9am pálinka never seemed so deserved

Being a Cali-kid I never really experienced thunderstorms and lightning. Nor for that matter did I ever really experience rain out of season, which in California is late fall - winter; it just does not rain in warm weather, what with being a desert and all.

Which is how I found myself sitting on the balcony last night at 11pm watching the most amazing lightning/thunder combo ever. Even when hail the size of gobstoppers began pelting my forearms and head, I could not quit the storm. It is simply amazing to my virgin eyes; I realized I would be able to withstand the disgusting humidity if the lightning is this spectacular.

I may, however, not be able to withstand the serious emotional roller coaster everyone seems signed on for when the humidity reaches its peak: everyone, in my extended family at least, gets all snappy and short the hotter and wetter it gets. Something done in an act of kindness is twisted and thrown in your face or you're schooled like a child for arbitrary allowances.

Or both.

It started on Friday, I guess, when Zoli and I purchased a present for Julia. We thought nothing of it, I mean GAWD, the kid has to wait eternities for things because we're never sure which country we'll be in and whether we should buy something here or there. Apparently, the MIL thought it an extreme waste of money and rather than tell this to Zoli, she waited until we were alone together to throw it in my face the fact that we have "so much money to waste." Her words, translated of course, not mine. Yes, we have money. We worked really hard: first at saving the damn stuff by not buying anything save essentials, and secondly at making it last. Again, by only buying essentials.*

But I digress.

Add to the fact that I cannot really respond besides shrugging my shoulders and harrumphing. Add to that his aunt and sister telling me that I'm not teaching my daughter how to write properly because she writes her /s/ and /j/, /4/ and /5/ backwards. I tried to reason that at 5 it doesn't matter that her letters are often confused, the important thing is that is resembles the character it is meant to denote. But they weren't buying it, they began to argue with me over how stupid my kid would turn out if I didn't stop and tell her she's "doing it wrong."

Ah, yes so wisdomous I could cry. I did.

*I read somewhere that the average couple (average salary, average expenses, minimal debt) is able to save around 11,000 dollars a year. We saved close to thirty. That is some hard shit to do, let me tell you.