I just did the same - laughed totally out loud when I read the hair-induced puking story. I once watched my MIL take apart an entire head of lettuce and wash each leaf individually and then wrapped it all back together with paper towels separating each layer - and this was on vacation at the beach. Another quirk H has from MIL is that neither of them can eat anything when you can see the actual animal, i.e., a lobster/crab. They can only eat it if someone else takes it out of the shell for them.
Even H can't stand it when we go out to eat and MIL never fails to exclaim every time they put the plate in front of her, "Oh this is too much food, I'll never be able to eat all of this." I mean she says it EVERY time. H and I usually nudge each other under the table right as the waiter sets down the plate, waiting for her to say it. And, she never fails to eat everything on the plate.
The biggest problem is that I think MIL was pretty emotionally distant despite the family-oriented obsession they all seem to have. I'm beginning to think that's the big family 'secret' that I suspect. Everything is 'family' but I don't think they ever spent much time appreciating their kids as individuals. I think they were all expected to be the same, never emotional, never causing disruption to the family unit (or causing MIL any distress). I've come to the conclusion that she is a real 'princess'. Just from what I've learned in the last few months, I've learned that, even though they had 5 little kids and FIL was still working on his doctorate (in the 50's) so was not even a full professor and had a mortgage, MIL had diaper service for each baby, cleaning women throughout H's childhood, H/siblings apparently didn't take lunch to school(bought school lunches). Neither of their families had any wealth at all. I don't know about anyone else, but that's not the way we lived back then and we were fairly middle class. Add the fact MIL always acts as if 5 kids didn't have much impact on her life, as if they always just did what they were supposed to, and it just seems a little strange to me. But then again I may be way off base and MIL/FIL are as perfect as their children see them.
Well, this is all just sideshow stuff. I only think about it when I'm trying to figure out what makes my H tick.
The weekend was good - I never stopped eating the entire weekend, watched the boat parade, and hung out with friends. I have to say I didn't even miss H.
More positives - I was out on the deck when H got home late after his meeting, and he started dinner for us. I finished the cooking, and then after, he took our plates in and cleaned up. It was like smooth-flowing teamwork.
