Frog and Goat

The better-half found two boxes on his mother’s front porch the other day. She had ordered something from QVC on March 20th. She moved on March 26th. She knew she was moving. This move wasn’t a secret. The boxes contained a box of three patio blueberry plants, a sack of dirt and a pot. So, let’s recap. Six blueberry plants, two pots and two sacks of dirt. Shipped to her house after she moved into an assisted living facility. Her room has no outside space attached. She has a window and a narrow sill. When confronted, she just said she ordered them off a gardening show. The better-half told her we opened the plants, watered them and were going to plant them. Her reply was one syllable. It makes me befuddled.

Good looking plants:

In an effort to cut down on the fifty metric tons of junk mail and catalogs we receive, I have started logging our catalogs on the catalog choice site. I am not sure yet if it is working since I just started logging them in February.

Perhaps you remember me writing about the shitstorm that is my MIL’s house. She gets a tremendous amount of catalogs. I’ve started the process of logging her catalogs too. And, no, she doesn’t know I’m doing it. But, since the facility has already said something about how cluttered her room is, I don’t think my actions are going to get any static.

As every good cat will:

The MIL moved into an assisted living facility on Wednesday. Yesterday at noon one of the staff members called saying it hadn’t been a good morning. I picked up the message and relayed it to the better-half. I was concerned but filled with eye-rolling.

Yesterday afternoon we met for dinner at her place as there was a special meal planned to celebrate the end of building renovations–the delay in her entering this facility was due to renovations. Dinner was nice and the place is fantastic. When I’m an old fart I wouldn’t mind living there (excuse me, older fart). It seemed more resort than health care facility. I suppose it helps the community is a mix of senior apartments (with people enjoying cocktails on their balconies!), assisted living and nursing care. I couldn’t stay overly long because I had class last night. Dinner was shrimp salad, tenderloin steak, carrots and polenta. I had tiramisu for dessert. Beverages were a choice of coffee, tea, water, soda, wine or beer…see what I mean about choosing to live there?

When I got home, the better-half wasn’t here and he was quite late in getting back. It was because the nursing staff wanted to talk to him about his mother’s medication and her lifestyle. They have other Parkinson’s patients and say they haven’t seen anyone acting the way she does. They think that some of her problems can be alleviated…others are just the way it goes. So they sat down and went over all her medications and the nursing staff are going to be in charge of medication instead of letting his mother be in charge of it. They are also going to get her on a regular sleeping pattern. Know what? It’s already working. In one day.

Maybe she can get some of her life back.

Last night in the middle of class my lip started swelling. This swelling of my lip happened late last summer and I assumed it was a bug bite. I have no idea what caused the problem last night and when I woke up this morning I looked like Marlon Brando on one side of my face (not the handsome Marlon from Streetcar but the jowly Marlon from The Godfather). I took a benedryl and went to work. I think the swelling is finally going away.

I had to take a major detour this morning because of a fatal car accident on a little stretch of road that crosses the Chickahominy. Both lanes of traffic were blocked so I had to go around the long way. I figured since I was already going to be late that I’d stop and buy some cupcakes to celebrate Good Friday. I also bought a bag of coffee. I started making coffee as soon as I walked into my office and damn if the basket didn’t slip out of my hand. I dumped the grounds all over the floor and the phrase “oh for fuck’s sake” came out before I could stop it. I’m frequently reminded how good it is that I am one of the first people to arrive in the morning. I avoid total embarrassment so often. I couldn’t find a broom or vacuum and in the search process found out how few doors my keys unlock. I scraped up as much of the coffee grounds as I could off the rug and then put a box in front of it. When I move out of this office years from now, my clumsiness will be discovered. Until that time, my office will smell good.