March? Already?

Norma is settled but not real happy in her new place at Atria.  Marianne is back from her annual cruise (even saying "annual cruise" makes me a little bit jealous).  Grades are done and turned in for the second trimester at school.  I'm nearly finished coughing from a nasty virus.  Mike retires in two weeks.  It's been a busy little time here in happy valley.  Too bad I still had time to read the paper, because following the legislature in their annual stupidfest was the last thing I needed to do while coping with the rest of all that.

Today is the first truly quiet day I've had since about December 31st.  That's when Norma got sick and ended up in the hospital.  After that all hell broke loose, as they say.  We're still mucking up some of the mess.  We have a house to finish clearing out so it can be put on the market.  We have some items of furniture to sell and other things to find homes for including many, many dolls and miniature tea sets. Clearing out that house has left me with a much longer list of New Year's Resolutions than I normally make (which is none, BTW).

1.  Never, EVER collect anything.  Just don't do it.  If you find you have more of something than you can remember, you have TOO MANY.  Time to stop amassing them.
2.  Value a good spouse over anything else in your life.  Keep him or her happy.  Give him back rubs and foot rubs.  Rub whatever it takes to get him or her to hang around.  A good spouse is priceless.
3.  Stop drinking wine before bedtime.  It will not help you sleep as much as it will upset your stomach.  Even a tiny little bit will upset your stomach because wine does not love you as much as you love it.
4.  Write down the awful, awkward, hurtful, and just plain hard things your parents do to you and plan to read those notes when you are in the same fix as they are now.  You may save your child some pain.
5.  Forgive everyone.  Someday they'll have to forgive you.
6.  Check before you buy a new toothbrush or bottle of aspirin.  You don't need 27 of these things hanging around.  No one needs 27 of them.  And no one wants the ones you have hiding in your bathroom cabinets.
7.  Figure out how to get around your city before someone has to take your car away from you.  Then thumb your nose at that person as you hop on the bus.
8.  Get help with your finances immediately if you find you can't balance your checkbook.  Believe your child or spouse when they tell you how much money you have and don't spend more.
9.  When the paramedics have to lift you from the floor to take you to the ER wearing dirty underwear trumps wearing no underwear.  Don't take it off if you can't replace it.
10. Tell the people you love often and soon that you value them.  Don't wait until it sounds like bribery.  You want them to know you love them before they are obliged to take care of you.

There are others, but ten will have to do.  I don't think I'll have much trouble following through on most of them.  Though I do have a few too many toothbrushes hanging around.

Developments

Shortly after going back home my mom decided she didn't like being there without use of a car.  (Never mind that she never went anywhere except her senior center and the store, both of which we found ways of getting her to...)  She "felt like a prisoner" in her home and decided she wanted to move to a senior living community.  I am actually very happy for her and feel she has made a good decision.  I think she'll be happier somewhere she can see more people daily.  She enjoyed staying with us and if it had been possible we might have made that semi-permanent.  But with no real bedroom or bath on the main floor it wasn't practical here.  Marianne's house would have been better but for the dogs.  They are big enough to knock into her and she is none too steady on her feet as it is.  So the senior community is a good choice.  It's jarringly expensive and her ability to get used to the routines there is questionable.  But she has a room reserved and moves next weekend.  Why do I feel as if I'm sending one of my children off to college?

Update

Norma is still at our house recovering.  She spent a few nights in the hospital, and now is living here.  She may not go home but to assisted living.  We're still looking.

Happy New Year

New Years Eve was a bit unusual.  We got a call from the medical alarm company just before 7 am.  Norma had activated her alarm.  We rushed over and found her on the floor.  She appeared unhurt, but pretty sick.  We ended up calling the paramedics and having her taken to the hospital.  Most of her test results came out fine, though there was an indication she had a bleeding ulcer.  It took almost 8 hours before they decided to keep her and do more tests.  Now we understand it really is a bleeding ulcer and she'll be in the hospital for a few days while they get her back to health.  Marianne and I will be using that time to decide if she can still live alone.  Meanwhile she's mad as hell to be sitting in a hospital bed hooked up to tubes and wires.  Happy new year all.

How do you feel about pot?

 

It has come to my attention that certain members of my circle of acquaintances are quietly smoking a substance that is at the present time illegal.  I can't say I'm surprised by this.  I imagine that it's quite common for individuals in any circle of friends to do things that are technically illegal.  Like parking too near a stop sign, or speeding on the freeway.  I personally know adults who have shoplifted and others who have cheated on their taxes.  I'm not immune, either.  I walked drunkenly down a street shortly after celebrating my engagement.  I regularly go faster than I should on roads that are not near schools.  I reuse stamps if they haven't been canceled.  And I have knowingly kept several extra mints from the bowl at the entrance to Macaroni Grill.  But the idea of smoking pot, well, that's kind of different.  I worry about the rather serious consequences of the act even as I acknowledge that they rarely happen.  I also worry about the problems caused when one is impaired.  It likely isn't much different than the effects of alcohol, however, the results can be much more significant.  So I wonder how others feel about this.  My generation has had their go at laws regulating mind altering substances.  What will the next generation do?  Is it looked on differently?  Should I worry about these friends or just smile and think perhaps I'm just old fashioned?  

Forced to tell people what I want

Along with the obvious, another reason I write this is that we had a dinner party yesterday.  People there wanted us to share a memory from our childhood holidays.  I have plenty of memories, just nothing I wanted to share with the group in attendance.  How does one get oneself out of such a "sharing" situation without looking like a total jerk?  When you know, let me in on it, because it made me pretty uncomfortable.

Now to the list:

This is a cute teapot and tea I've been wanting for some time.  It doesn't have to be this exact one, but one similar at least.

I would love some Honey Sticks, though I'm pretty sure you can get them locally.  And I don't care what variety as long as it isn't something crazy like lemon zest of jalapeno.

The Blind Side DVD

This book about online teaching

I would like a new carry-on suitcase in a color other than black.

I could use a 8 gb SD card for my computer and a new 4 or 8 gb jump drive with a STURDY way to connect it to my key ring.

27" half slip in extra large or size 40 in black.

A couple of seed starting items this and this. Though this is a big item and we're moving...

A back rub from Lucas (not a certificate which I tend to lose)
A dinner cooked by Kimmi
Dinner at Carrabbas from Mike

That's it. I can't think of anything else.

Following the Turkey down Memory Lane

Thanksgiving always makes me think of family.  We aren't a big group - five cousins from my mom's side, three from my dad's.  We spent our holidays in one of three places.  We sometimes went to my mother's mom who lived in Brigham City.  More often we went to my dad's mom who lived less than a mile from us.  (I walked that route, rain, shine, and snow more times than I can count.  I miss it, and her.)  We frequently stayed home and people would come to us.  We were the only kids in the valley at the time and it was easier, I think, for my grandparents and my aunt to visit us as they could send us off to bed when we got cranky.  My aunt was much younger than my dad and had her children later.  I was nearly grown when her first was born.  We started spending holidays at her home so when her kids got cranky...well you get it.  (Sorry, ladies, you did get cranky.)
Anyway, I miss those holidays.  Even though our family has made its own traditions based on Mike's family and our own children, I recall moments of those holidays as though they happened yesterday.  On Thanksgiving Thursday I made pies using the rolling pin in the photo.  It belonged to my Grandma Haynes.  (My younger cousins called her Grandma Lucy.)  She made her pie crust with lard and cooked her chicken for HOURS.  I could never duplicate her cooking.  I very much love having something from her kitchen, though.  Every time I use it I think about standing at her kitchen counter 'helping' her make something delicious.  Yeah, I bet I was quite a help back then.  Her kitchen seemed huge to me.  Later when my sister was living in that house I realized it was tiny.  I think it was Grandma that made it seem big.  She had room for all of us in there.
Happy holidays.