June 25, 2000
A visit from Mom!
In my fortune cookie tonight: "Your home is a pleasant place that you draw great happiness from." Oh yeah.
I had a good weekend -- girlie stuff with Mom. She drove down from Vermont Saturday morning, and we headed off for Boston. I had an appointment to get my hair cut at a swanky Newbury Street salon -- one of those deals where they do a consultation and decide what haircut works best for you. My hairdresser was a sweetheart -- I ended up telling her my whole life story while she was washing my hair. She gave me an excellent haircut -- if I only had a webcam... it's nice and short in the back, with lots of layers. She gave me some stuff that I use to get that "I just rolled out of bed" tousled look, and it's just perfect.
After the haircut, we went shopping... and saw Barry and his girlfriend at the mall. Barry saw my mom, turned dead white, and just stood stock-still with his mouth hanging open. When I saw him a few minutes later, he was shaking like a leaf. Probably afriad we were going to beat him up... and, at risk of being catty, his girlfriend is just the most nondescript little thing I have ever seen. I was five feet from her, looking right at her, and I honestly couldn't describe her. She has... hair, I guess, and she must have a face... but she's so plain I forgot what she looked like almost instantly. She was wearing a little shapeless dress that made her look like a middle-aged housewife... and the way the two of them were bickering was lovely to behold. They disappeared shortly after we saw them. Heh.
We took a little ferry ride after shopping -- the boat leaves from in front of the mall, and goes down the Charles River, past MIT and the Back Bay to Harvard. It was beautiful out on the water, with a nice cool breeze and the sun shining. It was cheap, and relaxing.
Today we went to Harvard Square and shooped yet again, and got some lunch in a diner. She left here a few hours ago. My roommate came home and talked me into Chinese food for dinner (okay, so she really didn't have to twist my arm too much...). We ate, drank a couple of beers, and talked... very nice.
I am feeling so much better, these past few weeks. I didn't realize how unhappy I'd been. Now that the constant stream of criticism is gone, I feel like a new person. I'm happy for the first time in so long, I don't know what to do with myself. Barry's so aimless, and so self-absorbed... I hadn't realized just how frustrated and depressed I had been until that negative influence was taken away. And yes, I feel like a fool for staying in the situation for so long... but it's over now. And I couldn't be happier.
Posted by Mary Ellen at June 25, 2000 03:11 PM