Shock and Awe

First, I very sincerely hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

Ours went fairly well. My folks came up from Tennessee and went overboard, as usual. Sis #2 recuperated enough to join us Christmas Day after being hit with that nasty stomach bug going around. I really do think it was a pretty good Christmas.

One thing did stand out as odd. DH's ex did something nice.

I know. *gasp!* OMB! Who are you and what have you done with the ex! (Not that we necessarily want the old one back, but ...)

We got a call from DSS on Saturday asking if he could drop off something for us. After arriving within a reasonable length of time (again, *gasp!*), DSS gave us two gift bags of goodies, one for us and one for my parents. DSS had to run off again, so we were left staring at each other stupidly. DH's expression said it all: WTF?

He actually turned to me and asked, "So, do you think it's safe to eat?"

Sure enough, when we opened it, there were some pre-wrapped goodies, including the oreos dipped in vanilla almond bark that I so love. There were some homebaked cookies too. The gingerbread men were intact, not with their heads ripped off, or knives in their backs. No vile messages written in icing. No Ex-lax laced chocolate chip cookies.

It was actually a very nice thing.

And to top it all off, the bags said, "Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All."

Of course, you have to remember that DSS has half of DH's DNA and DH is nearly a saint as far as I am concerned. Just last week DSS went up to another kid at school to check to see if he was OK because he seemed upset. Of course, he got kicked in the nuts for his consideration, but still it was a nice thing to do. He thinks the world of my parents and I have no trouble believing that he was behind the entire production. It's the part where his mom actually drove across town to deliver them that I have a hard time believing.

(For those of you new to the saga, we are in the beginning stages of what will no doubt be a very ugly custody battle for DSS.)

So, like, wow. And Hmm. Sorry, but once bitten, twice shy. It's really too bad that our experiences in the past have given us reason to doubt her motives. But, for now anyway, I will chalk it up to the idea that DSS wanted to do something nice.

And as for a certain other person on my poop list, yes I took the high road and was civil. That does not mean I've forgiven and forgotten. Sorry, but when some idiot spreads rumors at work out of spite about one of the most sacred things in your life, you just don't roll over on it. At least I don't. On this, I won't. Some things are worth defending.

Mellencamp has a line in one of his songs that I think goes something like this:
You gotta stand for somethin'
Or you'll fall for anything.