Oh yeah, Easter

I don't mean as in oh yeah, like no big deal. I mean oh yeah, like I forgot to tell everyone what happened at Easter. Be warned this post will probably be lengthy and full of ranting, so continue at your own peril. Our niece was being blessed on Sunday and because of that a lot of John's family was here from out of town. Our uncle Barry, his wife Eileen, their two daughters Jen and Michelle. Michelle's husband Gold and their son Josh. John's oldest brother Rich, his new girlfriend Tricia, and her two daughters Darcie and Annie. Also everyone who lives here was there. John's parents, his sister Melissa, her husband Travis, their son Bryden and daughter Kaitlyn (the one being blessed.) And who could forget Rex (john's other brother) and his wife Patty. John's parents don't have a very large house and it was packed. Now there are a few things you should know before I continue with my rant. 1.) this is the first time John and I have met Tricia (the new girlfriend,) and her children. 2.) first impressions can often times be deceiving and wrong. 3.) I do not get along very well with Patty. (I used to but things have happened between her and I that haven't been good.) The weekend was a mess. Anytime you get that many people in a house together things are bound to happen, especially when some of those people don't get along real well to begin with. Example: Rich and Patty, myself and Patty, John and Patty, let's face it pretty much everyone and Patty. It's not that we don't like her, we just don't get along with her very well because she is so uptight and different from all of us. It's hard to get along with someone who is so difficult. Anway back to what happened. Patty thinks that Jen (our cousin) really likes her and that they are good friends. In fact she is always telling us how well her and Jen get along. The truth is Jen is like the rest of us, she likes Patty, she just really isn't her favorite person. So Patty starts almost following Jen around the house, talking pretty much non stop. Actually she wasn't THAT bad, you could just tell that Jen was getting annoyed. The thing I hate most about Patty is that I always feel like I'm in a competition with her. I HATE that. If you're better at something than me, well good for you. If someone likes you more than me, well good for you. If you've done something that I've never done, well good for you. You get the picture. All weekend it was like who is Jen's best friend? Patty or Melissa or Me? Who cares? I like Jen and she seems to like me back. We've had some really good talks, always have fun and giggle a lot when we're together. Patty acts like we can't all be friends. I feel like she wants to only be friends with Jen and if Melissa or I are friends with Jen, well that's just not cool, because Jen is PATTY's friend. Just annoys me to no end. Even if Jen didn't like me and only liked Patty, well that would be okay with me too. Not everyone likes everyone else, I know that and except that, I wish a certain someone would get that. Sorry, but I told you this would be long. On to my real issue from the weekend. Richard's new girlfriend and her children. Now I want you all to keep in mind that Richard is recently divorced, (less than six months) has five kids, and was married for 17 years. Him having a girlfriend and coming up to visit with children that aren't his is a bit odd for us all. Needless to say I was excited to meet Tricia and get to know her a bit, since it sounds like they are going to be getting married. So here are my observations based upon a first impression: 1.) That girl has patience, she was very calm and mellow the whole weekend. Really laid back and easy going. 2.) She is quiet. So quiet in fact that I know nothing about her. She didn't talk to ANYONE. 3.) She is obviously shy. Seeing as how she didn't talk, sat by Rich the whole time, and again didn't talk. 4.) She is a follower. Anything we suggested she did. We really like games with teams, Catch Phrase is one of our favorites. When asked if she had a favorite game or would like to play a certain game Tricia always looked to Richard first, to see what he wanted to do, would then shrug and say "whatever you guys want to do." 5.) Her youngest child how should I say this? Is a monster!!! This kid got away with everything. Rich says it because when she goes to stay with HER dad it makes Annie behave badly, because he doesn't make her mind. As far as I can tell either does her mother. Annie (tricia's daughter, she's 3 by the way.) broke a curtain rod, ripped pages out of books, broke a toy truck, made a disaster area when coloring eggs, kept getting into the cake that was for dinner, was looking through dresser drawers, throwing things, taking toys from other kids, pushing, spitting (at one point right in Richard's face!,) yelling, screaming, crying, etc.... There were two big problems with this A) she was never punished or scolded, most of the time her mother acted like it never happened. B) Tricia didn't keep an eye on her! Tricia was too busy hanging on Richard. ~Sidenote~ If I took my child to someone else's house, ESPECIALLY someone I had just met. I would not let them out of my sight. If for some reason something did happen and it was brought to my attention, I would make sure the child was punished for it. I mean come on, you don't let your kids run wild at other people's houses. ~end of Sidenote~ Now I'm just really rambling on. Tricia was nice and everyone seems to like her, but I can tell that (speaking for myself) I think we might have some issues ahead. I will only put up with bad behavior from kids for so long. Although I have a feeling if I were to step in she wouldn't care anyway. In fact she would probably be grateful that she didn't have to be the mean mom and could let someone else do it. Oh well, it really doesn't matter what I think. If Richard is happy, well then it's none of my business and I really do wish true happiness for him. He has had a rough marriage and lots of rough things happen to him lately. If he is happy, then I will buck up and play nice. It might be a struggle, but it's what you do for family!! All in all Easter was nice and it was good to see everyone, It's just that I can always find something to gripe about, as you've probably noticed.