I'm Home!!!!

I am so very glad to be home.  I could have kissed the ground when I got out of the car, except that my lips would have stuck to the asphalt.
 
Remind me NEVER to do that again.  10 days with three preteen boys (one with a terminal illness, one with emotional issues and one who agitates), one baby (who I adore), a clueless  man (urgh), and a pair of virtuous parents(more to follow) is just too much. 
 
Maybe I could have gotten through it a little better if it were 5 or 7 days, but I have to say that by the last 2 days I was not talking to the donor and pretty much stayed in my bedroom to avoid everyone.  I don't even visit my family for that long!!!!
 
It didn't occur to me that we would be driving into the mountains.  Stupid, I know, but I should have noticed before hand.  I get a touch of car sickness when going through the mountains.   So I can only appreciate that I was driving at night and didn't get to see the view over the side of the cliff that the donor pointed out.  When we arrived his parents came out and greeted us with Camp Michael hats.  They named their vacation home after their eldest grandson.  That went to his head.  He kept saying, "Don't you just love Camp Michael, Miss Jane?".  After the 30 or 40th time I started to hate that question.  
 
I got to meet their dog, Alvin.  He peed on me the minute I walked in the door.  Then tried to hump me.   I was off to a grand start.  Try wrestling a golden retriever off your back when he's determined to make you his new girlfriend.   He calmed down after that day, sort of, and became EJ's protector.  It was fine until he decided that the donor was going to try to hurt the baby( Simon growled at the baby and Alvin took exception).  So he followed Mr. Winky around whenever he held him and whenever EJ was put down he would either try to climb into his travel tent or he would bathe the baby with his tongue. I tried to explain to the dog that we give the baby a bath on a regular basis, but he didn't quite get it!
 
Michael got Ralph to take sides against Drew, so we got to hear Drew complain that they wouldn't let them play with him.  We had at least one spat a day with Michael.  It starts to wear after a while.  Plus, he is a bit of a whiner, and can't seem to do anything for himself.  The first three days I had to listen to him whine about Simon's mom being gone whenever it was lunch time, so he had to eat late.  Telling him that he is 15 years old and should get off his ass and make himself a sandwich doesn't seem to have the desired effect that I wanted.  He still complained.  He is NOT self-sufficient at all.
 
Simon's mom doesn't help.  She absolutely caters to him.  I think it irritates the donor's father, but he seems pretty non-confrontational. By the time we were pulling out of the driveway to go home I was snapping at him.  I have more patience than anyone I know and it was getting on my nerves!!!
 
On a less plaintive note, the house was beautiful.  It was a three bedroom, two-story, two full baths with a washer and dryer and a loft.  The scenery was soothing.  It looked like something out of a Disney movie.  Wind blowing through the trees, deer sleeping with their babies in the front yard, and the temperature never went higher than 79.
 
The donor and I shared a room, with separate beds, and slept with the windows open.  I was determined that we would have sex before we left, and we did.  He crawled in bed with me one evening and we gently rocked together, softly kissing.  I wish it would have lasted a bit longer, but it was very nice.
There is something about having sex while the parents are in the house that seems a bit taboo and is kind of a turn on!
 
He took me sailing for the first time and we went to the beach. I went with his mother to the outlet mall and then just hung out  at the house.  I was very bored.  My idea of a vacation is going someplace that has historical tours, museums, fine-dining.  I can't just relax in a house full of people.  It's impossible.
 
His mother started to wear on me after a while.  She gave off this vibe of disapproval every once in a while.  Like I should be doing something more.  I kept asking if I could do stuff.  Cook, shop, set the table.  I cleaned, and yet I could feel it emanating off of her that I was lacking something or something was expected of me that I was not doing.  After a while I just couldn't take it anymore.  I started staying in my room just to feel comfortable, but then I felt guilty that I was being anti-social.
 
All in all, I've decided that it was a beautiful place, and if we were to do it again it would be with fewer people or for a lesser amount of time.
 
Now that I'm home things seem to be a total mess.  The unpacking needs to be done as well as all the house work.  I have a babyshower to go to, a wedding coming up, EJ's baptism, and tons of projects.  It should make for a busy summer. 
 
The donor keeps bringing up marriage.  I've been teasing him about it, not seriously and he seems to think that it's a good idea.  I asked him why and he gave me a list of practical reasons.  I don't want practical.  I can live with him for all of the practical reasons.  If he wants to get up in front of a priest and vow in front of God and everyone that he will LOVE, HONOR, AND CHERISH me, then he damn well better mean it.  Until he does we are going to continue the way we are.  I can say it and mean it, but he would be lying.
 
That point came into being while we were there.  One of his former students lives in the area that we stayed in and he come over for a visit on Monday.  They talked about old times when he and Kathleen were married and living in the dorm at the private school and I felt a bit awkward when they started talking about how he was all excited about proposing to her and how he went about doing it.  I just had to excuse myself after a while.  I felt like I was intruding.
 
Next week the donor is supposed to go North and do a training around the area of his ex-gf.  He says he may not go, but that will be my emotional turmoil of next week. Urgh.
 
Anyway, it's nice to be home. I don't want to go anywhere else for a while.