My apologies for not having posted anything for a while. It's been crazy around here lately, mostly with the usual stuff - school, work, chores, and the social dynamics of a dozen people living under the same roof - but there's been some extraordinary craziness too. Let me see if I can explain everything in a way that makes some kind of sense, okay? Maybe I should start with the usual news updates and go from there.
Sini and I have been married almost two months now. I know, that's not exactly news, but I still get a thrill when I think about it so it's got to be worth mentioning, right? The pessimists in the house keep telling us that the proverbial honeymoon will be over eventually and then we'll become just another depressingly average married couple. Personally, I don't think Sini and I together could ever be depressing or average. Sapphire thinks that we're going to be one of those couples who are as much in love when we're old as we were on the day we said 'I do'. My instinct is to agree with her. There may be no such thing as fairytale endings, but Sini and I plan to live as close to happily ever after as we can.
While I'm on the subject of Sini, I do have something to tell you guys that actually is newsworthy. One day last week, she told me that she started to be able to feel our baby moving. I can't feel it from the outside yet, but Sini says I'll probably be able to in a few weeks. The first time I ever felt Skyla move was one of the most miraculous experiences I've ever had, and I'm pretty sure it'll be just as amazing with this baby.
Another thing about Sini is that she's craving really bizarre things to eat. We never went through this when we were expecting Skyla because Sini was too sick to eat proper meals most of the time. I swear she existed on nothing but water, oatmeal and cooked mashed vegetables for the last couple of months of her pregnancy with Skyla, and sometimes she was so weak that I had to feed her. This time around, she's more than capable of feeding herself and does so with alarming frequency. These days, it seems as if she can't get enough food, especially junk food like popcorn and potato chips. She's also developed a love affair with trail mix, which brings the weirdness factor into the equation.
Rommie nearly had a fit when she discovered one of Sini's special "desserts" in the fridge. This notorious concoction consisted of trail mix suspended in Jell-o topped with Cool Whip and thinly-sliced raw sweet potato. With the exception of Cool Whip, I like all those things but, in my opinion, they were never meant to be combined. When Sini offered to let me taste it I agreed out of politeness, and now I can most emphatically assure you that it tastes just as gross as it sounds. She's also made a version involving peas, green beans and Brussels sprouts which, not surprisingly, was met with possibly more distaste than the trail mix variety. The only person around here who seems to appreciate Sini's rather dubious culinary skills is Pax, who declared Sini's desserts to be "super awesome!" and insisted that Brussels sprouts should always be served with Cool Whip from now on.
Aliens. Go figure.
In other news, Pax went to his first sleepover last weekend at his friend Oliver's house. By all accounts, he was a big hit with Oliver's family. The report we got from Oliver's mother when she brought him home on Sunday morning was that he behaved himself for the most part and generally kept everyone entertained. Pax wants to invite Oliver here for a sleepover sometime. Sini and I told him we'd think about it.
Pax isn't the only one going on overnight visits. I probably shouldn't be telling you guys this, but Dylan spent the night at the apartment of a woman he met at school. Her name is Zoë and she's in a Masters degree program too, but that's about all I know. I'm not even sure if she's in the psychology Masters program with Dylan or not.
Also in the category of visits, Xander and Remi are talking about a trip to Jamaica so that Xander can meet Remi's family. That should be interesting. Personally, I hope they do manage to make the trip, if only to allow me to live in a Xander-free zone for a while.
Let's see...what else is new and noteworthy around here? For those of you who are curious to know, I'm getting along fine in law school. It's hard to get everything done, but it's not impossible, and I've found that I quite honestly enjoy the challenge. Mid-terms are coming up next week, and I'm a little nervous about that. I have to write my tests in a room by myself. They'll give me the test questions in Braille and I'll type my answers on a computer. I'm not sure why I'm so nervous. I mean, It's not as if I've never written a university exam that way before, but it feels different this time around for some reason. Maybe I'm overreacting. Anyway, I guess I'll see how it goes.
Despite the imminence of mid-terms, I decided to take a break from studying this weekend. The weather was gorgeous on Saturday. It was a great day to be out of the house, and I took full advantage of it by going for a long ride.
It was nice to get away from the chaos for a while. I love my family and nearly everyone else in the house, but sometimes I like being by myself. Spending the afternoon with Guardian gave me a chance to think. Guardian doesn't have too many opinions of his own and he never contradicts mine. Horses are really great listeners.
We followed some trails that we hadn't been on in a while and, to be honest, I don't think I would've minded all that much if we'd gotten lost.
When we stopped for a while to let Guardian have a rest, I did some exploring.
I might as well make my confession right now. I climbed a tree. And yes, I am the same idiot who broke his arm by falling out of a tree back in July. Climbing is almost a compulsion for me. It's like I can't help myself sometimes. I just have this need to be somewhere high up.
Needless to say, I got down from the tree without incident and we didn't get lost on the way home. I think, even if I'd been trying to misplace us, Guardian would've found his way back when he started to get hungry. He's highly motivated by food and will eat anything that horses consider edible, but carrots are his favourite. If I want him to do something and he's being stubborn, usually all I have to do is tempt him with a carrot and he cooperates. It's too bad people aren't that easy to train. Life would be a lot less stressful if the promise of a carrot was all it would take to get people to behave properly.
All too soon, it was time to return to the madness. I'm not joking in the slightest when I say that, either.
What I came home to was definitely not peace and quiet. The last thing I expected to walk in on was a fight, but that's exactly what I encountered when I entered the house. Instead of a greeting, the sounds that reached my ears were Dylan and Michael shouting at the top of their voices at each other.
It was shocking enough to hear my pacifist cousin Dylan yelling, but it was what he was yelling that really took me by surprise. The first words I heard when I stepped through the front door were, "Yeah, well I happen to agree with Xander! You are a jackass, Michael!"
I followed the noise down the hall and into the kitchen. Michael and Dylan must not have noticed me in the doorway because they carried on as if nothing had changed.
"You wouldn't say that if you were living my life!" Michael shouted. "It's not my fault that I can't do everything she wants. I mean, what did she expect? I can't be here with her and be at work too. I'm only one person, you know."
"Yeah, an insensitive person," was Dylan's response.
"Know what really pisses me off?" Michael said. "It's the fact that she talked about it with you and with Xander, and that you guys both took her side without even hearing my side of it."
"I'm hearing your side now and I'm still with her, if that means anything to you."
"She probably talked about me to everyone in the house," Michael said. "Did she tell Sini and Tyler?"
"Tell us what?" I said.
It was fairly obvious that both of them had only realized I was there after I actually said something. My question was met with utter silence for several seconds. Finally, Michael said, "If you don't already know, then I'm not telling you. It's none of your business anyway."
"What--" I began, but I never got to ask the question.
Michael stomped past me and down the hall, calling out a gruff, "I'm leaving!"
A few moments later, I heard the front door slam.
"Dylan, what the hell's going on around here?" I said.
"Your idiot brother is being his usual self," Dylan grumbled. "If you really want to know what's going on around here, ask him."
"Great idea, because that'll be really productive," I said. "In case you weren't paying attention, I just tried to ask him, and look how well I did."
"Sorry," Dylan said, but he didn't sound particularly sorry. "He's just being a jackass, Tyler. You know how he is."
"Yeah, but how is he being jackass? What happened?"
"Maybe you should ask Rommie."
"Okay, but--"
"I'm going over to Zoë's place. Tell Sapphire not to expect me back in time for supper."
And that was the end of the conversation with my cousin.
Seriously, I don't know what's going on between Rommie and Michael. It seems like things are getting worse all the time. For the past week Michael has been sleeping down in the basement in Dylan and Beau's room, but he stayed at a friend's house Saturday night and last night. He came back this morning and, depending on whether or not Dylan's still mad at him, he might be crashing somewhere other than in Beau and Dylan's room tonight.
This afternoon, Michael and I somehow found ourselves alone in the back yard, and I ventured to ask him about why he'd been sleeping in the basement. He said it was because Lucy was keeping him up at night and the lack of sleep was preventing him from concentrating at school. I recognized that as an outright lie, since I know full well that he's not even in school, but I didn't confront him about it. Believe me, I wanted to, but Michael's been in such a volatile mood lately that I knew I'd start an argument if I called him on it. I don't like arguing with Michael. I don't like arguing with anyone, really, but the last person I want to pick a fight with is my brother.
Sini says I really should talk to him about what's been happening lately, but I can't seem to find the right way to go about it. Sini thinks I should just begin with what's on my mind. Somehow, though, I don't imagine "Why the hell are you lying to everyone?" would be the best conversation starter.
I'm pretty sure nobody in the house except Sini and I know that Michael dropped out of university, and I wonder how long he's going to be able to hide the fact from everybody else. To be honest, I'm surprised Rommie hasn't figured it out yet. How I know she hasn't worked it out already is because there hasn't been an epic domestic quarrel. All hell's going to break loose when she finds out Michael's been lying to her and, so far, the demons in the pit have been reasonably silent; therefore, I can only presume Rommie is still in the dark about Michael's secret.
I'm really worried about what's going to become of Michael and Rommie. I know I've said this sort of thing to you guys a dozen times in the past, but it feels like the situation is going critical now. The worst part is, I can't do anything to fix it.
Sini says that's my weakness, that I want to fix everyone and everything, but I don't see what's wrong with wanting everyone to get along. I especially want the people I love to be happy, and it kills me to know that they're a million miles from happiness.
Sini doesn't like it when I start thinking about stuff like this because she says she doesn't like to feel me being sad and depressed. Ironic, isn't it? The person who keeps reminding me that I shouldn't be so stressed out about not being able to fix everyone and make them happy is the same person who who wants to fix me and make me happy. Fortunately, Sini is really good at cheering me up. She can fix me most of the time, which is more than I can say for my own abilities with everyone else.
Anyway, I'll keep you guys updated on the situation, as always.
Meanwhile, I'm going to try to end this post on a positive note. For those of you who love Halloween, there are only seventeen more days left until the big event. We've pretty much started the official countdown around here. This is going to be Pax's first Halloween with us and, household upheaval notwithstanding, most of us have decided that we're going to try our best to make it fun for him and the other kids.
Cassie and Pax carved a jack-o-lantern yesterday. I'm sure this one is only the first of several that will make an appearance on our doorstep before Halloween night. Pax was ridiculously proud of himself when he showed it to me, and he was beyond pleased when I told him that I thought it was scary.
I haven't decided what my costume is going to be yet. I guess I'd better get started on that, shouldn't I?
Stay tuned...
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