Updates: Reconnecting with family, grandma, my dog, and Nada's crazy emails

[Guest guest]

Hey!

I'm still a little overwhelmed, so I can't really process much. I'm just going

to write an update on my situation and it will probably be long, and I will

probably write more later too, and someone please let me know if I'm taking up

too much space, ok? (I feel a lil' guilty)

Where we left off: I was nervous about reconnecting with my dad, my

half-siblings, and his new partner after about a decade. My grandma was

returning to Canada after an extended stay abroad. My mum was flying up to give

my dog to my grandma. I am NC. I want my dog to be with my grandma.

***Reconnecting

It was wonderful! I slipped back into the family so easily that, well, I barely

noticed it. Being the oldest sibling has a LOT of perks (I got shotgun), and it

was really nice to not be the adult again. My brother just turned 13 and he's a

CLASSIC teenage boy. My sister is turning 11 this year (still 10), and she's

adorable. Dad still seems like a great parent. His new partner Robin is really

warm and friendly, and she fit in perfectly. Her daughter is 3 and SO much fun

to play with (and really easygoing, so easy to take care of). We went camping,

but I also got to see my step-mum (well, ex-step-mum), her new husband and " new "

daughter, and my step-grandparents. They invited me over for part of winter

holiday (as did my step-grandparents and my dad)--my step-aunt couldn't make it

but sent along the same message. The best way to sum up the trip is when we went

to the camp's comfort/info-station for breakfast yesterday morning. Dad and

Robin organized our orders and paid for them. I grabbed cutlery and chose a

table. My brother and sister bickered over who got to sit where. Dad put me in

charge while he went to the tourist shop to pick something up and Robin took her

3-year-old to the loo. Dad came back and my brother went out to the porch just

in time to see the food arrive at our table through the window. We laughed at

him, and he came back, and to any stranger passing by we looked like a normal,

two-parent four-kid family (we all look kind of alike). My winter break lasts

anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks depending on if I participate in an inter-term

session, so I can't wait to see them all again in a few months.

***Grandma

I just got an email from her saying that Nada went on an emotional rollercoaster

while she was there and that it was like a melodrama. Now my mum wants my dog

back ( " I want her " " I need her " " I'm in pain without her " ) even though the dog

is doing really, really well. My grandma's email said that she was going to give

in to Nada, so I sent her an email saying " Let's catch up " and also asking if

she had told Nada that yet, because I'm hoping I can talk her into keeping the

dog and keeping her resolve (and boundaries) up!

***Nada

She sent me 42 emails while I was away.

FORTY-F***ING-TWO

In her defense, they were only pictures. Old family pictures of her and her

sister, and some aunts/uncles/cousins/grandparents, and a lot of her with the

family in Egypt (a few of the family in Germany). She sent each photo

individually (she *knows* how to make sip files and attach more than one

document... she taught ME how to make zip files). It was strange since we're NC,

but oh well.

***Me

I just found out that even though I moved in under the old lease, my housemates

want me to pay $700 (security and last month) which is logical IF they had told

me that when I moved in since I can't bloody afford it, not even over their

6-month period. *Grumble* I really need to find another loan.

-Frances