visiting ohio

got back from cincinnati a couple of hours ago-- drove the whole way back myself (an accomplishment that may not seem that much to anyone else but me).

about GRANDMA...
so the subject of the trip was grandma's will. specifically, who gets what. grandma wants everyone to tell her what they want so no one will fight over things in the end, but no one wants to seem greedy and say "i want this. i want that." i completely agree with her when she said they would fight over things. so hopefully people will start writing down things they like, etc. oh, and apparently grandma is giving her pearls to lisa.

what. the. fuck.

background story on THE PEARLS...
before grandpa died he bought a set of pearls for my grandmother for her birthday. he died and she found out he had bought them for her, asked the kids whether she should keep them ("of course!") and they are now her prized possession, and understandably so.

grandma's logic for giving these away is as follows: john's wife has pearls, linda has pearls, so does joann (my mom), and the other girls. let's give them to lisa.

umm...no. not cool. why not erin? or cheryl? well, there's a story behind that too.

about ERIN'S BAD CHOICE...
erin is overweight and has somewhat of a low self-esteem. she is seeing a man that is in jail, who has two young girls that are currently living with their mother and the new husband. erin helped raise these girls, so they are not an issue. grandma is afraid that if she gives the pearls to erin then they will just end up in a pawn shop. i know that erin would never let that happen, but (like my dad said tonight) everyone has the same mentality: she won't, but he will.

so BACK TO THE PEARLS...
mom and uncle john think the pearls should be split up. made into earrings, braclets, whatever. there has to be a way that all of grandma's children (read: NOT LISA) can cherish this gift their father gave their mother before he died. i completely agree.

about THE MOOCHERS...
mom and i talked about steve and lisa. this is her third marriage and has had a child with each one. steve has been using grandma as financial backup for his family for years and everyone knows it. we both think that as soon as grandma dies lisa will divorce steve and take the pearls with her, because her part-time job can't support everyone. i, once again, agree. i always liked sue better than lisa. that house seems devoid of an essential element to marraige (read: LOVE)-- it's more like a business contract than anything.

about JANIS'S GAY KIDS...
i swear there is something wrong with andrew and david. especially david. that kid is more annoying, loud, and in need of a smack down then anyone i have ever met. matthew, the youngest, is okay, but he keeps imitating his brothers, which isn't so okay. we went to confession and during the service he started to take apart the kneeler and i nearly wet myself i was laughing so hard. my mother had to walk to the back in order to compose herself. and this is just one out of many occurances.

TO END...
marla was feeling under the weather during most of the visit, matthew was throwing up, mom feels like shit right now, and we called linda and she's not feeling too hot either (which is bad). i love my family more than life itself. i love the dysfunction and the laughing. i love the anger and the sarcasm that comes with trips like this and it makes me want to leave uga and go to ohio state just so i can be close to everyone. but i'm glad to be back so i can start decorating and making ass loads of cookies and other great food.

oh, and grades were pretty good too.