Saga warning....
I think I will attempt an explanation for what was a very confusing (even to me) trip.
Initially, we were invited by D to celebrate his 100th birthday at a party to be held at midday on his birthday at an RSL(Returned Sevices League) near where he lives. He lives not far from where the ship from Tasmania to mainland Australia gets in. It's an overnight trip each way or they do day sailings in Summer. G's 2 sisters had booked to go over on the ship the night before the planned party with a car as L was headed off on a road trip(W was going to stay in Melbourne) & could drive us there if we went on the same sailing & G's brother & SIL could drive us back that night after the intended lunchtime party so we booked our tickets.
At the last minute, D & his wife M changed the party to Friday night. His daughters then decided to have lunch on his birthday just for family (incl. D & M) & said that we were welcome to join them.
Neither of us wanted to go ahead with the trip as we saw him last year & we would miss the big party anyway, but each time G spoke to his brother he just couldn't tell him. We could have postponed our booking up to a year ahead & done a road trip on our own sometime adding our car to the booking later. G has so much trouble saying no to his brother or sisters (to anyone really).
We enjoy travelling on our own & are happy with one another's company. When you add any combination of his family tensions get added. Both sisters are touchy & get very crabby with one another. One sister (L, the bully) is always snapping at me (& her sister) & telling me that I should never speak for G & how would I know what he wants or thinks. The last time we went for the regular "family" lunch W, the other sister, brought out a children's game after lunch & they all played it, even though I know G does not like playing games. He was bullied into it & of course, didn't speak up for himself. I was made out to be a spoilsport. You are not "allowed" to chat while they play.
When G's 2 sisters met us on the ship, W soon produced another of these games (in a tin) & I flared up. G & I always enjoy catching up with people we know (or strangers) & chatting & all of a sudden out comes this very childish game, he is expected to play & I am not allowed to talk to them. Well, I tried, but was ignored as they "had to concentrate". It was like snap but you had to match pictures. I thought W had brought them just to annoy me & that shocked her. We had a quiet chat the next morning & I apologised for "over-reacting" & last night she rang me to make sure we were good with one another. I appreciated that. I like W. We had a good talk last night. We talked mainly about their sister & I told W how L makes me feel & excludes me from "family" discussions. She is well aware of how L snaps at me. We agreed that L is a bully, but that she would be shocked if she knew we thought that. Family dynamics can be so complicated. I told her that we won't be moving in near all of them anytime soon, but she is always welcome to come visit us on her own & stay if she likes. She & G's brother & SIL are barely talking to one another at the moment so she isn't seeing much of them but used to visit them often. She moved to be near them. *sigh*
It was all a bit weird really about the party being changed & then us going to lunch at a restaurant in Melbourne, rather than where we thought we were going but we were philosophical about it. When we got there & were told that D & M weren't going to get there as he was taken to hospital I think we had half expected it. The "family" that was there we didn't know. D had 10 kids all up with so many different women. The one we connected with is lovely & isn't D's daughter, but his wife's. She is a sweetie. She has fond memories of meeting us all those years ago & we exchanged phone numbers & invited her to stay. The rest weren't very friendly particularly. G sat next to one of the daughter's partners who had his back turned away from G for most of the lunch. We talked about it later & laughed about it all.
G's brother, D drove us back to the ship & because it was early offered to take us with them to visit some friends of theirs. G's brother is so rude to his wife & puts her down. It's awful. His other brother was worse. We said we were more than happy to kill time at the terminal. We found things to read & chatted about the day, chatted to strangers & then had a relaxing evening onboard. We were the first to walk on the night before & had chatted to the crew about why were going. When we got back on board once again we were first on & it was the same crew. We had a few laughs with them when we said he didn't make it to the "party". I said "Hey, he did make 100!" I'm glad we can see the funny side to most things. I'm glad we have each other. If I die before G I hope he'll do his own thing & not allow himself to be bullied by his siblings.
When we got back home the house was SO cold & after 24 hours it is feeling much better. This is such an unusual cold snap. It was the first time our pipes had frozen since we lived in our house. We made sure to run the taps during the night, whenever either of us got up.
Arch won't be going back to those kennels. He was quite stressed yesterday. He is happy with the ones we normally take him, but these were much more convenient for a trip on the ship. They cost $24 a day, instead of the usual $40 but I think with kennels you do get what you pay for.
OK. That will do for now. Any questions, ask away
