Confession...

I have a confession to make. I know, you're thinking "it's too early for confessions, we've just met!" But why not get this part out of the way, early?

I am totally jealous of my husband's sister. (Is she my sister-in-law? I've never been clear on that, I know if one of my siblings gets married, their spouse would be my in-law, but I'm not sure how that works with your spouse's siblings. Anyway, sorry for the tangent.) Like I was saying, I'm completely jealous. She is 5 years younger than we are, very young by today's standards to be a wife and mom. She knew what she wanted, and she went after it. Now, I'm not saying that how she did it is particularly great. Her daughter, Victoria, is 8 months old this week. She's 24, and her husband is 25. In these parts (I live in the northeast), housing is super-expensive, and to afford their townhouse they both have to work. Not a biggie, lots of people do that. But they went ahead and got pregnant the day they bought their house without telling anyone their plans (no joke--I asked her once how long they "tried", 5 DAYS). Now of course that is fine, except when you expect your mother to babysit for you every day, and go to her own job every night. That's right...she babysits by day and works by night, even after the heart attack she had a couple of years ago. No sleep needed!

The extreme selfishness and thoughtlessness astounded me. Add to that the jealousy that she got what she wanted so effortlessly. And of course the bitterness that my husband and I, as the older children, weren't going to have the first grandchild. UGH.

I know that all sounds petty, and it is. I'm really not that petty all the time! And I love my niece. To pieces. But it makes me wonder why the universe is making our trip so hard.