Utter parental wackiness

Last night started out just as planned. Forest, Tiff, Dave and I settled in for a nice dinner at Huapei, and yammered amiably at each other with topics farflung and fascinating. We had a lot of fun, and took Tiff and Dave back to MSU, and headed for home, with the idea of a brief clean-up of the house, and an evening on the couch in front of a movie.

Planted on said couch, we munched some popcorn and snuggled up in the dark until the phone rang. Forest picked it up, and was immediatly incensed. Infuriated. Livid.

I suspected something might have been amiss, to say the least.

It took him a few moments of shouting and cursing after hanging up the phone before he could tell me what was wrong. We'll probably never know what happened exactly, but the end-all matter of public record is that his mom and dad got into some sort of altercation in a restaurant parking lot, and she called the police and had him thrown in jail for assault.

This, of course, really upset Forest and his brother and sister. We piled into the car, and rode to Lansing, where we met at Sean's house. I was pretty happy with how everyone was handling this, though. Forest really calmed down, and we all joked about the situation to lighten the mood. We had planned to bail Forest's dad out, but it turns out that they don't allow that in cases of alleged in-family assault, until he sees a judge, which won't be until later today.

So we have no idea how much this is going to cost, or what emotional damage it will have done to the parents. At least the kids are okay. Well, sort of.

Having your family turn into a Jerry Springer episode is pretty damaging, no matter when it happens.

I also think that when parents specifically hurt each other, have each other arrested, talk each other down, or insult each other, it is psychologically hurtful to their kids.

I'm sure you can guess, it was a long and unhappy night. We stayed with Sean, Kristin, Darcy, and Angie while we figured out what we ought to do; and it was decided that we should go to Forest's grandma's house and comfort her, since she was completely distraught over the whole thing. I think by the time we left it was after midnight, but she seemed as though she might be able to go to bed and get some sleep. It's hard on her, because she doesn't really hear well enough for much talking on the phone, so she's counting on Forest and Sean to get the lawyer together and to get the bail taken care of.

Which they are doing today. Hopefully.

In equally unhappy news, Forest and Sean got the Neon fixed to the point where they could test the engine, and discovered that it will have to be replaced. It will cost about $650 to do that. Joy. Forest is hoping they can buy the thing and have it installed and running by Monday. I'm not too optimistic about that. A gal can hope, right?

Today I am living in a world of utter agony. Ordinarily I don't complain about physical pain, because it's easily overcome, and not relevant for future memories. This, however, is worth documenting, so I will remember not to be such a moron again. Apparently I should have gotten this dumb knee examined as soon as I damaged it, because it has only gotten worse and worse. If I sit and rest it for too long, it gets a throbby sort of ache, then when I stand up and walk around it makes an audible popping noise. If I stay up and walking around, though, it starts to hurt a LOT, shoots pain down my shin, and swells up like a grapefruit. It's really disheartening. Unfortunately, today I am not up for dealing with it, because I have a huge headache, am exhausted from lack of sleep and worry, have a runny nose, and a sore throat. I just want to go home and hide, but I can't. I need to work. Really.

What sucks is that I can't go home and hide tonight, either. I have to go home and cook and shop and get ready for the party. It should be a happy thing, but right now it's not, because I am on the verge of tears just from sitting in my damn office chair.

I took some Ibuprofen. It's not helping.

I guess this is getting really depressing, and I ought to knock it off. I'm just being a big wimpy baby. I don't need to turn into a 27-year-old whiner. I shouldn't be feeling sorry for myself, I have a great, wonderful, happy life. I should get some perspective and drag myself out of my body for a while and think about happy trees and fields of daisies.

There's a chance that Forest might not get to attend his Judo class tonight. At least then I would have his comforting companionship while I was in this lovely hell.

Last night I was restless and in pain at bedtime, too. Forest curled up around me and petted my hair, whispered how much he loved me, and shssshhhhed me to sleep. He's awfully sweet that way.