Ugh...I just can't think of an appropriate title to this...I'm that annoyed

Mr. Landlord has a female friend/colleague...I'll call her Maria...in particular that I steer clear of...or at least try to. Maria was in his life long before me, so therefore comes with the package. I am in no way threatened by Maria and am more than sure that she will never become a "romantic" friend to Mr. Landlord. They have more of a father-daughter relationship, as her father has never been present in her life and apparently is a man of questionable character. I respect Mr. Landlord's role of father figure, and can see how it benefits Maria. However, I have NOTHING in common with Maria other than we both have an attachment...albiet different type of...to Mr. Landlord. Quite frankly, I don't like talking with her...she is annoying, and continually reminds me of how much longer she has known and how much better she knows Mr. Landlord than do I -- the latter being a delusion of hers. As a psychologist, I obviously recognize this as insecurity on her part, and knowing what I know about her, can see the role this oneupmanship serves for her and take it in stride. (She not only does this to me, but to other colleagues that they both work with...it's quite juvenile to watch and my sense is other folks feel the same way about her.) As a person, it's annoying. And even more annoying are her attempts at building a relationship with me, especially since I have no desire for said relationship. These attempts are also annoying b/c ultimately they are to serve a superficial purpose...to show me that she is very special to Mr. Landlord...not out of a genuine desire to become a friend to me. I know she has a relationship with him, and I know for her it is special...I also know it is more special for her than for Mr. Landlord.

When Mr. Landlord and I were expecting, she decided she wanted to throw a baby shower for us, which I graciously accepted. What the hell did I know? I had never had a baby before. However, this was one over the top baby shower with catered food and drink, expensive gifts, elaborate invitations, etc. etc. The theme of the baby shower was hunting, as Mr. Landlord is an avid hunter and marksman---I am NOT a hunter, so I was a bit offended that she would only consider Mr. Landlord's interests/hobbies when planning this outrageous event. Yet, I knew also that the focus of the day was the baby and the friends and family that were there to celebrate with us. Ultimately though for Maria, it was an expensive attempt to impress upon everyone in attendance her view that she is the "chosen one" in Mr. Landlord's life (trust me on this delusion of hers)...and that she was the only one that could do such a wonderful thing for him.

Does this all sound a bit selfish/self-centered? Probably...but I focus on this today b/c yesterday was my birthday and the last joyous phone call I got before retiring to bed was from Maria, wanting to wish me a happy birthday...a superficial happy birthday wish at best. And this annoyed me. I personally have not heard from her in almost a year. The conversation, after the initial "Hi! We wanted to call and wish you a happy birthday," turned to how stupid the other colleagues were in her view b/c they just don't know what she knows, they aren't as smart as her, and they don't know how close she is to Mr. Landlord so that makes them idiots, and how she is so worried that Mr. Landlord is working so much and how this could hurt his health, blah blah blah...By the time I got off the phone...30 minutes and several attempts by me to end the call later...I wanted to phone Mr. Landlord, who is out of town on business, and scream at him to intervene and tell this crazy woman to leave my happy ass alone...Obviously me as a person is reacting here...Not me as a psychologist.

I am all about developing friendships and relationships with people...However, I refuse to spend what little and precious time I have with people who engage in relationships solely with self-serving objectives and motives. Spare me your superficial bullshit...I don't have time for it and it gets really messy.