Yesterday, my aunt and I took the three older boys to the movies to see "Horton Hears A Who!" and before we left, my cousin BethAnne and David gave me specific instructions on how to handle the situation if any of the boys need to use the bathroom while at the movies. They told me that child molesters are rampant in this town, and that I was to stay in the bathroom while the boys were using the toilet.
This bothers me. I really don't like loitering around inside a public restrooms. Making matters worse is that this town is not exactly the most broad-minded, and there are people who equate the terms "homosexual" and "pedophile." This is not true, of course, but what is some redneck going to think if he sees an obviously gay man standing right by the hand dryers while waiting for the kids in his care to finish peeing. I don't feel comfortable doing this, but since my aunt was there as well, I did my cousin's bidding. I would have preferred waiting right outside the door.
My aunt warns me against "advertising" being gay, and I try to tone it down, but when someone wears a pink dress shirt and a blue sweater vest to a kids' movie (and is not exactly the most masculine person in the world), the chances are likely that the person accompanying these kids is not their father. But I do the best I can while following what is expected of me.
Today was Birthday Celebration Number Two for my uncle, this time involving other family members. In addition to BethAnne, David, and their four monsters, we were joined by my uncle's two brothers, and their wives (one of these couples is not actually married but they have been living in sin for the past thirty or so years), and two other married couples who are friends of theirs. We had lasagna, salad, and ice cream cake. I am very thankful that my aunt was doing the serving, so the portions were reasonable. I still feel bloated as hell (not having had any feelings of hunger since Tuesday), and am really looking forward to getting back to my eating plan.
Making matters worse was that although I had that stomach bug causing half an hour of diarrhea late Tuesday night, I had not been to the bathroom since, and my stomach was giving me pause. So I raided my aunt's medicine chest and dug out the suppositories that had once belonged to my grandmother. They worked. 'Nuff said.
Tomorrow is Easter, and then I will be heading home the next morning. I have to get home so I can get to doing laundry because I will be eating dinner with Justin on Monday night. And he has an invite to come with me next time. I will be going to church tomorrow (for the first time since last Easter), and then it will be one more large, excessively loud meal (don't get me wrong, I love those four kids, but I can only take so much of their noise, followed by the noise of BethAnne screaming at them, complicated by the din of everyone else talking over them) before heading home to the noise of Julie.
And would it make me a horrible person to say that I think I have had enough cake for a while? Cake yesterday, ice cream cake today, and bunny cake tomorrow will mean that I will be caked out. When I am done with this blog entry, I will be scooting over to Freddie's website so I can see if they have any lighter food on the menu. I am so done with eating right now.
It seem so unbelievable that my vacation is almost over. I really hope that I will not get any unpleasant surprises when I get back to work. Although I love being here and, for a brief time, leaving my stress at the door, I am ready to get back to my normal life. I miss power walking, I miss Beth. I miss Diane. I miss everyone. And I guess I'm ready to get back to work.
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