(no subject)
So this past weekend was officially one of the craziest up-and-down family weekends of my life.
So it was the annual Pettit/Elliot/Carreras summer weekend. In the past, these weekends have always been either dreaded or coveted, depending on the year or situation. This one was more coveted because I really haven't had any vacation time this summer except to go down to Wildwood with Jen and the guys from the firehouse for a couple of days. On top of that, it's the first time my dad has been home permanently in four years, so I was pretty excited.
It was a fight just trying to get this weekend going. First of all, I had to find hours for work, which was a pain in the ass due to the wonderful "business strategy" of Al Paylor. Then my car battery started to die, so I had to replace it last-minute, and then when I worked Friday, I almost didn't get out in time, which would have screwed up my entire drive. But somehow everything worked out, and at 6:30 on Friday night, I lit a H. Upmann 2000 cigar, rolled down my windows, and began the drive to Ocean City.
The drive wasn't bad; a little traffic, some random rain, but not bad. I got down there and just about everyone was down at the boardwalk except for Uncle Larry, Aunt Jane, Grandmom, and my cousin Crisitn, who was on her way out to the bar to meet up with my cousin DJ. (Little backstory: DJ is one of Uncle Bob's two sons and has been estranged from the family for a number of years, largely due to my uncle's personal problems. Recently, he has come back into the picture due to the "efforts" of my aunt Jane and her daughters, who wanted someone to party with essentially. For whatever reason, probably because i'm the black sheep of the family, and because I actually have an alcohol tolerance, they didn't consider me.) So I hung out, watched the Phillies game, and talked with my uncle and grandmother.
My dad, Cathy, Katie, my uncle Dave, aunt Donna, and cousins Ryan, Jaime, and Jessica came back soon after I got there and we all chatted for a while. Eventually, Larry and Jane's neighbors, the Carnesi's and the Higgins's, showed up because they had been down for the week and felt like hanging out. They're really cool people. In all the years of my dad's family's boycott of everything that is me, they've always been nice to me. So we talked, drank, acted like idiots. The neighbors left after a couple of hours and around 1, everyone started to head to bed.
Here's where it gets really sappy. I was sleeping on an air mattress in the living room/dining room area. I was half-covered with a sheet. My dad and Cathy were sleeping on the sofa bed in the living room area, and my dad got up for a glass of water or something. When he walked back to bed, he pulled my sheet up over me and said "That's my boy." I don't think he knows I heard him, but it was one of the most sincere moments I have ever had with him.
Saturday started out well. Got up, ate a late breakfast, and went down to the beach. That's where things started to go awry. Because DJ is now somewhat a part of the family again, he is being treated like the prodigal grandson, so, with the exception of my immediate family, they all decided to completely ignore me and keep away from me, going so far as a bunch of them swam out to exceedingly deep water, knowing I can't swim, and then moving back in as soon as I got out of the water. I talked with Dad and Cathy about it, who agreed it's the whole "we stay away from the John Pettit's".
That night, things went back up again. We had a small party for Jaime for her birthday, and then we played Kings. I played a drinking game. With my family. My dad's family. It was the most fun i've ever had with any of them. How sad is it that it took a ridiculous amount of booze to enjoy my family.
Well anyway, so I woke up Sunday, ate breakfast, and slowly, everyone started to leave. Of course, no one really made any motions towards me. I finally left the house around 4 and went to the boardwalk before I went home. I bought Jen a sweatshirt, a hat for myself, and a book on political assassinations. Drove home, which didn't take that long, and went to Jen's before work. I am now nearing the end of my exceedingly long work day. I worked Alternative last night and got royally fucked. I'm now at Folcroft and it hasn't been busy at all. Thank God. I needed the break.