Glorious sunny weekends

Had a very full weekend and am taking a day to simply be quiet in my home.....attending to housework, etc.

This weekend was the start of the Festival of Lights in Vancouver (annual fireworks displays) so there was tons of things to do on the beach and at various parks....music, volleyball, basketball, and MORE music and thankfully the weather was beautiful.  It is times like this that I am very grateful to be living on the West Coast.

We did have a bizarre time on Friday night however.  Got to see my son and his wife's family for a going away barbeque for her sister and brother in law and their family as they are moving back to France to live once more.  A wonderful couple with two amazing young sons so did enjoy visiting. 

The bizarre part of it all was that both myself and my guy, plus my friend (my son's step mother) were asked to pay $20.00 EACH for our dinner.  WHAT???  A family dinner but only WE had to cough up money.  Another instance of being pushed out of the "family" dynamic.  Both my friend and my guy were furious but I said I am going to keep the peace and pay up which I did.

The amount of food that was there was amazing and we certainly did not eat anywhere near $60.00 worth of food but there must have been more than enough for them to all have another wonderful meal the next day.  I'm curious to see what you think about this situation.  How would YOU have felt if this happened to you?

I myself have hosted numerous barbeques and family dinners and I certainly NEVER requested money from my guests.  Perhaps this is part of their culture but it sure felt "off" to us.  Plus when no one else had to pay, why did we?  We kept asking if we could do anything but were continually pushed out of the kitchen.  I have always helped at dinners, whether it was family or not and my assistance is usually graciously accepted.  Not so with these people though.

A few years ago, my daughter in laws family held a Christmas eve dinner and at that time we were also requested to pay for our meal but that time, I guess my son felt embarassed because he paid for me.  

I had always envisioned a big happy family and when my son married his wife, I thought that is what would have happened.  But as I have previously lamented it is certainly not to be.  I am worried about my son however as I sat and listened to her family continually criticize and badmouth him and his way of being, including his wife.  They all stayed at the home overnight but he did not.  This was considered rude of him but he had to go to work the next day and wanted a good night's sleep.

And while my granddaughter was there, I did not even get to hug her - not even once.  Her other grandmother and her cousins, plus her sister and father retained "custody" of her the entire evening.  Tried to get close to her but she was always swept away in the arms of others.  Sigh......a sad state of affairs as I am a very loving, caring person and only wish to have a bit of time to be with her...my only grandchild. 

The other grandmother kept going on and on about how Amelia got this from her and got that from her grandfather.  I smiled and said "well, she also has ME as a grandparent."   She just scoffed and went "pffffff" as she toddled off holding said granddaughter. 

I shall keep plugging along and trying to retain some sort of connection with my son and his daughter but I am starting to think that sooner, rather than later, there will be no connection at all and that is a sad state of affairs.  I keep asking them to come over to our home, which is in a beautiful part of the city, above the beach with views that go on forever, a playground right around the corner for the baby but nada.........  You can only keep asking for so long and then you simply stop.  Sure hoping that I can retain some sense of worth after being rebuffed repeatedly.

Oh well, laundry is calling to me so I shall be off.

Have a glorious day everyone out their in cyberspace.

Blessings