Family time

My mother is here. The Painter is acting up a blue streak. Ah well. The Inventor is cute and showing off his words. Middle Brother arrives tomorrow by plane. We'll ask him to take a bus from the airport. It'll be quicker and easier. Oldest Brother is expected to arrive with Nephew late in the afternoon. Found out last night that indeed we'll all be gathering on Thursday rather than Friday.

See... Oldest Brother is still negotiating custody issues with Mother of His Son (otherwise known as Bitch from Hell) - pardon the French... I abhor her. Until last night we had been expecting to delay our meal until Friday, since they had verbally agreed to switch years. But since she was unwilling to make any concessions to permit it, he pulled in the big card, and decided to just stick with the letter of their custody agreement. It's his year, and if she wanted to have him with her family, it'd have to be on Friday. So we have 24 hours (minus the six hour drive) with Nephew.

My family. We bought the ticket for Middle Brother since he works for peanuts, and would not have been able to come otherwise. For Oldest Brother we merely had to shell over $100 "for gas and food". He doesn't work for peanuts. Rather he makes six figures these days. But somehow, he's always broke. Old debts and child support, and ... well you figure it out. I've given up trying, several thousand dollars of "loans" ago.

But, we'll all be gathering under one roof, to share turkey and sauerkraut, potatoes and soup. It's my family, for what it's worth. And I love them all. So, we'll eat too much, and sit around a fire, and laugh and cry. Then we'll part our ways until another time.