Catching up last week

On Monday, June 6, I took mom to the doctor.  She has been having an ache in her side--the same kind of ache in the same location as when she turned out to have lymphoma.  Of course, she didn't tell anyone about this for a month--figuring she already had an apointment  with her doctor and she didn't want anyone to worry. 

While I was waiting for her, I saw a small helicopter land in the grassys area behind the clinic.  That was sort of a rush.   I stayed in the car because my knees were aching and I didn't want to go wandering around the clinic.  I asked her if she wanted me to go in with her and she said it wasn't necessary.  It was extremely hot in the car, but I opened both of the front seat windows.  There was a cool breeze.  When it got too hot for me to handle, I rolled them up and ran the air conditioner for a while.  While waiting, I sewed.  I am almost done with the blue butterfly dresses I am working on for the Marley sized dolls.

I got to see the helicopter take off again too.

After her appointment, we went to Perkins for breakfast.  I had the magnificent 7 instead of my usual asparagus and mushroom omlette.  The M-7 is two eggs, three pancakes, and two pieces of breakfast meat for $4.99.  Not a bad deal.  Mom had french toast which was slightly more expensive. 

The doctor had set her up with an appointment for a CT scan on Tuesday.  I told her I would take her if she wanted me to.  I was anxious to get home and continue cleaning because Laurie's daughter and son-in-law were coming to look at the inside of the house on Wednesday night and I had a lot left to clean.

Well, Lily said she would drive mom in, so I was free to go home and get more cleaning done.  I couldn't seem to get much cleaning done on Monday, so I mostly packed and sorted. 


On Tuesday, May 7, I worked like an insane animal.  I started with the nastiest place in the house--the kitty-box corner.  That was disgusting.  From there I did the rest of the kitchen.  It looked pretty good when I was done.  Next, I tackled the living room and dining room.  I felt really happy about how much I accomplished. 

At nearly 10 pm, DeAnn and I made a run into Owatonna.  I needed to pck up some stuff for Wednesday when Kari, Mom, and the two kids were coming to help me finish up.  I bought some chips, oreos, candy, buns, sandwich meat, fresh veggies, a nice looking $8 roast, and other odds and ends.  

DeAnn, God bless her, helped me carry all the groceries into my house. I put them away before returning her to the loving arms of her sleeping family. When I got home, I stayed up and did a little more—not much—before setting my cell alarm for 6:30 so I could get up and get more done before Kari and Mom and the kids arrived on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, they showed up around 9 am. I had been cleaning most of the morning. I got the kitchen mostly done. I couldn’t deal with the shelves and the top of the refrigerator since my knees have been so painful lately that I can’t stand for very long—and standing on a stepstool seems like torture to me.

Kari, bless her, did that for me. She also revacuumed the living and dining room for me with mom’s heavy-duty vacuum cleaner. She vacuumed up the stairs also—that is a major pain. Wow. Things look awesome. Caleb and Mom tidied up the two bedrooms upstairs that I really hadn’t figured would get cleaned. They did a fabulous job, and both rooms look neat and orderly. 

Kari and Caleb took a lot of my stuff out to Mom’s car and packed it in the trunk. They also loaded more in my car, since it is difficult for me to climb up and down my steps with stuff AND a cane. I think almost all of my books and clothing is now at Mom’s.  But, I am getting ahead of myself…. They stayed until nearly 4 pm. Cora had good fun, playing with both of my canes as if they were crutches, and both kids made good use of my up and downstairs “grabbers.” I am not sure where the upstairs one is to this day. Kids are odd. They all love to play with my cane and my “grabbers.” 

We had a nice lunch of ham sandwich meat on buns, cheetos, and potato salad. After lunch, I sat on my chair in the living room and sorted through the big basket o’ stuff that was next to it. It was mostly pictures and things for scrapbooks. I haven’t put pictures into an album since Caleb was a newborn. He is eleven now. Perhaps this is something I can do in my time. I don’t know what to call it, exactly. “Incarceration” is too harsh, and not really accurate. “Banishment” is what it feels like. I’d say “coventry,” but I haven’t done anything to warrant being sent to coventry. So, I will wait. Perhaps the right word will come to me. 

In that basket were tons of cards that I had received after Dad died. I threw most of them away, but I couldn’t bear to throw out the ones my kids had made for me. For some reason, I felt compelled to look at each one before I threw it away—and I found a $10 bill in a card from the Baptist Church, which I had been attending pretty regularly at that time. This has never happened to me before. I NEVER find money in cards years later because I am always at the raggedy edge of poverty and the minute money finds its way to me, it is put back into the economy.

They left shortly after 3:30. I was so grateful for their help. I could never have gotten everything done before Laurie’s daughter and son-in-law came to look at the house. After my family left, I went upstairs and made my bed. After that, I lay down for a while. I was really tired from working hard and also from getting very little sleep the night before. I fell asleep—sort of a half-sleep during which I knew what was going on around me, but I was also dreaming. It was bizarre. I woke up when Susan came into my house yelling, “Is this where the party is?” She had apparently talked to Laurie and knew this was the day they were looking. Shortly after she came, Laurie and her family showed up. 

They loved the house. They loved the wood work and the yard. They were not bothered by any of the problems the house has. He said they wanted a house they could “work on.” She loved the “old two-story house” look. They would like to get into it as soon as possible. I would like to take my time going through the rest of my stuff. So, it’s looking like they may be in here on August 1, which works for me.

I liked them a lot. I would write more about what we talked about and how cute their two little boys are, but I want to finish this entry and post it. I am too far behind on everything and I have a lot to do.

After they left, I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich, ate some potato salad, and tried to watch some Ghost Hunters episodes. However, I soon gave up and went to bed. I was exhausted.  

On Thursday, I sorted through my big suitcase of yarn. I kept two Walmart bags full and have a third bag to donate. I need to have some fun stuff to do while I am in limbo. Ah! The correct word has finally appeared to me. It is “limbo”!! That is exactly right. 

On Thursday afternoon, I peeled some potatoes and carrots and the sole onion I had left and threw it all in my roaster with my beef roast and cooked it up. DeAnn and Swayze came and got some of it for their supper too. It was really delicious. I haven’t made that in ages. I know I kept busy all day, but I don’t really remember what else I did. Ah—I did pack up all the rest of the clothes that were in my closet and put them in the big blue suitcase that had held the yarn. I took all the rest of my hangers also. 

On Friday morning, I baked chocolate chip cookies and cooked my chicken on top of the stove. My plan is to turn it into chicken salad for sandwiches. I need to get some onions though, as pickles and onions and chicken go so well together in a sandwich spread. DeAnn and Swayze came over to get some cookies—I gave them half the batch and took the other half home to give to Jack and Kari—I only ate two myself. (*sadness*) While they were there, they carried more of my stuff that I had packed up out to my car. 

It was pretty late in the afternoon when I got to mom’s house—around 3:30, I suspect. She and Jack had gone to the chiropractor as mom had hurt her back climbing off the CT scan table. She was in pretty bad shape. I spent the rest of the day putting stuff away in my underground lair, my place of habitation in Limbo. 

I got almost everything put away. My desk is the main area that needs work, but I do not yet have all of my accessories there to get things squared away. I feel like I am going into the biosphere for the rest of my life!

While I worked, I watched The Green Hornet on my laptop.   It was not what I expected, but it was okay. In my next load, I need to take my little TV from my bedroom. It has a dvd player right in it. I did four loads of laundry Friday night and early Saturday morning. Jack and Cora stopped over in the morning. 

I took  Mom to Owatonna to meet Kim at the nail salon where they got their toes done. I went home and basically slept most of Saturday afternoon. I was so tired and that bed in my underground lair is hard as a fooking rock. I did a lot of aimless wandering around on Saturday afternoon and evening. I haven’t really been inspired as to what I should attack next. 

I want to do the fabric, but I think it would be more productive to finish getting my desk work area in order first. Well, I will be home most of next week, since I have Stuff To Do all week long. Signing off on this entry.