Today ended up being a good day. It didn't really start that way. I was...frustrated, crestfallen- negative emotions oozing out of me. I was done being flexible- I'm a naturally rigid person and I can only bend so far. With my cousins gone, I was expecting some kind of reprieve; this didn't come at first, and I simply couldn't cope.

What happened was this:

My mom and I had decided to make everyone happy by going to Flower Power today and Macquarie Centre tomorrow. I planned for that and planned to sleep in for awhile, get up late, do my exercise late, etc. Then, when I was 25 minutes into my exercise, I learned Grandma wanted to come to Macquarie Centre, and that she wanted to go NOW- Grandpa would drive us. The twosome made me stop everything and get changed!

I was upset at having to bend yet again, and came upstairs flustered- desperate for some sort of solace. This my mom did NOT provide. Instead, she simply stated,

"Don't bend then. I can go again tomorrow with you and just go alone with Grandma today. You can stay home."

My attempt to let out my exasperation talking to her did not work at all. I ended up getting mad at her, and she at me. She called me a 'selfish jerk' and I was vexed at how little she understood me. In fact, she was treating me as though I had done something wrong, when I was the victim here!

The car ride to Macquarie Centre was silent, except for Grandpa's singing and his and Grandma's chatter. I blocked my ears with my pointer fingers and shoved 'Snowball'- my huge blue down jacket from Aunty Kristie, between my mom and me. We were sitting at opposite ends of the back of the car (the two window seats). I was desperate to create a barrier of some sort between us both. I used my handphone to text my feelings as memos and sniffled into a provided tissue (even then my mom insisted I do not soil my clothes).

At Macquarie Centre, I went my own way- checking out Borders, Kikki K., The Australian Geographic Store and basically had a good look around at everything. My mom persisted in giving my money to do whatever while she persisted in giving me money to do whatever while she escorted Grandma around. I kept refusing, retorting that she shouldn't waste money on a 'selfish jerk' . On my own, I had a good time, although eventually I gave in and went to collect $100 from her. What pissed me off more was that, by the time I got to the store they told me to come meet them at, they were gone and I searched 20 minutes in vain for them.

I called my mom and she apologized, saying they were now having tea at Tea House. Upon arrival, my mom told me that we would discuss our displeasure later and asked me if I wanted a sushi lunch together. I agreed and waited for them to finish their tea so we could have sushi. It turned out that they had ordered hitea with muffins, sandwiches and macaroons stacked on a four-storey platter and lunch on time was out of the question!

Faint with hunger after having skipped morning tea, I hurried to the food court where, after much deliberation, I selected a regular beef kebab from Ali Baba for my lunch. I also grabbed a watermelon juice from a juice bar. I devoured everything hungrily headed for the shops once again, only to run into my mom and Grandma on the way.

Grandma was supposedly tired and my mom was going to escort her home. I decided going home with them was best- I could get lost and I wanted to save good shops to see with my mom. tomorrow;-she promised to come back with me tomorrow. The bus ride (545) back was nauseous. Grandma likes buses because she doesn't get carsick and it was direct (so not walking in between). We wanted to Westfield and it turned out, Grandma had energy for looking at manchesters again. I split up with my mom and her and visited Lincraft and K-Mart, surprised to find Antscope with all 8 pods, at just $33 compared to the $76 it was at the Australian Geographic Store. Wondering around helped me vent too.

An hour later, my mom had sent a very pleased Grandma off with Grandpa (who came to pick her up by car). Grandma had gotten her manchesters and had a very successful day out, according to my mom. My mom called me, and when we met, the past was behind us. We walked around clothes shops a bit, looking for a coat for her for a future job interview. We talked about bad Australian fashion, ate afternoon tea and ended up watching Eclipse. Eclipse somehow made me feel a lot better.

To top the day off, my mom asked me, "Do you want to eat out or not? It's dinner time." I took a deep breath and made a quick decision. "Yes," I said, and we ended up eatinga wonderful sushi dinner that actually didn't cost as much as we thought it would. It was $60 for almost 5 people's worth of sushi train meal, as we ate there and also selected sushi to take home for Grandma and Grandpa. They dug in and ate all 3 people's worth between themselves!

I guess, somehow, in the end everything worked out! Contrary to what they say, sometimes, you CAN please everyone!