I had a terrible weekend, thanks for asking. Really, the worst one in forever. First of all, Casey was gone from Thursday morning until Sunday night, which sucked because I really missed her. Whenever one of the kids is gone, I'm always on edge. And probably on the verge of a breakdown. So yeah, I was already jittery and scattered and off balance.

Brian and I had a fight on Friday, over nothing really. I blame myself, I overreacted and took another step closer to that breakdown. It was terrible. I hate it when we fight. Luckily we don't do it very often, this may have been our third or fourth fight ever.

We worked it out, of course, and everything was fine again. We ordered a pizza and watched some tv before going to bed. The fight alone would have been enough to ruin my weekend, but then, something even worse happened.

I wish I knew how to put a long post behind a link that you would have to click to read it. Because I would definitely put one here. Since I don't know how to do that with blogger, I'm filling the space with this nonsense to heighten the tension :) it's working, right?

Anyway, at about 2:30am, the phone rang. I checked the Caller ID screen and it was my youngest sister. I answered but there was no one on the other line. I assumed that she was drunk-dialing people and that she called me by mistake. Because everyone knows not to call me after my bedtime unless they want to be killed. I hung up the phone and less than a minute later, it rang again. It was her again and the first thing she said was, "I have some bad news." Scary. Seriously, I thought someone had died or something. It was a completely irrational thought though, because no one would charge her with calling me to tell me that someone had died. Hell, it was 2:30, I wasn't thinking rationally.

The next thing she said was, "I'm calling to tell you that Stephen and Hannah were just arrested for underage drinking." My response was, "I assume you're joking." but unfortunately, she wasn't. Even more unfortunately, they had been drinking at her house. Right after she told me that, call waiting kicked in and it was Hannah, calling from the police station. She was crying and was so upset that the police officer had to take the phone from her and tell me what was going on. He said that they were going to give her a breathalyzer test and that afterwards, we could pick her up and take her home.

So yeah, we got dressed and drove about three blocks to the police station. Since we live so close, we had to wait around for them to finish whatever it was that needed finishing. One of the arresting officers came out to talk to us, said that they picked up 9 underage drinkers, including my two. He told us that my brother-in-law said that they didn't buy the alcohol for the kids, but providing them a place to drink is also against the law. That really pissed me off, that he was trying to get out of trouble when both of them had clearly been doing something wrong.

I asked the police officer what would happen to the "hosts" and he said that they weren't able to bring them in because the three squad cars there were full and they didn't have room. He also said that it was up to the prosecutor to decide whether to press charges against each of them for each underage drinker or whether there would just be one charge for the whole thing. Personally, I'm still so mad, I hope they get them for each one. If I was able to vote...well, lucky for both of them, I'm not.

We took the kids home and tried to go back to sleep but by then, neither of us really felt tired. We talked for a long time and then watched some tv before we were able to fall asleep again. Even then though, I didn't sleep well. Too much bad stuff was running through my head and I eventually gave up. Our plans for Saturday were pretty much ruined, even though we still kept them, because I was too angry and tired to enjoy myself.

I know that kids drink, lots of kids. Hell, we all did it. Except for you, Ian. I'm not really angry at them for that. I am angry at Hannah for lying to us about where she was (she was supposed to be spending the night with a friend), but we've all lied about that too. I am glad that they got caught, because being arrested and handcuffed and taken to the police station probably makes a bigger impression than listening to me bitch about it. At least I know it did for Han. She was really upset, even the next morning.

I do wish that she didn't have to go to court. I expect that they will put her on probation for a while, which sucks, even if she does deserve it. And of course, she's grounded, which means that she has to miss the concert she was planning to attend this Saturday. As for Stephen, there's not a lot I can do with him. He is an adult, technically. I can lecture him about drinking, which I did, but I have no control over what he does outside the house. It will be a long time before I trust him, even longer before Hannah is allowed to go anywhere with him. I am a lot more calm and rational about it today. It happened, and it sucked. But I'm trying not to overreact. So far, I'm succeeding.

The exception is my sister. And her husband. Thankfully, their boys were spending the night with grandpa. Because if those babies had been there while they were having a stupid party, I would have kicked her ass. We haven't spoken since she called me to tell me about the kids. I don't plan on speaking to her for a long time.

I'm so furious with her, not just for what happened Friday night but for the other times when she knew Hannah was drinking and didn't tell me. I'm angry at her for being so pathetic and immature that she and the loser she married think it's acceptable and cool to party with Stephen and his friends, who are almost all under 21. I'm pissed off that two months ago she looked me right in the eye and lied when she said she would keep an eye on Hannah and let me know if she was doing something I wouldn't want her to do.

I'm disappointed that she would rather "be cool" than be honest and mature and an adult. I'm angry that she not only turned a blind eye but also helped and encouraged the children to drink and hide it from their parents. I feel so hurt and betrayed and ashamed of her. Our friendship is severely damaged, possibly past the point of repair. It might be too soon to tell, but I can't ever imagine not feeling the way I do right now to some degree.

The rest of the weekend was uneventful. Casey got home Sunday night at about 6:30. Brian and I were grateful that she wasn't there to see or hear about all the other bullshit that was going on. She had a good time with her friend and was completely worn out. I can't wait to see the pictures. Man, this was a long post.

Anyone who is still here should visit my renter (click the thumbnail below my profile). I'm sure she has a much more entertaining post for you to read, once your eyeballs stop burning from staring at my lavender blog for the last hour :)