When The Levee Breaks

man when the shit hits the fan.... it gets all over the place. isnt it weird how we are able to so quickly snap and be so short tempered with the people we love most? my family and i didnt know what to do this evening, and my mom was becoming impatient.... so i made a decision to announce where we were to eat and she went with that. i was in my bath robe having just gotten out off the shower when i made the anouncement, needless to say, everyone else was fully dressed. my mom, in response to my quick decision announced that we were leaving immediately. so i went to my room to get dressed. i then went straight outside. and wouldnt you know it... but i was the first one in the car. that speaks volumes about how my family is able to function.

on the way up to the restaurant my mom insisted i turn down the radio. whatever. i turned it off. she started to talk about our plans for this weekend and for chrstmas. i forget exactly what we accomplished on the ride up, because most of it was repeated once we got the restaurant. this restaurant is a relatively famous local place where they supposedly make the best burgers in the area. there is one in petaluma that is only open during the day, but this on is open for dinner as well. anyways, a classmate of mine works there. she is in my bio and soc class. as i entered the restaurant i decided to respond to all the IMs i got on my sidkeick while i was driving. naturally this girl set us up at our table and while doing so commented on how she always sees me using the sidekick. great, thats just what my mom needed. so then she goes on to lecture me on how, when and where i use the sidekick. whatever. i put it down and listened to what she had to say.

we started talking about what we are gonna do for christmas. which is to spend it down with family in southern california. now.... it will be 4 of us. my mom, me, my brother and my sister. and possibly her dog. my mom insistes that we take the truck. i insist that we take the car. her reasoning is that the truck has more room (obviously) and that it is safer. i tell her that both are comparably safe and that the car gets better mileage and is older/cheaper.... so i dont mind putting a huge chunk of miles on it. (i just thought of something that may change her mind... more on that later) anywas, we argued on that for a while, until my sister grew tired of our bickering and had us change the subject.

we then discussed our plans for tomorow. im not exactly sure what conclusion we came to regarding that, but somehow we ended up talking about our trip again. and we argued about other things, like when we were going to leave, and what we were going to do with the dogs, which we probabaly wont take (layla for sure we wont take). and again, my sister got flustered and ended the discussion. my mom then decided to talk about the way we argue. which, of course, led to an aguement. rinse. repeat. no matter what, we would find something to disagree on and argue about it. something in me enjoys the thrill of doing verbal battle, despite the fact thhat we rarely accompolish anything. anyways, i was trying to make the point to her that people are simply more willing to make a stand for their point of view when communicating with people they know. the mroe you knoww someone, the more comfortable you will be to talk to them, and the easier it will be for you to speak your mind. and when you have people who disagree as much as my mom and my brother and i.... that leads to arguements. such us the nature of discussion. our problem is that we are both pretty stubborn and dont easily concede to one another.

anyways, after we had finished eating things really got interesting. my sister was talking about sosmething and i asked her a question. my mom proceeded to answer. i dont knwo why. so i told her that i was asking my sister. and that i didnt want her opinion. for some reason she took offense to this thinking that i was completely un interested in what she had to say. which isnt true, i simply asked my sister and was therefor interested in her opinion. my mom felt that i needed to hear hers as well. i told her "i was asking emily, i didnt ask your opinion" and she literally said "well im telling you anyway." now.. i realize that i sound insensative when i say "i dont care what you think" but.... theres really no other way to say it. i was just asking my sister a question and expecting an answer from her. not my mom. and my mom was totally convinced that i not only wanted her opinion, but that it was her right to give it.... despite the fact that i clearly directed the question at my sister. it was at this point that i got up and walked out. my brother joined me. he had been wanting to do so for several minutes already.

in the car i turned the radio back on and my brother played his iPod. Stairway to heaven was in progress. my mom and sister eventually joined us and we set off for home. not a minute had passed before my mom wanted to talk. i told her to get it overwith. but when i saw that we were gonna circle back and start the cycle over again i announced i didnt want to talk about it. she quipped at how i suddenly changed my mind about hearing what she had to say. but frankly, she cut me off earlier when i was talking to my sister and i didnt want to keep argueing. but we did anyway. cuz i wanted to make my point that i simply was aking my sister a question and wanted her and only her to answer. we started to argue again but my sister again ended it. we got on the freeway and this asshole behind me was driving up my tailpipe so i moved over to let him pass... he was starting to pass me before i was even out of the lane. i muttered a "geez" over the music and my mom responded by saying "you mean theres a bigger idiot then you on the road? that is amayzing" WHAT!??!? "ths is why we need to take the truck to bakersfield." BECAUSE AN ASSHOLE IN A 300GT WILL BE TAILGATING US!??!?!?! WTF!???!?!? thats more or less how i responded to that remark. and at that point my sister had had enough and screamed for us to stop. so i stopped. turned up the music and proceeded. "When The Levee Breaks" how appropriate.

unfortunately the next song was "Communication Breakdown" and as appropriate as THAT was, my mom couldnt help but comment on that too. "is this your song?" WTF!?!? she doesnt know when to quit. she knows exactly how to piss me off. again she commented on my driving. and the more she spoke the louder the music got and the faster i drove. she wasnt too happy about that. but i was just so fucking pissed off. and my sister was practically in tears.... but of course my mom was there to comfort her... in spite of the fact that she instigated every altercation. i was perfectly happy with driving in silence and enjoying the music. but she insisted on speaking.

should be an interesting trip to the city tomorow. i cant wait.