up.

Today she is doing her laundry at our place. I am going to have to tell the spouse that this stops. I went down to do our laundry and I can't even use my own machine! I want Sunday to be a day off. No one around. I've had it!

Once the painting is done... she is gone. Spouse said something about her "friendship." I informed him that I have plenty of friends, and even if I wanted/needed a friend young enough to be my daughter it would be with one of the young ones I work with, with whom I could have far more scintillating conversations that our "Eldon" could muster up. I believe he was stunned since he tends to hang around many people young enough to be our children.

But that my friends... is a story for another day.