I spent the weekend at my siblings, hearing one of the kids play a concert.
I'm supposed to go there for Thanksgiving, too.
But the drive beats me up. It's not horrible, but it's long enough that I want to relax after, and not do work. But the work needs to be done.
My in law and I were watching a Netflix show (since I subscribe), and enjoying it, and talking about how we could watch more over the Thanksgiving weekend. But then my sibling said that no, the TV would be on football. My in law suggested that there wouldn't be that much football, but my sibling insisted that there will be three games on Thanksgiving, and they will be on, one after the other, on the TV.
As I drove back today, going slow because the fog was intermittently nasty, I just felt grumpy and headachy.
And when I got back, one of my friends had invited me to Thanksgiving, and it sounds casual and relaxed, and there will be chatting, and laughter, and good potluck food.
So I just decided to accept my friends' invitation. And as soon as I did, I just felt so much better.
I have no urge to drive a long ways, sit around while my sibling dominates the family room with football on TV, and then drive a long ways home, and hope to get some of the work I have to get done done.
Now I have to call my sibling and tell the news. Or call my in law, who's likely to be the only person disappointed, but I know zie will be fine.
My driving this weekend was more stressful than usual:
1. About two weeks ago, the left turn signal started not working sometimes. It's about half the time, and if it doesn't work, I can flip it again and it will work. Still, it's irritating, and I've been trying to find a time to get the car in.
2. On the way, my check engine light went on. It's done this before, and the car repair people say not to worry about it. Why have the light and then say not to worry? I do worry.
3. I discovered that one of my rear brake lights is out.
4. My CD player isn't working. It's got two CDs stuck in there (it holds up to six), and it won't do anything now. That meant instead of listening to a book on CD, I had to find radio stations to listen to. There are WAY too many religious and country stations for my taste, and way too few rock stations, and no Spanish language stations that I can find.
I strongly support your decision. You can use your car as an excuse, too!
ReplyDeleteWe long ago gave up efforts to see family on Thanksgiving. Now it's the day that we could with friends and orphans, It's my favorite holiday of the year.
Cook, not could. Oof.
ReplyDeleteGood decision about the holiday. Also, if you have an iPod, get a connector (about $15) and hook it into your car's sound system
ReplyDeleteUndine, where would the ipod connector connect to the car? (I've seen things in newer cars, but not in cars the age of mine.
ReplyDeleteTotally support your decision; take back your holiday! If you need an excuse, the car thing is totally legit!
ReplyDeleteI feel you. Good for you on the relaxed Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteMy car is so old it only has a tape-deck... We tried to get one of those kits that converts it to cd or mp3 but it didn't work. :(
I got mine at Radio Shack, I think. It plugs into the 12V electrical port (cigarette lighter on older cars) and runs through the sound system via the radio. It has a bunch of radio bands (like 88.3, 88.7) that don't get a lot of use. You set the adapter to one of the stations, turn your radio to that station, and the sound comes through the radio/sound system.
ReplyDeleteWhen I had a car with a tape deck, there was a kind you could get where the connector looked like a cassette tape and plugged into the tape player.
We bought one of those, but it didn't work and was hugely frustrating. I don't know if it was a dud or the tape-deck is a dud, but we just gave up.
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