Over the River and Along the Interstate....

... to Grandmother's house we go!

It dawned on me as we were almost to mom’s house Christmas day and I missed the turn that I hadn’t been to Clay Center since June. Six months and I had spaced off how to get to my mom’s house. Yikes! Of course I didn’t offer that little tidbit up to her.  I didn’t want to hear, “Yeah I’m always the one who has to come see YOU!”  That arrangement has worked out perfectly so far so why ruin a good thing.  

Aging parents and grandparents are a hard thing to accept all the way around. My grandmother is 87 and for as long as I can remember she has always been a very independent, strong willed woman; almost to a fault. My dad would get so frustrated with her but never to her face. She’s lived through two husbands and outlived two of her children. Most people wouldn’t have survived incidents so traumatic but my grandmother has never been ordinary or meek. She always gives me grief about being stubborn and every time I simply look at her and say, “Yep. I wonder where I get it.”  Gram now has to accept she’s getting old. She isn’t as mobile or able to travel long distances any longer and that frustrates her to no end.  There isn’t anything we can say or do to make that better for her.

Last year mom couldn’t bear to put up the tree without my dad but his year she said she was ready to decorate and celebrate.  Gram joined us for dinner and presents then headed home to rest. Meanwhile, the rest of us cracked open a bottle (or two) of wine and played Scrabble while continuing to veg on whatever was in front of us. I discovered my mom does not own a cork screw so we had to get creative. I screwed an actual screw into the cork (with a battery powered screwdriver) and then had Daniel use pliers to lift it out. That worked well on the first bottle; the second, not so much. We ended up shoving the cork down into that bottle and pouring around it.

My Christmas started at 6:35am and I’ll admit I wasn’t excited about it. I anticipated it being an awful, depressing day because of the two days prior but it all turned out better than I could have hoped.  I am thankful for those people in my life who essentially save me from myself by not taking “no” as an answer.  My Santas were very good to me but that was the best gift I received this Christmas.  

Earlier this week I took the girls shopping after work for their dad. Unfortunately it had been raining steadily all day and it was cold. Not the most opportune time to shop but oh well. We left a video game store right behind an older woman who was using two canes to help her walk and she was moving preeeetty slooooow.  It was still raining and by then it was dark and instantly I thought of my dad.  She had no way to hold an umbrella with the two canes and only had a cotton sweatshirt hood covering her head. As she was nearing the curb to step out into the rain I quickly handed the keys to Gentry and told them to go on and wait for me in the car. I went over to the woman, covered her with my umbrella and we slooooowly crawled to her car. It took so long for the two of us to cross the street that cars were backing up and turning around rather than wait any longer.  We made small talk about the weather and how her son was turning 21 the next day. I’m guessing he was the one she was buying for in the game store. She thanked me several times and after I helped her shut the door to her car I prayed that she would go straight home. I’m really not even sure how she was able to drive since she had to manually lift her right foot into the car. I could feel the girls’ eyes on us the whole time and I could sense their relief when I got inside the car.  “Oh mama, you’re soaked! You’re a good Samaritan for helping that lady.” I didn’t help that lady to get brownie points with the Universe or my kids. It was the right thing to do and my hope is that they will step up and do the same for someone if they are ever given the opportunity.  

The moral of my story? Pay it (good deeds, love, etc.)forward every chance you get. Pass it on, don't keep it to yourself. .  

Four Days to Go

In three consecutive days we made two trips to Overland Park and two trips to Kansas City. One would think with the plethora of stores and malls at this end of the State that shopping would be easier. Not so. Maybe I’m too picky or nervous about getting the wrong thing… or both.  It’s also hard helping someone else shop.  We found a great little place in Overland Park called Park Place that offered a nice break from the crowds. Taking a shopping intermission break at Gordon Biersch Brewery for mimosas was probably the most counterproductive thing we could have done but dang, they were good. The waitress asked if we wanted a menu or if we were just chilling. When I replied, “Just drinks, we’ve been shopping.” She gave us a sympathetic, almost apologetic nod and said, “Oooh, I understand.” We sat and watched people ice skate at the small rink outside while we took inventory on what we still needed, where, and the shortest route. There was some disagreement on the shortest route. I insisted on following the GPS we've named Sally (as in Back Alley Sally) while "other people" insisted THEY have been "driving these roads for 18 years and have never gotten lost" so we should just stick Sally in the console. I didn't win that argument and saying "You're being a dick!" probably didn't help my cause.

We have been celebrating at work for a week now. Every day there has either been a meal or a table buffet of candy, cookies, cakes, etc.  I read that the early symptoms of a diabetic coma include excessive thirst and the inability to speak. I’ve had both of those symptoms. The excessive thirst was combated with a bottle of wine (after work) but the inability to speak was only temporary. Turns out it was just because my mouth was full of chocolate cake balls. 

Only four more days of running around getting last minute items and snarfing down sweets. I think I should have asked Santa for new running shoes because I'm going to need them.

Your a Mean One Hazel Grinch

 

Even Hazel is excited for Christmas. 

 (In a Grinchy kind of way).

I must have a terrible sense of time. That's the only explanation for why I thought I'd be able to decorate for Christmas, make some crafty things I've been wanting to try, run kids to all their activities and still have TONS of time to watch movies and drink coffee and cream martini's. Yeeeea riiiight. I didn't anticipate having to go to three stores to find one important element of the craft idea and I sure didn't figure it would take three hours to decorate. However I'm not going to complain about the latter because it was worth it. From out in the garage I heard something that resembled singing... sort of. I peeked around the corner to witness my two goof-ball girlies acting out the Christmas song, "Who's got my socks" while prancing around the living room on their tippy-toes. They were even cracking each other up. The whole afternoon definitely created some memories that will be recalled in years to come.

I love the way the house looks decorated for the holidays, but I hate the mess and rearranging furniture. If I could afford to hire someone to come in and do set-up and tear down, I would. That's why I had kids. Syd took charge and kept things moving while Gen tried to look busy while putting out as little effort as possible.

No martini's but I did get to watch one movie and made some fun things (I'll post later). We even squeezed in some time to get a picture for Grandma.

Next weekend's to-do list:

• Watch a movie without interruption.
• Have at least ONE coffee & cream martini.

Check the Tape

If I NEVER needed to go to another Wal-Mart EVER I’d be so incredibly happy. Unfortunately I don’t see this happening. “Damn you Sam Walton!”  Back in October I ordered a cabinet/bookcase online from Wal-Mart because it was not offered in stores.  After waiting three weeks for delivery they told me it was lost and refunded my order. I’ve looked all over and just didn’t find anything I liked as much so last week I ordered another one and crossed my fingers this one would actually show.  

Yesterday I got the message that it was at the store. Not knowing how big it would be I asked my sister if she would go with me with her Jeep. She was so great to do this with me even though it included going to two different stores to find it, running by the Junior High to get Gentry from practice, AND hurrying to get back across town all before 7pm so my nephew could get to basketball practice on time. *whew* 

Going anywhere with my sister usually results in either complete chaos or utter embarrassment. This time I had a witness. She nearly tripped walking in the front doors because she was trying to pull down Gentry’s sweat pants. (Don’t ask). Then she got the giggles when the sales clerk asked me for my ID to verify it was my order. “He wants to make sure you’re 21” and then she lost it. I’m sure the clerk thought we were drunk. Gentry just kept repeating, “Oh my goodness” and tried to look invisible especially when Bon told me, “Ask him how big it is” and I threw in a, “That’s what she said!”  This was all just at the sales counter. We hadn’t even made it out to the parking lot yet! 

We get the box and its manageable size but when did Wal-Mart stop carrying shit out to your vehicle for you?!? We were in the very back of the store and had to haul this stupid-ass, heavy box all the way to the front AND through the parking lot! Our time crunch just got considerably crunchier. We sent Gen to the front of the store to get a buggy (which had some sort of wheel problem) and after getting lost finding us we finally made it outside. That’s when Bon took off running (in heels) through the lot pushing a defective buggy with the box inside. If I could get the parking lot video tape of what happened next I would. As Bon ran, pushing this buggy it started to veer towards a truck parked in a parallel handicap spot… and the truck began to pull forward (apparently not seeing this 6 foot crazy woman sprinting with a buggy). She tried to turn and just missed getting hit by the truck. “I almost got killed by a handicap person!” she yelled. 

Short story, long we made it back, Blake got to practice on time and I got my cabinet which now resembles some sort of demented life-size puzzle. The best part is my daughter is now convinced that her aunt is more “cra-cra” than her mom. (That’s crazy-crazy for those of you who don’t speak teenager)  Yeees!

This is what a softball team looks like when they clean up.

Not too shabby.

Thanks to the girl’s weekend shopping trip last month I got an early start on my Christmas shopping this year. The girls and I took my mom over to Legend’s last weekend and I had to take them to Charming Charlie. It’s such a cool store but I walk in and am so over stimulated I just go completely blank. Shopping with a teenager is such a beating too. Everything I picked up and said “Ooooh, look at this!” she would respond with snarling up her nose. Finally she said, “Mom! What is wrong with you?” I don’t know when exactly I lost my ability to distinguish between cool and old lady flair. I do admit my downfall is shiny. I love, love, love anything shiny.  It could be a plain ol’ turd but as long as it has a brilliant polished shine I’d put it to use as a fabulous paper weight.  I did manage to pick some things out (on my own) that received favorable marks from my overly analytical offspring. My sister will be relieved to read that. *wink wink*