u/jkjohnson003

I’ve been to Gulf Shores/Orange Beach a handful of times, but we’ve always driven. We’re looking at flying for a quick weekend trip at the end of summer and trying to figure out what would be most cost effective for transportation (rent a car vs uber). I like the idea of having our own car ready to go, but didn’t know how easy it was to get to and from the airport to a rental car place.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good shoe/leather cobbler? I’ve got a few shoes I want to stretch and a purse strap I’d like an additional notch in

I posted this post a week ago, as I was expecting a generic text from my MIL since my husband said he would talk to her about giving an apology to make things "okay" between us while he was staying with his parents that weekend.

Fast forward, a few days ago, I received a card in the mail from MIL (using OP name, Husband's last name---which felt like a jab because I kept my maiden name since we got married in our mid 30s and I just felt like I would have an identity crisis changing my name, but that's a whole different topic.)

Anyway, the card was an apology...but it missed the mark. She wrote a multi-paragraph card, but the first paragraph was the only thing relating to an apology. She said she was "sorry for how her gift made me feel because she thought I would like it" instead of owning what the real issue was....which was asking for a $400 gift and giving me something not even remotely close in value. It was the imbalance and the fact that she asked for something so expensive and didn't see an issue with the imbalance. My husband and I do not have as much money as her and FIL, so it's not like we can just afford to give one person a $400 gift and not feel the brunt of the expense.

She spent the subsequent paragraphs talking about how she would love to come see our house and have everyone over for holidays...just immediately moving on from what this should have been about.

I thought long and hard about how to respond and finally (after ChatGPT helped me clean it up lol) send her a text essentially saying:

1. thank you for the card and apology

2. the imbalance in the gifts hurt me

3. me not wanting to visit wasn't solely because of her

4. with this understanding, I'm happy to move forward, and I value this relationship

And it was foolproof because I asked ChatGPT to "make this sound nice enough that my MIL can't cry and my husband won't get mad" lol. I sent that Wednesday at noon. It's currently 2:30pm Saturday and she hasn't responded. I feel like what I sent warranted a response, but please correct me if I am wrong here....because without that understanding, I feel like that whole interaction did nothing for how I feel except finally speak my truth.

I’m rewatching The Hills and I’m getting mad all over again 😂 Spencer is literally the WORST. I’m on season 5 where he punches Stephanie’s ex at the bar after he’s flirting with the bartender and I just don’t see whatever Heidi sees. This man isolated her, embarrassed her, and was so rude to everyone.

Anyone else just legitimately tired? I feel like I get along with most people and a lot of different personalities, but my MIL (and his other two siblings) are something else.

I posted before about my MIL, regarding Christmas and our wedding. Without going through the details, she asked for an expensive gift from me/my husband and gave me something cheap in return ($400 gift for MIL, $20 gift for me). She invited people to our wedding last minute without asking and then cried to everyone and played victim when I told her that wasn’t a cool thing to do. And then the whole wedding in general was weird around his family because of those two events.

We argued this past Christmas about seeing his family since I told him after the wedding I planned to be no contact. I did stay home (he went down there to celebrate with them the weekend before the holiday) and I stayed home with our dog.

He was going down to see his family last weekend since he was playing in a golf tournament with his dad. I took that opportunity to bring up to him that I do not want to continually have this argument every year at the holidays. He agreed that he also didn’t want to argue every year. He said he was fine with me not liking or wanting to see his siblings, but he wanted me and his mom to get along.

I reminded him that when we argued at Christmas, I said all I ever needed was for my feelings to be addressed, if she felt/feels as bad about things as he says (he says she feels bad that we aren’t cool and how she made me feel two Christmas’ ago). So he said he would talk to her and tell her what we discussed and if she could just text an apology. Not even a verbal apology, just text.

It’s been a week and nothing. I don’t want to ask him what happened and seem like I’m on his ass, but I can just feel the next argument looming because this year is flying and holidays will be here again before we know it.

Do I just give up and accept that it’s no contact forever or that I’m just going to have to swallow my feelings and being hurt.