Lunch? Nope!

In the last year or so, almost every time Kathy and I have gone somewhere for  sit down meal, I get my ass handed to me for something I didn't do or had little or no control over.

For example, Last week she asked me to go with her to look at houses in Denison. After looking at a bunch of places  that not even I would live in, she offered dinner. She was sweet. At least up until we placed the order. Then she flipped. I got all the shit about our daughter coming to the States for Christmas, even though she professses to be pagan. AND the baby shouldn't travel until it;s six months old. AND she will stay with a family Kathy has alienated after influencing their eldest daughter to go to a school not in their neighborhood Just because Kyla was being forced to go to that school since Kathy worked there. Her excuse was that there were so many teen pregnancies and physical assaults at the school closer to home. It was bullshit: a way for Kathy to exercise control over her daughter.
I ate my meal without even tasting it. I was so upset, I ate everything, just stuffed it in. And had a stomach ache and heartburn for a day or so afterward.

Last Wednesday, she stayed in my house so I could drive her to the airport early the next morning. She was pleasant as she unpacked and repacked her suitcases. She was even thankful to do laundry in a clean machine.I made sure she had a fan blowing on her so she could sleep better. We decided to go out to dinner at a restaurant in town I wanted to try. Once again, she was gracious until we placed our order and then Olga the Witch came out of her. I let her talk. I just didn't listen. There were some nasty things she said about somebody, but I just let her vent. I didn't even smile and nod. The food came and she sort of went back to pleasant, but not entirely. She critiqued the food as she ate. I let her pay the bill.
Oh, by the way, I had stayed home from work, missed eight hours of pay, because she asked me to be there to help her.

Daughter says " You know you are divorced, right?" and "You don't have to put up with her crap any more: she fired you!"

So. No more meals with Kathy. If she asks why, I will explain that I want to enjoy my mealtimes, not suffer through them. If she has so much venom (as her mother did before her) in her soul, so much feeling the victim, so much self centrism, then she can eat alone.