January 3, 2008

  • So I'm back home now, and New Year's Eve went off well. There were eight of us here partying, and despite having a bad cold I had a good time. Tomorrow Gilly will have the last of the giant ham for lunch at work, and we still have half a trifle and an open bottle of bubbly on the balcony waiting to be consumed. Happy new year, everybody!

    I am also told that I just missed Mitun's birthday, although it was not my fault as she neglected to advertise it on Facebook. So I'll say it here, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY MITUN!!!

    I saw my December credit card bill today, an nearly shat myself. It appears I somehow miscalculated my payments last month and underpaid my enormous bill, leaving me with a fair chunk of interest owing and my huge Christmas shopping bill combined with leftover pre-Christmas shopping. Ugh. I knew I was in the hole, but not by this much! Then I got a letter from the MTO saying I need to renew my license plates on Dad's birthday, which is in March. I'll put it off as long as possible. Fortunately I don't need a Drive Clean test.

    Gilly will be paying me a big chunk of money she owes for her new computer, and for the Zazu vet bills she currently holds the money for. I have to take my ODSP forms to the office tomorrow to get reimbursed for gas money for months of doctors' appointments, and I'll have to do my taxes as soon as I can manage it to get my refund. At least I've got everything I need/want right now, and the freezer is well-stocked so I'm hoping to not spend money on much of anything this month (famous last words!). I'll have to get creative with the cooking to dissuade us from eating out. Oh, I should also be getting a GST rebate any day now, so I'll have to watch out for that. Oh, the perils of leaving home and being tempted to spend!

    I called mom this afternoon to ask her about something regarding the estate funds. I mentioned my debt and that I wouldn't be able to afford to go to Mexico with her, especially since I have to figure out how to pay for Nova Scotia in July. She said if I backed out on Nova Scotia she'd pay for everything for Mexico and Florida, including my passport and meals and stuff. I voiced my concerns that we would fight, and that the trip would be ruined for all of us because we would be stuck sharing a room. It's bad enough sharing a house with her, I sure as hell don't want to share a hotel room for two weeks! She's incontinent enough without  Montezuma's Revenge adding to it. Eeeuuuuuugh...

    Mom was insistent. She said Gilly wouldn't want to sit around looking at her through the whole trip, and besides, didn't I want to see Disney World? Honestly, I couldn't care less about Disney World. it's just a tourist trap. I'd much rather just sit on the beach and look for menfolk. Mexico sounds appealing, but not with Mom, and I know Gilly was hoping for a holiday without me, which is totally understandable. I asked Mom what would happen if between now and then she started to hate me again, and she said she'd make sure that didn't happen and that it doesn't happen on the trip. i don't believe that for a moment.

    So I'm applying for a passport while it's on Mom's dime, so if I decide to go somewhere in the next 5 years I am prepared. I'll have to ask the doctor if he plans to tell her outright about not getting her license back, and if he knows a time frame for that. Anyway, if she's paying for the tickets and stuff, if she decides to hate me/us before the trip it'll be her money lost, not mine, so it's not that big of a risk as far as that goes. I'm still not comfortable with the security in a room shared with mom, given that she's liable to flash money around and wear fancy clothes and make herself an easy target for robbery. Gilly and I already told her she can't take her rings or they'll be stolen, and that she will be offered free things in exchange for listening to high-pressure time share pitches and stuff. Still, you can be arrested in Mexico for something as simple as spitting on the sidewalk. She could ram someone with her rental scooter or end up falling in the street and being mugged, and it's not like here where she can just ask a stranger to call her an ambulance.

    So many worries... I wouldn't be able to relax on such a trip even if she did behave herself, because I'd constantly be waiting for the shit to fly. If/when the shit does fly, I'd be trapped in another country, in the same hotel room, unable to get help or escape. In Florida, there's always the possibility of finding a hostel with Gilly to escape to. I'll have to research the area for such things.

    Now, Gilly is researching her own holiday, and if she books her own elsewhere it will be a lot easier for me to wrangle out of travelling with Mom. Staying home alone is preferable to being stuck with Mom as described above. I get the feeling Mom wants me to go mainly because she knows Gilly won't go if I don't. Not going won't hurt me at all, because I told Mom that no matter what, I'm not cancelling my choir trip, even if I have to pay for it out of my line of credit and get further into debt. I am determined to go, and that's that. I hope to at least pay off my debt by then and pay for the trip itself with my portion of the estate funds. I'll pay things off eventually, one way or another.

    Argh. Constant manipulation. I need a stun gun for this monkey on my back.