April 16 through 22
Apr. 29th, 2021 08:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chochiyo_samaMy bathroom had reached such a level of filth and despair that I cast aside every other aspiration and spent a good part of the morning scrubbing it within an inch of its life. When I was done, it sparkled with cleanliness and joy. As usual, once I got started, the motivation and stamina kicked in, so I sorted and started my laundry, swept the entire house (at least the parts where there is hard wood and linoleum), cleaned the litterboxes which were also very nasty, cleaned out the fridge, washed the dishes, took out two huge bags of garbage, cut down and recycled a bunch of cardboard, wiped down a bunch of pop and iced tea and restocked my little pop fridge which was completely empty, and sat down to rest while waiting for Ross to deliver my groceries.
When Ross got here, I wiped down the groceries and put them away. I got two boxes of strawberries, so I immediately cleaned them and put them in the fridge. I had also bought a small “loaf” of angel food cake which I intend to turn into a dessert made of jello, strawberries, and the angel food cake. The recipe calls for it to be topped with Cool Whip, but I think that stuff is gross. I have some Reddi Whip in the fridge which is at least made of real whipping cream. Not some unknown chemical crap. I was too tired to make that tonight, so I just threw a couple of hot dogs in the microwave and had them for supper. Then, exhaustion took over and I spent the rest of the night comatose in front of the television. I don’t even remember what I watched.
My shoulder, back, side, and knees were in agony for the rest of the night. Once again, I took my small portion of energy and worked it right into the ground. Now I am paying for it. Tomorrow I won’t be able to do anything but sit around and eat Tylenol.
Saturday, April 17
As expected, I am still in rough shape from over doing it yesterday—but it was worth it to see so much improvement in my home. Lily came over with my mail and two delicious cinnamon rolls from Mary Groth. I spent a lot of time on the phone today. Dean, my former student who is like a son to me, called to tell me in extremely intricate detail about the computer game he and his friends are creating. The story line is that a space trader runs afoul of space pirates and is forced into an escape pod to save his life. He is in a comatose state while the survival pod takes him to an earth like planet where he lands in an ocean near a small jungle like island where he must survive until he is able to rebuild his communication device and summon rescue. Fortunately, he has the use of some of his equipment that will inform him if the water is safe to drink and the flora and fauna is safe to consume.
We talked for over two hours. Well, he talked, and I listened and asked occasional questions. The space trader’s name is Liam. LOL. He was so excited by his creation. It made me happy to hear how happy he is with it.
I finished my laundry, folded it, and dragged it into the bedroom. Then I dealt with more stuff that needed to be recycled and fried the pork chops from yesterday’s grocery order with onions and boiled some potatoes. I had intended to make potato salad out of them, but just ate them boiled with butter. I had bought four avocadoes, and I ate one of them while waiting for the chops and potatoes to get done. I love avocadoes—just plain with a tiny bit of salt.
Today was very sunny and lovely. The neighbors have been mowing their lawns. Mine remains unmowed. It doesn’t need mowing too badly right now.
Sunday, April 18
DeAnn and I had our Artist’s Way Zoom meeting this morning. We started at 10 am and went for three hours. We did not spend all of that time talking about our chapter because we had lots of other things to discuss. The discussion for the book today was mostly about how the introduction was justifying the methods the author advocates with examples of various artists, actors, writers, and so on who had benefited from her techniques.
While I was watching television later, I heard there had been another shooting in Austin, Texas, and the place where it took place was one that my nephew Matthew likes to go to. So, I had to text him and my cousin Randi to make sure they were okay. I assume that if it is a popular spot, Randi would also be familiar with it. Matt texted me back fairly quickly saying that he was fine and that WAS a place he loved to go. Randi texted later and said that she had not heard about this shooting. By that time, I had heard that it was a domestic dispute and that the general public was not considered to be in danger. Later yet, I learned the shooter was a former cop. I think the nation’s police force needs to do a thorough house keeping and get rid of all these unbalanced “public servants” and establish some sort of mental health screening to keep the potentially violent murderers OUT of the job.
It was a quiet mostly sunny day. Lily’s granddaughter Rachelle is heading to Iowa to visit a good friend of hers who recently discovered she is pregnant. She will be bringing her two little girls, ages three and one with to stay overnight with Lily as it is the half-way point between Rachelle’s house and her friend’s house. Ten hours alone in a car with two small children is too much. So Lily made a sumptuous meal for them and looked forward to playing with her two great granddaughters.
I watched The Walking Dead and was happy to see that John Dorie’s wife took out that nasty Virginia whose daughter had killed John. Virginia was a nasty thing and deserved a much more horrific death than the relatively easy bullet to the brain that she got.
Monday, April 19
I took my mother to Culver’s today as she has been craving their fish. Culver’s does make really good fish. I got coleslaw and onion rings for my sides, and she got cheese curds and mashed potatoes and gravy. I find that a very odd combination, but whatever floats her boat!
It was a lovely spring day—bright sun, green grass, and trees budding like crazy. We went to Morehouse Park so we could watch the river flowing over the dam. I love to watch the river going on the dam. If my knees were good, I would bring some of my dolls to the park and pose them as if they were fishing and having a picnic by the side of the river. Unfortunately, my knees just won’t cooperate.
On the way home, I took her to get her mail which she was very happy about. I spent the rest of the day fooling around on the internet and watching TV. It was good to get out into the wide world for a while. Nice to see something different.
Tuesday, April 20
Mom called to tell me that she had raked all the dead stuff off her flower beds but did not have the stamina to drag them up the hill to dump them on the field behind her house. I told her to call Cora, but she did not want to “bother” her. So I suggested she call the Stitt boys. They love to make a little cash for doing something like that. Again, she didn’t want to “bother” them.
So, I sent a text to their father and asked him if his sons would like to make a little cash hauling some leaves up a hill in a wheel barrow. He said he would send his “stout lads” over and that there was no need to pay them. (He’s from Ireland and has some really nice phraseology.) I assured him that my mother would pay them as she appreciates the help.
So, then I told her to listen for the door. They came over and got the job done in no time at all. She gave them each $10—I think $5 would have been enough since they only hauled and dumped four wheel barrows full of leaves and there were three of them. But whatever. They are sweet boys, hard workers and polite. And my mother can well afford $30.
Lily called today and told me that a friend of hers from Texas called and said that her ex husband was interested in buying Lily’s trailer. He is also willing to pay the full $7,000 asking price. She intended to let it go for $5,000 but hoped for $7,000. But she will have to wait for him to sell his house. He is getting too old and infirm to take care of his home, so he wants to sell it and buy something smaller without a yard. Also, he will be on the same street as his ex wife who will help him with things. They both still care about each other but just don’t want to be married or live together. I get that.
I was filled with joy at the announcement that the jury convicted Derrick Chauvin of all three counts of murder. I hope it gives the Floyd family some peace. I hope it also puts the fear of God (or at least prison and public humiliation) into the rotten apples in the police force so they stop beating and killing unarmed black people—or people of any color/religion/country of origin. I am sick of hearing all of these atrocities and then listening to idiots defending their atrocious behavior.
In the evening I watched the movie The Shape of Water. I enjoyed it a lot—except for the part where the water creature killed and ate the lonely friend’s cat. To be fair, the cat did hiss first, and the creature had been horribly treated for quite some time. I hated the military guy who had been torturing him. He deserved a much harsher final consequence than the one he got. The bastard.
Wednesday, April 21
I started the day with a long, long, very hot shower. That generally helps relieve some of the endless pain in my shoulder, back, side, and knees. I warmed up the piece of fish left over from my Culver’s meal the other day and turned it into a fish sandwich. It was very satisfying. I still had some leftover boiled potatoes, so I heated some of them up in the microwave as well and ate them with a little butter.
It was another lovely spring day. I watched a lot of random TV and talked to several people on the phone.
Thursday, April 22
Today I cleaned and fried my fresh mushrooms and onions and the two New York strip steaks. I also roasted a bag of brussels sprouts in olive oil. I also turned the two pounds of hamburger in my refrigerator into a huge and yummy meatloaf. I also turned the strawberries I had cleaned a few days ago into a dessert with angel food cake, strawberry jello, and some ReddiWhip. I also made my easy and delicious cucumber salad. It is so simple—all you do is peel and slice the cucumbers, throw in a couple big scoops of Top the Tator sour cream with chives, and a generous splash of apple cider vinegar. Mix it all up and enjoy. Both of those steaks were so huge they filled the entire frying pan. One was cut into several slices, and the other was just solid. I liked the cut one better. Having cooked all that stuff, I will be able to eat well for several days.
I cleaned some old stuff out of the refrigerator and washed all the dishes I had dirtied with my cooking and cleaning. Then I went into the living room to rest. My shoulder was killing me because of all the slicing and stirring. Lily called me, once again freaking out and beside herself because her stove had suddenly gone completely off the rails. She was baking a pan of brownies, but the stove got so hot that it was glowing red, and it reduced her brownies to charcoal and ashes in less than ten minutes.
She just had to replace her microwave and now she was freaking out about having to replace her stove. She kept saying, “I cannot stay in this house any more! All these things are going wrong! I can’t afford this! I can’t take care of myself here and there is no one to help me.”
Her kids do not make time for her, and they are very impatient and sort of nasty to her when she calls them for physical help or emotional support. So, she calls me, and there is not much I am able to do for her. I just try to talk her down and tell her that no matter where she would move, she will need functional appliances, and on the bright side, the stove is over 30 years old, so it has served her well. If she has to buy a new stove, it should last her for the rest of her life as she is 80 now.
If she were to move into the assisted living center where her friends are living, it would cost her $5,000 a month, and she does not have that kind of money. Her house is perfect for her—small enough to be economical, but large enough for her to keep all her treasures. She would not have ¼ of the space of her current house in the assisted living place, and she’d be paying huge monthly fees. Her current house is paid for. She does have a huge yard with tons of flowers, so it is hard for her to take care of it, but she does have the option of either hiring someone to do her yard work or downsizing all of the flower gardens. She could take care of that yard for some time with the $7,000 she will get if she sells that trailer. Also, she will be saving close to $400 a month in the lot rent for the park in Texas.
Anyhow, she had plans to go to her granddaughter Hailey’s house tomorrow and was baking the brownies to take there. She was very upset about the brownies being ruined. “Now I can’t bring anything, and I told them I would bring dessert!”
I told her to just mix up something else and bring it over and I would bake it in my oven. So, she mixed up a pan of pumpkin bars and brought them over. She was afraid to stay here as I baked them as her oven was still bright red. She called her son and he walked her through how to turn off the fuse box connection that feeds electricity to the oven. She came over to get the bars once they were cooled. I sent two good sized slices of steak with onions and mushrooms along with some of the cucumber salad home with her since she could not use either the stove or microwave.
I was glad to be able to help her the little bit that I did. I wish her kids would step up and be there for her. Her daughter actually scolded her for calling them so much and told her, “You and dad went on vacations and stuff all the time when our kids were young. Now it is our turn to have fun.” There was more to it, but that is the part that just pissed me off. Yes, they did go to Texas for four months every winter, but they were always here from November until after Christmas and spent time with their kids and grandkids. They were here for the whole summer and at that time had another “cabin” (trailer) and boat by the lake where their kids and grandkids spent tons of time during the summer. They were not abandoned to fend for themselves in the wilderness! I’d just like to slap them.
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Date: 2021-04-30 01:27 pm (UTC)Like you, I find that odd, but as a veggie, what would I know? :o)
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Date: 2021-05-01 08:36 am (UTC)It sounds like the thermostat is gone in the stove. It might be repairable, even though it is 30 years old. She can either spend the money for a repairman and take a chance or go directly to replacing the stove. If she doesn't use it all that much, being a single person, she might consider using a toaster oven instead. I'm finding the toaster oven is doing fine for me. She could also get a single or double burner hotplate. I think I sent one to you when you were in your Mom's basement. If you still have it, you might lend it to her. That is the one thing I didn't buy. I considered it but decided against it at the time. Who knew I'd need a back up burner? Hopefully the stove will have gas in a week to 10 days. With the microwave I can get along without a stovetop burner.
In the meantime, Lily does need to keep that circuit breaker off as the stove is a fire hazard.