STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

That sucks. I would be pissed, but that's me. If she is in the travel industry and has connections then I would not think it would be unreasonable to ask for 2 tickets, especially since it is a funeral in which case people are generally sympatetic twords.

sorry if I'm being blunt, but again, this is how I would react. Also consider that I do not know all other surrounding factors, which may lead me to be more sympathetic and apologetic twords your MIL.

Man! Your MIL sounds like a bitch! (Not to be crude but she does.) In my family, there is no such thing as one person, if they're married. It's always a two-person deal. My brother is no longer just V. He's V&A to everyone. It's not even a question that she's included in absolutely everything family related.

I don't think you're being sensitive. Maybe you can look online and see if you can find a cheap ticket for yourself anyway? Delta is starting the price war, so it might be worth a shot.

But like lsubatgirl said, I'm not sure I would bring it up to my hubbie. It's hard enough to lose a loved one without having to deal with the fact that your mother is a total jerk at the same time.

I say, if you can at all swing it, go to the funeral anyway so she doesn't control what y'all do. Show her that y'all are a team, not two individuals (at least not in this sense).

I hope everything turns out okay!

Hey girls, thanks for the responses.  I'm glad to know most of you think I'm not being overly sensitive about this.  These things with her ALWAYS seem to happen, and she always manages to make it look like I'm overreacting. 

Blubirde--I totally identify with what you said about your family treating your brother and his wife like they are one.  That is how my family is and I have always wanted for her to treat my huby and that way but she never does.  She even buys me cheaper x-mas presents, etc. (I got $2.99 clearance underwear from the Gap, among other things) and if I say something to him, I look like a bitch.  She never will assume that we are united and if we act like we are she gets all offended.  And, if anything shows her true colors it is the fact that she almost never visited the poor lady (my hubby's dad's mom who just died) while she was sick AND I even overheard my hubby asking her (his mom) if SHE was going to the funeral!!  You know you've got a bitch for a MIL when your hubby has to ask her if she is going to her own hubby's mom's funeral!  When I mentioned it to him he kind of agreed but then defended her and said that she might have had to travel on business (which she does every week)--but still!

Anyway, BB and esquire--I liked your idea of checking the flights.  i checked orbitz and of course there are TONS of fares in the low $400s.  So MIL must not have been totally honest when she said that everything was in the thousands except this one fare in the 400s that she *might* be able to get!  Uggh--I hate how she uses her connections to manipulate ppl!  Okay, I'll shut up now.  Thanks for letting me vent though and if anyone else has any input please let me know!

you're definitely not overreacting.  from what you've said in the past, it sounds like this woman just likes to make you feel like an outsider...she's probably bitter because you stole her little boy away or whatever, but she needs to get over it.  and (i know you didn't ask for this advice but it gets me a little mad) your hubby should really stand up to her in your "defense."   like "i really want alb to be there with me, so please try to get her a ticket too"...but also in all these other frequent situations where she seems to try to exclude you or make you feel inferior. 

wow, sorry, i just got upset reading that...she could at the very least be nice to you for the 9 months you're pregnant with her grandchild!!

feel free to tell me to shut up.

Thanks for the additional comments.  Fireball--I agree with you 100% and it's nice to hear (or read) that someone else validates my opinions & hunches.  Yes I think she is a little bitter that I took her precious son away & b/c he started standing up to her more adamantly and frequently when I came into the picture.  But good lord it's been 6 1/2 yrs!  I think normally he would have pressed for her to get me a ticket but I've been really sick with a cold lately and he had to get up at 4:30 this morning to get to the airport so it was probably better that I stayed here.  I would have pushed it a little more if I weren't sick though. 

Oh and a couple of other things have occurred that REALLY ANNOY ME & make her look even worse--

1.  after she got his ticket, which is for one full day (he gets home tonight after midnight), she tried to guilt him into staying until the next day, even though he would be there for the funeral, wake and everything w/ his ticket as is.

2.  I found out that when she told him about the ticket she got, she didn't say anything about getting only one ticket until he said at the VERY END of the conversation "alb and I will pick the tix up at the airport."  Only at that point did she bother to mention that she neglected to get me a ticket (even after he told him we were planning on me going).

3.  This is the worst one of all---the family will all be at the grandparents' house about 45 minutes away from the airport and hubby had to rent a car in part b/c they wouldn't go pick him up (the other reason is so he can get away afterwards, but still).  Well, its his Dad's mom & family so obviously he will be busy getting ready for the funeral, etc. but his mom didn't offer b/c she decided a couple of yrs ago to boycott driving.  She makes her husband drive her everywhere or she takes cabs (and she lives in Dallas, BTW, a driving city).  Anyway, we thought fine, he'll just rent a car and that way he can at least leave the burial and go straight to the airport without having to rely on anyone else.  So then he tried to get a rental car for over an hour last night and they are all booked!  There are apparently 3 conventions in Dallas and not one rental company had a car available.  So he called his mom and told her about the issue and instead of offering AT THAT POINT to pick him up, she said "I'll see if I can find someone to get you."  Now, mind you, the dad's family doesn't really like her (surprising, huh?) and she has little to no relationship with them so she will NOT be helping with the funeral plans, etc.  She's just lazy.  Anyway, finally she calls back and apparently she roped some cousin into picking him up at 9:00 this morning at the airport!  I'm sure these ppl were thinking "Pick up your own damn kid!!"  As an alternative, she "cashed in a favor" again by calling her "Hertz rep" and gave him the option of renting a car, at the price of $110 to rent it for one day.  Can you believe that??  So he paid it just so he wouldn't have to deal with her. 

Sorry for the long post but it is so great to be able to vent about this here!!  Now you guys can tell ME to shut up!