Family Christmas fail.........already

[shantih]

@Ann_Hedonia

<snip>

2. I ended up getting gifts for everyone ( I LIKE giving gifts ). I did not buy anything for Rob and Barry but I made up “gift baskets” from the hotel amenities ( A coffee cup filled with shampoo, soaps and mouthwash, and some coffee and tea bundled with a coffee cup holder ). This goes back to the Christmas were they wrapped up some tea they had gotten as in a hotel room and gave it to me as a gift.

You are awesome. AWESOME. The next time I need some perspective on a dish served cold, I am going to ask myself: WWAHD?

Hee!

[Ludovic]

@kferr

What kind of fucked up HOA goes around weighing dogs?

You know who else weighed dogs?

All 100+ dogs should be spayed. Given a Hitlerectomy.

[Silophant]

All 100+ pound dogs contain a Hitler?

Guess that explains why they’re so big.

[handsomeharry]

@Ann_Hedonia

The update

Yeah, my cousin is going to write a screenplay.

The uncles never forgave my cousin, they still think it was “unfair” of her to make them confine the 150 pound ( I understated the weight previously ) St Bernard to her porch and the guest room, they thought their precious pup should be allowed the run of the rest of her small condo. They expected my family to be on their side because they also traveled with a dog but we thought the “dog rules” were very reasonable.

We thought the timing on the fight was interesting and probably designed so they didn’t have to contribute financially to Christmas dinner and sightseeing activities.

I saw them once, the first thing they did was ask me for $5000. This was for 1st last and security on a house ( that they couldn’t afford ) they were intending on renting. My cousin says they could’ve found something much cheaper. We never found out where they were staying after they left her house – they were very secretive - maybe they were slepping in the car ( with the 150 pound dog, HA ). Of course I said no on the 5K. I might have lent them a much smaller amount if they had asked nicely but it seemed to be 5K or nothing. My uncle complained that no one in his family “liked” him because we didn’t have money to give him…if that is their standard then they have hated my guts my whole life so who cares.

Despite the fact that Barry said he would take any job to make money when he moved in with my cousin, once they were settled he got more selective. She got him some interviews but he wasn’t interested, he had a better plan. He is now an independent insurance agent selling Aflac. This after he lost his life saving because

1. someone convinced him he could be a real estate agent and sell houses for friends and family all over the country and he threw a whole bunch of money into marketing this idea.
2. When this didn’t work out, the same person that got him into real estate convinced him to become an HerbaLife salesperson which is one of many MLM scams out there. according to him he lost 75K over the two ventures

So, now he has jumped feet first into the same situation by falling for the Aflac thing, a quick google shows that Aflac actively recruits anyone with a pulse to become an independent agent at their own expense, of course. It doesn’t work out for 98% of them, yet Barry, with NO money and NO savings is going to get rich doing this…“all I have to do is make 10 appointments a week to make 100K a year”…yeah right.

Other highlights from the script.

1. I was sort of primed for some political wrangling, my progressive sentiments vs their right wing scree. I was thwarted constantly, the only rant I heard from Rob and Barry was one on how Bush ran up the national debt with I agreed with wholeheartedly and my Republican brother was stuck on how badly Romney treated his dog.

2. I ended up getting gifts for everyone ( I LIKE giving gifts ). I did not buy anything for Rob and Barry but I made up “gift baskets” from the hotel amenities ( A coffee cup filled with shampoo, soaps and mouthwash, and some coffee and tea bundled with a coffee cup holder ). This goes back to the Christmas were they wrapped up some tea they had gotten as in a hotel room and gave it to me as a gift.

3. I pointed out to my Mom that the only reason Barry had made our hotel reservations on his credit card ( we transfered the rooms to our cards on arrival ) was that he got a huge amount of “points” on his preferred traveler account with that chain, which also explained why he was so insistent on us using that hotel. Mom got so pissed she opened her own account and made a fuss until the points were transferred to her new account.

4. Their was nameless adult who was so sick of it all that she engaged in some recreational drug use with her twenty-something nieces and nephews, with much giggling and amusement involved

5. My cousin kept drunk dialing my mother late at night to rant about Rob and Barry, Mom is a recovered alchoholic with a Carrie Nation complex who was the LAST person in the family that she should’ve called with her rants but she persisted.

Now we just have to put it together.

Best part was I had some genuine fun when I was out with my brother and niece and nephew…my nephew has become an adult overnight and he’s smart and interesting and a good conversationalist. The time the 4 of us spent together qualifies as the best time I’ve had in years, we all have the same quirky sense of humor that no one else gets.

I think I missed something…were they there for Xmas dinner? Did they spend the night there??

[SeaDragonTattoo]

Thanks for the update. Ultimately, you had a good time, and that’s important. Your family sounds a little like mine on my mom’s side. A good read!