Jose's Birthday Dinner

I know I said yesterday that I talk too much about Barbara in this blog and that she controls my thoughts excessively, but I can't tell you about last night without involving her. So we showed up for dinner at their new house (which is already becoming dirty) and right away we blew up balloons for the kids to play with. That was probably the most fun that I had during the evening (batting around balloons with the kids). Things were going good so far and I felt relatively comfortable. It was just Barbara and her immediately family there and Liz, a long-time friend of Barbara and Jose's (we all believe that she is a lesbian, as she's never had a boyfriend in the 6 years that I've known her). Liz, like Barbara and her family, also works for the Catholic Diocese (I don't think I ever mentioned that). Here's the rundown: Barbara is the director of religious education at a local Catholic church. Barbara's father, Carlos, is a deacon at that same church and Barbara's mother, Olga, also works at that church. Liz doesn't work at the church, but works for the Diocese and attends that church. All of them are very involved in the church (Jose used to be very involved as well, but not anymore) and that could account for the fact that Liz doesn't "come out" of the closet. I've always liked Liz though and was glad that she was there.

The first awkward moment for me came when we sat down for dinner. Now, I am not a very religious person. I was baptized Catholic, but I was not raised in the church. My mother used to make me go when I was very young, but I didn't like to go and she didn't enforce it. We were not a religious household. I still don't attend church very often, but consider myself a Christian (I am very anti-Catholic though because of their hatred of gays, among other things). So I was taken by surprise when everyone started to pray when we sat down for dinner. I am just not used to that and had never before had dinner with Barbara and her family at their home (a formal dinner). Everyone (including Jose) was reciting stuff that I knew nothing about and I just bowed my head and said Amen when everyone else did. Talk about an uncomfortable moment! I have nothing against prayer or thanking God for our meal.....it just caught me offguard (Jose always uses moments like these to judge me and call me anti-Christian). Whenever we go to church (rarely and always Catholic), he judges me when I don't follow all the rituals or make the sign of the cross at the appropriate moments. Hello!! I wasn't raised in the church! It's not disrespect, I just don't know!!

Dinner was a bit on the bland side. Olga made spaghetti sauce that didn't have a single seasoning in it, save for bell peppers. No salt, pepper, oregano, garlic, onion......NOTHING! I like my spaghetti sauce to be robust with lots of seasonings.....I over-season, if anything. There was no salt or pepper on the table either and I didn't ask for any. Olga said at one point that the sauce didn't turn out very good. If she would have added a little seasoning, it would have been excellent! She did make a nice salad, with lots of different lettuces (all the healthy kinds). I expected all iceberg, so that was a pleasant surprise. Jose got lots of nice gifts, including a karaoke machine, some nice shirts and other clothes. We did the usual cake and ice cream and spent most of the evening watching the kids run around. We were there for about 3 hours and I was chomping at the bit to leave long before that, but I never rushed Jose or said a word. It was mostly an uncomfortable evening for me though.....I just don't fit or belong in that group of people.

Liz is also going with us to see Earth, Wind & Fire on Tuesday night. I was glad to hear that. Jose and Barbara are very judgemental of Liz, always criticizing her behind her back and saying not very nice things about her. That must be why I like her so much.....because they don't and are supposedly her friends. Granted, Liz does have her quirks, but so do the rest of us. Barbara and Jose act like they are the most perfect people sometimes.......

I wrote my mom a letter yesterday to inform her of my concerns about my sister paying for her cruise. I told her that my sister needed to start sending me money every paycheck and that I would put it in the money market account that I opened up for us to start saving for this cruise. I know that some people will say that I am worrying too much about getting reimbursed for this money, but I am a Capricorn! What can I say? I am very anal about this kind of stuff and completely responsible with my money......I expect the same from everyone, at least if you're dealing with me. I hold people accountable for their debts and I hold a grudge if they screw me over (Barbara). I don't want a situation like that happening between my sister and I. We are not very close to begin with and what little communication we do have would be ruined if I get stuck paying for her cruise. I am not THAT generous! I know it's only money, but..........