Thanksgiving With The In-Laws

The weather was gorgeous but the drive out to visit the In-Laws was grueling. What was supposed to take 4 hours took 7, and we promised each other, as my aging standard rocked in and out of first gear, never to do that to ourselves again. Long weekend travel out of Toronto is historically a nightmare yet somehow we thought we could beat it this time.

We arrived safely late Friday night and the In-Laws had hugs, pizza and wine waiting for us when we got there.

Before we left, Alex warned them that we would have to get a little work in while we were there since we can't very well shut the website down for the weekend.

My in-laws are fantastic people. They came to Canada as students, got their PhD’s and raised several children. They also happen to both be amazing cooks. I really admire them. However, I'm still getting to know them and I find myself from time to time stepping on their toes without meaning to.

This weekend I stepped on them again.

I spent the bulk of Saturday with my M.I.L running a few errands, having lunch, going for a walk, going to her favorite boutique. She showed me around the yard, we smelled the flowers and then late in the afternoon, she took up the paper to read for a while. I thought, what a perfect opportunity to get a little work done! We were both sitting in the living room and I pulled out my laptop and began working. As she read the paper she commented on what she was reading and I, being the able multi-tasker I am, responded and we carried on pleasantly for quite some time.

When Alex and my F.I.L came back to the house, M.I.L announced (and I only use accents here so you feel like you were there), "Aleee has not es-stopped workeeng this chwhole afternoon."

I looked up awkwardly from writing my story on reducing stress with flaming cheeks. I closed the laptop for a moment or two but no one really reacted and everyone started doing something independently. Alex plopped down on the couch beside me and turned on the TV. My F.I.L poured himself a glass of red wine (with ice) and my M.I.L did something in the kitchen. Thinking it was no big deal, I opened my laptop again to finish what I was doing. No sooner had I done that than she walks over and says, "Alex, she chas been working almost allll afternoon!"

I elbowed Alex discreetly. We have this rule that I deal with my parents and he deals with his for the simple reason that we each know our own parents best and therefore how to handle any given situation. That plus I was trying to remind him that he was supposed to have discussed this with them in advance so I didn't feel like a first class boob working while we were there.

He got the hint. "Ma, think of it as an experiment you're working on. You can't just leave it because it’s the weekend. We have to check in on ours too from time to time."

"We deedin't schedule ours for the hol-e-days!" She went back into the kitchen. F.I.L gave a disapproving look in my direction. I closed my laptop.

And so, I didn't get much work done this weekend, though I had hoped to wrap up a few new articles since the category level ones are getting somewhat crusty and my blog has been much neglected.

On the bright side, the turkey dinner on Sunday night was unbelievable and we made the drive back in 4 1/2 hours. They treated us royally, we shared a lot of laughs and late-night scrabble; and with my own family living thousands of miles away, I was very grateful for my time at the in-laws despite getting in trouble.