My husbands family is gone now, and while the visit was nice, I'm so freaking happy they've left! I mentioned before how I have schedules and routines and I get cranky when they're all messed up. And I realized that this personality type I have is completely opposite of my MIL. I think that's why we clash so much.

She's the type of person who does not make PLANS. She flies by the seat of her pants. Spontaneous. Unstructured. No time schedules. And that actually causes me physical pain because I'm the COMPLETE opposite!

My husband is exactly like me and whenever we do anything, even if it's to go out to dinner, we always know exactly when we are leaving, where we are going, and when we need to be back home. His mother on the other hand, doesn't believe in knowing such things.

Yesterday, the supposed 'plan' was for them to go swimming at the hotel until 11am. Then they had to check out, and then they'd go sightseeing for a short time. Then come back over to our house for a late lunch and to open presents. (It was my hubby's b-day) And then they were supposed to leave for San Diego. We live exactly 592 miles away from there. I know because I had to Mapquest it for them, because they drove all this way without any maps!! Can you believe? No wonder they got lost all the time.

But as soon as they got back from sightseeing, the entire 'plan' fell apart. It was around 1pm and I assumed we'd go ahead and eat, because I was starving. And his mom told me not to worry about food because she'd take care of it. Well her idea of food was hot dogs on the BBQ. My son doesn't eat hot dogs (or meat at all) and my husband, the birthday boy, doesn't like hot dogs.

I tried to tell her that, but she just dismissed me. Then she asked me what I needed at the store because they'd go up and get something else. So I told her what to get, assuming she'd go up and get it. But we sent them to the grocery store that is literally on the corner by our house. You can walk there easily if you have to. And they were gone for over an hour! They'd driven right past it, got lost, and were trying to find another grocery store with the same name about 15 miles away!

Then when they came back, they didn't have anything with them but a b-day cake! The stuff I asked her to get was forgotten or ignored. Then my husband caught wind of the hot dog idea and told her he didn't like hot dogs! I'd already told her that! But she didn't believe me. So more times passes and we're just standing around doing nothing. And I'm starving to death! It's almost 3pm by now and I've eaten nothing all day, because I was waiting for them!

Then his sister and her boyfriend get up and secretly try to slip out to buy pizza. My son gets mad because they said the pizza was just for them, and that's his favorite food. I was a little pissed off too because if there's pizza, I want it too! At this point, I just want to eat, dammit! But when I questioned his mother, she said the pizza was for everyone. They were just trying to be sly and make it a surprise. Okay. I didn't get it, but okay.

So they leave, and then my husband come back into the house and he's mad because his mom sent them off to buy him a steak because that's what he really likes. But they didn't offer to get me one too. We could have given them money! The whole time, no one would tell us what they were doing! It was maddening!

We had the bbq going for two hours with nothing on it because it took them so long to actually figure out what the hell was going on. And by the time we ate? It was 4:30pm! And then came the dilemma of them needing to drive almost 600 miles to their next destination. And the best part? The people they were visiting didn't even know they were coming! They were going to show up on their doorstep in the middle of the night as a surprise! lol

I would have killed them if they'd done that to us! And we explained how you just can't do that. It's not polite. It's one thing to show up at noon unannounced, but 3am?? I don't think so! His mom insisted it was her family and they'd be thrilled to see them. Yeah, maybe. But at 3am?? I doubt it! So the brilliant idea she came up with was they'd drive to Santa Monica and sleep on the beach! She still thinks this is 1969 apparently.

We told her she couldn't just sleep on the beach, but she said she'd done it before. Yeah, in 1969! Jim Morrison is dead, okay? It's time to step into this century. I've been to Santa Monica and people don't just sleep on the beach there. Venice Beach, maybe. But would you really want to sleep next to THOSE people? Not me!

But that was their plan as they drove off from our house at 7pm last night. Better them than me. When we go on a trip, we have hotel reservations and an itinerary. And everyone who we might visit knows we're coming months in advance. I think I'd have a nervous breakdown if I had to spend any more time with his mom. And I think he would too! He loves her, but even he was happy to see her go. Small doses. That's the key. And I'm so glad they live in Michigan. Otherwise I think she might pop in to our house at 3am on a regular basis. She seems to think family would be okay with that. Guess again! lol