Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

Johanna channeling Aretha Franklin

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. I received a belated birthday floral arrangement from the Eldest

2. An uber productive day rewarded by watching The Great Waldo Pepper and having Five Guys for dinner in the sunroom.

3. I remembered to attend the Doodling class.

4. Door Dash is great

5. We had lunch in Teague's sunroom. I had a beef gyros.

How was your week?

TBT Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

  In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Tuesday's Child is Full of Grace

I had Tuesday all neatly planned. Ma and Dad had a doctor's appointment mid-afternoon. Since it was school vacation week, I thought I'd drag take my Young One (born on a Tuesday) with me for a visit with Grandma before the appointment. I planned an hour and a half visit. We'd sit, have tea, whine and I'd score points as the Golden Child for bringing the grandchild for a visit. Perfect.

My plans didn't work out the way the way I had choreographed things in my head. They rarely do, but I'm ever hopeful. The minute we walked through the door, Ma wanted to go to the bank. I don't think she even noticed the Young One with me. She urgently needed to go to the bank to cash a check.

Every family has a skeleton, dirty secret, or crazy relative hidden in the attic. The dirty secret in my family is Ma is addicted to bogus lotteries, psychics, contests all promising prize money and riches. The amounts she sends out are small but over time it has added up to a hefty chunk of change. She dreams, wishes and talks about money. As if there's a celestial slot machine that will rain quarters on her. I'm reminded of the line from The Quiet Man "Money! Is that all you Danahers think of? I'm sick of the talk of it."

So that was the reason we had to dash to the bank. "Someone" had sent her a check for $250. No amount of telling her these things are scams penetrate gold fever. If I try to point out these letters with their checks (and we're not talking about one or two, but stacks and stacks) are scams or equity loans, she yells I have no faith in her. She's right, I don't. But "someone" has sent her the check, and she has to get to the bank. There is no reasoning with her. She's like a spoiled child hounding and whining for a treat. Some children need to learn lessons the hard way. I take her to bank so she can cash the damn check. Let some scam artist drain the account. It's bound to happen sooner or later, let it be sooner. I can have the satisfaction of saying "I told you so."

The Young One and I wait in the car, me with my book and the Young One with an electronic game. We are startled when the car door is wrenched open. It's only Grandpa speaking in tongues. Grandma must have started singing the "You're Stupid" song at the bank. Grandpa takes a few deep breaths and then goes back into the bank as Ma will need help coming out. The Young One and I watch from the car window. Soon Ma and Dad come out. The Young One remarks that Grandma looks sad.

"The teller wouldn't cash the check!" She is upset and very unhappy.

"And why is that?" I know the answer. I hope having a stranger tell her what we've been telling her all along will have finally sunk in.

"She said it looked funny and she wouldn't cash it. She said we need to go to the bank at the mall and have them cash it."

"No! The check is illegal. We don't have time to go to the mall and make it to the doctor's appointment."

"Why would she tell me to go to bank at the mall?"

Because if she told you to go to hell, she'd lose her job. "Because she didn't want to deal with a pain in the ( ! ) customer who wouldn't listen to her her when she said there was something wrong with the damn check.

Ma was not happy, but her mood improved when she came out of the doctor's office. She was beaming. The doctor told her for her 88 years old she is in top shape. He cut back her heart medication. She also has the blood pressure of a 25 yr. old woman. Dad also had a good report, much to his chagrin. Good news, the two of them are going to live forever.

Back at the house, she wants to find the envelope the check came in. I feel the familiar throbbing of the vessel behind my left eye. She has the blood pressure of a 25 yr. old woman. I can feel mine start to skyrocket.

Doodling for Stress Release

 

On Mondays via Zoom, I participate in a class where we spend  a half an hour doodling our stress away. I missed two weeks of class because, I skipped class because I was invited to go to the beach with the Eldest. The second time, I was busy doing stuff and lost track of time, but this week I paid attention to the clock.

The assignment was to draw concentric circles and doodle in the spaces.

T Stands for Birthday Lunch

 

At the beginning of July we were invited out to lunch to celebrate our friend, Daniel Boone's birthday. His family calls him Daniel Boone because even with GPS he can get lost.

Lunch was at Ziti's in Natick. Not to be confused with Ziti's in Westboro, though we learned that the Westboro facility asked Ziti's in Natick if they could use the same name. One of Daniel Boone's sons is in the restaurant business so that's how we learned that little bit of trivia.

Besides us and Daniel Boone there was another couple. ??? along with Himself is another of Daniel Boone's Back and Abs workout buddies. I know Daniel from Qi Gong and Reiki.

I ordered my favorite dish Linguine a la Vongola (linguine with clams). Beautifully plated, but no chopped clams mixed in with the macaroni. Not very abbondanza, but the food was good.

The highlight of the lunch was meeting Daniel Boone's wife. We've known Daniel for many years. He constantly talks about his wife, but we never met her. I thought she was his imaginary wife. 

Daniel Boone is noted for his story telling usually involving his (imaginary) wife. Turns out she's just as good a raconteur as her husband. We were at the restaurant for several hours eating and mostly laughing. 

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s blog to find out what the rest of the T gang is up to. If you want to play, include a beverage or beverage container in your post. Don’t forget to link your blog from Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s page.

Monet and Me

 

are trying to think of a name for the scarecrow. Any ideas?

How Does Your Garden Grow?

It's been so hot and humid, mushrooms are growing all over the place

Tomatoes, anyone?

The petunias love the heat and humidity

Ink's garden got weeded and mulched

Buds on the morning glory vine. I hope this variety is Heavenly Blue

and that it survives whatever is munching on the leaves.

Samwise in his charging station. Every once in a while, he'll call out, "Ready to work!" A disembodied voice is disconcerting if one is busy in the bathroom.

Watermelon. I hear the men with pushcarts coming down Chelsea St. by Auntie's house in East Boston. At the time, EB was a predominantly Italian neighborhood. The men would be calling, "Eh! Waddamelone!"

How does your garden grow?