Today is my dad's birthday, so called him up to wish him happy birthday. He's funny because he can talk your ear off. I'm not a phone person at all; I see the phone as a necessary evil, for the most part. I wonder where I got that from because it obviously wasn't my mom or dad. Anyway, we talked for over 3 hours about pretty much everything: my mom, my ss, my late sm, how much he hates all three of them, how he now wants to be cremated, about why it's never wise to mix finances in any relationship, and on and on. Really, even though I don't like the phone, I do enjoy this conversation. I know I can tell my dad anything and he won't repeat it to anyone (although he did offer to give FDH a call and a good a$$ hole reaming while I was venting; I declined).

The subject of my mom came up and how much I was already dreading her visit since I said ok to two weeks, then she told me she bought tickets for three weeks, and now she's texting me to say that she hasn't bought her tickets yet after all and wants to stay an entire month. Yes, my mom is a habitual liar, so this whole chain of events is really nothing new to me and not surprising. Thank God my dad knows her and how she can be. He listens to me tell him the story and also tell him that I haven't texted her back yet because I'm really stressing the whole thing to begin with and do NOT want her hear for an entire month. The he tells me, "Doll Faced, why in the world are you even letting her come visit you at all?! You aren't in the financial position to have her there (I'm really not), you know she's gonna eat you out of house and home (she is), you know she's a slob (she is). You need to tell her that there's no way in hell she can come stay with you all month. Hell, if I were you, I'd tell her not to bother coming at all with all this ticket crap she's pulled."

Of course, my dad is right. I guess I just needed someone to validate that. I still kinda want to give her a chance, but after talking to my dad, I didn't feel pressured into saying "yes" to her staying that long anymore. I told her no. There's just no way. When I agreed to 2 weeks it was knowing that we were already struggling financially, when she said she'd already bought the tickets for 3 weeks, I said ok because she told me she'd already bought them, but now that she's pushing for 4, I really have to put my foot down; we just can't afford it (I kept the health and sanity issues to myself). All of a sudden, she says she's been planning on helping with groceries (she's never mentioned this) and helping around the house (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!), but understands. The new plan is to get here on the 20th and leave the 5th. I am really just so relieved.