Thursday, January 23, 2014

2014.01.07

Finishing where I left off: I had offered to buy tickets that would get us to NY just in time - and I mean just - but, again, she wouldn’t make the commitment. So we drove to Dallas instead. This is Friday, the 3rd. We get to Dallas, drop the dog off, and check into a Hotel where MW eats the food she’d prepared in Houston.

MW has created a very strict, very inconvenient diet that she wholeheartedly believes helps her sleep. It is a lot of food and it has to be eaten on schedule every day. She cannot vary these meals. Travel is, therefore, difficult. Nevertheless, we made it to Dallas and ate appropriately.

Surprisingly, she sleeps very well that night. I get very little sleep - hotel noise and lights plus her movement/snoring keep me up.

The next morning she arranged to visit friends. These friends are casual acquaintances, but MW is head-over-heels in love with the husband. Not sexual, but she places the burden of brotherhood on the poor guy and he - being a decent chap - does not refute.

The plan is to have breakfast with them, then drive back to Houston in time so she can eat her lunch. After breakfast, they ask what plans we have - MW lies and says she’s visiting another friend that evening. They invite us to spend the night at their house.

We go to Whole Foods, buy MW’s lunch (Fish, Eggs, Chicken, Spinach plus some frozen meals) and she goes to their house to cook.

They display remarkable patience as she cooks both lunch and dinner at their house. This takes pretty much all day.

I leave with the husband to get our food. When we return, MW has told them that we are going to spend the night with the other friend we are supposed to be visiting. A lie and a confusing one. My suggestion had been to leave for a couple hours, pretend to visit the other friend, then return to spend the night with these lovely people. She changed that plan. Reason? The guest bedroom was at the top of a winding staircase and she was afraid she would become disoriented and tumble down the stairs.

After diner we have to leave. MW hedges and tells them she may want to come back and spend the night at their house.

Back-and-forth.

We spend a few hours debating over the best course of action (no debate, really, just me telling her “whatever you want”)

She cannot decide. Eventually it becomes too late and we check into another hotel for the night.

Note the trend: MW has lost the ability to make decisions. Classic HD behavior and, because of the unfortunate history of our relationship (she has always made all decisions and any of my suggestions are immediately discounted because… well. Because I’m me.) crippling our lives. We can make no plans.

She does sleep well that night (Saturday). We drive home in the morning.

The next night (Sunday) our sleeping arrangement is once again revised. Now both queen sized mattresses have been moved to the sitting room turning the small space into one huge bed. She sleeps fairly well on bed-zilla.

Monday I desperately want to go back to work (I haven’t had a moment to myself in five days!) but she looks like she’ll have a breakdown if I force the issue so I agree to take one more day off.

Driving around in the morning, she notices one of her toenails has turned blue. She panics. I have no idea what she thinks would cause a blue toenail nor, when she forces me to look at it, can I tell it is “blue”. It may be a slightly lighter shade of pink than the other toenails - but it isn’t blue. Of course my reassurances don’t mean anything so we drive to one of her friend’s house for him to look at it. He used to be a nurse. He can’t tell her anything but to go see a doctor.

Shortly after this visit, the toenail returns to a normal shade. Crisis averted. Only now she is wondering if her behavior is indicative of HD.

No, I say.

I’m reminded of a Twilight Zone episode - or maybe it was a comic in an old horror magazine - where a wife is convinced her husband is a vampire because of his odd behavior. As it turns out, she is the vampire and the husband is killing victims to keep her fed while convincing her she is drinking juice, not blood. He loves her so much, you see, he can’t bring himself to let her know she’s the one who is undead.

I feel you, man.

The remainder of the day is uneventful. I’m relieved to find that enrolling her for typing and another BS class at the community college is only $400. Money, now, is not a problem, but she is not working and if she keeps incurring these expenses, it may soon become one.

She sleeps well Monday night too.

Which brings us up to date. I’m at work - finally! - and very happy to be so.

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