The good news I have to share is that next Monday, 4th November, I'm going to have a civil partnership ceremony with my other half,  Skawinski. We're going to have a few close friends and family invited to the ceremony, including  tarkndark and  avon as our legal witnesses. I'm looking forward to having this ceremony with said close friends and family and finally having that piece of paper that legally recognises our relationship.

However, upcoming events like this are always a catalyst for things like family drama of course.

In this case, my mother heard through the grapevine that this was going ahead. She is not invited, and I consider myself estranged from her. For a variety of reasons, it is currently my choice to maintain that estrangement. But she has been trying to work her way into being invited to the ceremony, which I am resisting. All of those in attendance are understanding of the situation and are aware of the background. Even her arising in my life in the periphery in a way that I can somewhat control has caused me to spend days reliving painful memories from my past (which she has done nothing to take responsibility for, or to reconcile), and for my anxiety to shoot through the roof. So when today a nurse takes my blood pressure and shows serious concerns about how high it is all of a sudden... Yeah I think I know what the source of it is.

I am still worried about what else could kick off between now and then, especially as my sister is invited and is having to go on the down-low as she still lives with dearest mother. And the things she has done in the past, and which I know she is capable of, make me very concerned about my sister's wellbeing, both about this and generally.

My family is a clusterfuck. And my mother being the centre of gravity for it turns the whole thing to poison. I just hope the next week goes to plan without major incident.