July 5 through 9
Jul. 10th, 2022 09:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chochiyo_samaTuesday, July 5
I bagged up the living room garbage and recycling, folded the clothing I saved for making doll clothes when I cleaned out the totes of clothing that I donated, and sorted and started my “regular” laundry. While I was doing this,
Tammy, Jack, and Erik went to clean Joni’s house as she is getting out of Koda, the recovery hospital, tomorrow at 9 am. Erik had been there a few days ago and reported that the place was a pig stye, and no one doubted it since Jeff has been on his own there for nearly a month. Tammy reported that she was pleasantly surprised to find that Jeff had been up and cleaning since 5 am. She and the others got there around 3 pm and found that most of the work was done already. They mostly dusted, cleared off the counters, and wiped down the counters. She said it was mostly really dusty and sort of greasy on every surface. They left around 5:30 pm as a big thunderstorm was boiling up and Tammy wanted to get back up to her place north of the Cities before it hit.
It was a good and much needed rain. It made my lawn green up almost on contact. The thunder and lightning were raucous. I enjoy a good thunderstorm.
Wednesday, July 6
Mom had an appointment with Dr. Skorin. It was her “e-counsel” appointment. I was very thankful that Erik took her this time as the last time I took her to an “e-counsel” I sat in the car for over three hours in ghastly weather. That one was in the winter and it was barely tolerable cold. I thought I’d die before she got done. I eventually had to give in and turn on the car and let it run until I was thawed out. This time it would have been hell as well—but a scorching hell as opposed to a freezing one. Erik, being young and strong with fully functional knees, could go in the building and walk down the long hallway and sit in the waiting room with her.
I wasn’t very productive today. I cleaned up a small puddle of cat puke then wrote up a grocery list. I have not yet decided whether to call it in. The only things I really needed were milk and bottled water. There were other odds and ends on the sale bill that I could have bought, but I didn’t really NEED them. Right now I am leaning against ordering groceries. I have so many things in the cupboards and freezer now. I need to eat that stuff before it goes bad.
I did a little picking up and random wanderings through the house. Not much.
Thursday, July 7
I spent a long time today transferring my Wellie Wisher doll clothing, shoes, and accessories from the big tote they have been stored in to the antique dresser I bought from the Stitts. I had way too much feline “help,” which, I am sad to say, was not helpful whatsoever. Their idea of “help” was to dive into the drawers, dig through the carefully sorted and organized clothes, run off with a single shoe, start to tear up a tiny head band or ribbon, and knock stuff onto the floor or carry it off. I had some of the more recently purchased clothing in a shopping bag. They crawled INTO the shopping bag, dug and kicked everything out of the bag, and scattered it all over the living room. Arg.
There are three drawers in this dresser. I used the top drawer for shoes which I grouped in matching sets in flat candy boxes. I also put hair ornaments, jewelry, hats, purses, backpacks, toys, and other small items in that drawer.
The second drawer holds “everyday” clothing like shorts, pants, short sleeved shirts, long sleeved shirts, skirts, sweaters, rompers, bib overalls, winter pajamas, summer pajamas, and so on. Again, all of the “like” items were carefully sorted and grouped together. For example, each of the wellies has a pair of flannel pajamas with cats on them. Each pair of pajamas has cats on flannel—but all the fabric is different. One set is white with black cats. One is green with multicolored cats. And so on. I have five little short sets with varying shades of blue and turquoise shorts and each of the white tee shirts has a mermaid with hair and other attributes like the dolls themselves. One is blonde to match Elspeth; another is a red head to match Maeve; one has brown skin with black curly hair to match Eva; another has brown skin and black straight hair to match Aurora, and the last has black hair to match Cecilia. I special ordered those little outfits from a seller on Etsy. They are one of my favorite things for the Wellies.
The third drawer contains “special” items. There are five different dresses that are appropriate for Valentine’s Day; there are five different outfits for St. Patrick’s Day; there are five different dresses for Easter; there are five unique raincoats that are simply adorable for “April Showers” (one has bees on it, another has duckies, another has swans, I cannot remember what the other two have at the moment, but they are all darling); there are five adorable flowery frocks for “May Day;” there are five lovely white dresses that are perfect for being “June bride’s flower girls” or for Confirmation dresses or even Easter dresses; there are five different “4th of July” outfits; there are five fairy costumes, complete with gauzy wings, for Halloween; there are five dresses in autumn colors with smocked bodices for Thanksgiving, and finally, there are five identical Christmas elf outfits. Those elf outfits are one of the first things I bought for the Wellie dolls. At the time I bought them, I only had two or three of the dolls, but I knew I would be getting all five, so I bought five of the outfits—just in case they were not available in the future. I also got five white skating costumes trimmed with fluffy white feathers along with a feathery head dress and white tights for each girl. They did not come with skates, so I slowly found and bought 5 pairs of white skates to go with them. This is the only outfit I rather regret buying. The feathers are already falling apart, and the girls have never had the outfits on. Eventually I will probably just remove them and do something else to trim them up. Those skating outfits were not cheap either. Sigh.
Needless to say, this was a tedious task, especially while fighting off rampaging orange felines—even my good girl Peaches got into the destructive fun of it. But I actually touched every single item I own for my Wellie dolls—and there are a LOT of them—and I very much enjoyed looking at EVERYTHING. Since I was messing with all that stuff, I took the girls out of their matching brown skirts with white tee shirts that display cute little matching cartoon cats and dressed them all but one in darling capris sets. Cecelia, my little Asian girl, is wearing a darling little white sun dress with a cherry print. The others’ capris set are all of the same pattern but in different fabrics. They are standing on the top of the dresser now, looking adorable. I haven’t moved their three pet dogs over to them yet. Those are still in the bedroom where the Wellies used to live.
Lily came over in the afternoon so I could order stuff from Schwans for her. She brought my mail and a piece of raspberry dessert. I again explained how her phone worked, but I know she didn’t absorb it. She just isn’t able to retain that kind of information for more than a few seconds. I ordered $80 of Schwans stuff for her as she is having company next week and wanted stuff that is simple to make but delicious. We visited a little bit. She again has been trying to kill herself by working her head off in her yard and flower gardens. I keep reminding her she is 82, not 22, but it just doesn’t stick.
Friday, July 8
I never did call in an order to Lerbergs. I did order three things for Mom from Schwans and a couple of things for myself. I have been hungry for chocolate chip cookies, so I ordered a bag of frozen cookie dough. It isn’t as good as my homemade cookies, but I don’t seem to have the fortitude to bake anything these days. I am too busy working on my house.
The Schwan’s man came and delivered everything. I got it all in the freezer. After Ross delivers Mom’s groceries, I will drive her stuff over to her then take her to Owatonna where we will get some drive through food. While waiting, I cleaned out the litter boxes in the breezeway, bagged up some garbage and recycling, and did some other odds and ends. When Mom called and said her groceries were delivered, I bagged up her Schwan’s stuff, the second outfit that I had bought with the Shirley Temple doll I got her for Christmas, and the tiny flower pot she had given me with the spider plant she gave me a while back. I repotted that in a much larger container a few weeks ago. It is doing so much better in a bigger pot with “new” dirt. It’s growing like crazy.
Anyhow, I drove all that to Mom’s and picked her up. She gave me a container of Spam sandwich spread she had made. I love that stuff. We drove to Owatonna on old HWY 45 by the swamp. We saw the swan couple, but there were no visible babies. The water in the swamp is all green and nasty with algae. Maybe there were no babies this year.
When we got to Owatonna, we went to Culvers where mom got chicken tenders and I got a cheese burger. We both got onion rings and malts. Mom got a raspberry and I got a strawberry malt. From there we drove to KFC where I got a bucket of all dark chicken. Since I didn’t buy groceries this week, I got chicken from which I will make four meals this week. Then we went to Subway as I am completely out of Diet Coke. I bought five bottles of Diet Coke, a 12” tuna sub which will make two meals for me, and a dozen cookies which should last 12 days—but we all know that is fantasy thinking. Ha. I had brought a big shopping bag with me, so all my stuff went into it for easier carrying.
We came home via I35. Lily called and said that she was just passing through Owatonna. At that moment, Mom and I were almost halfway home. Lily was coming to my house to pick up her Schwans stuff when she got home. She had been up to her granddaughter Haylie’s house to take care of her two little girls while Haylie worked from home.
I dropped mom off at her house then hustled home where I put away the spam spread, chicken, Diet Coke, and tuna sub. Then I sat down to eat my cheese burger and onion rings while I waited for Lily. She was really tired when she arrived, so she didn’t stay long.
Jeff had called me earlier in the day and told me that he and Joni were going to bring Finn, Joni’s Siamese cat, to Lily as she has always loved him (he’s a cuddler) and all Siamese cats. I told him that she was in the Cities and would not be home till after 5 pm, so tomorrow might be a better day to deliver the cat. I told Lily about this, and she was in a bit of a dither about it since she has an elderly cat of her own with diabetes. She is worried about how they will get along. Joni had said that if it didn’t work out, she could bring Finn back to Joni’s house. Anyhow, Lily is going to give the adoption a try. I hope it works out. Finn will be a wonderful kitty boy for her. And Joni has way too many animals in her house—four dogs and around 8 or 9 cats. Her house is not that big. And Lily is a very good pet owner. Her cats have always been very well cared for.
When Lily left, I settled in to watch TV. There was an old movie on TCM with Katherine Hepburn as an unwed mother back in the late 1800s. Her father was controlling and cold, and she was young and free spirited and took up with a charming man who neglected to tell her that he was already married. When she realized she was pregnant, she went to Italy where her sister who had married a sailor in the King’s Navy lived. The sister was also pregnant, so Katherine’s character went with the excuse of helping her with her baby’s birth. Well, as these things happen, the sister’s husband died at sea. The sister fell down a set of stone steps, lost her baby, and died of grief. But before she died, she made Katherine promise to tell everyone that her child was her sister’s baby to avoid scandal. Of course, time passed, and her daughter/pretend niece grew up and fell in love with—wait for it—Katherine’s lover’s son! Her own half brother. So the whole ugly truth came out. But there was still a happy ending.
I watched something else too, but I don’t remember what that was.
Saturday, July 9
I filled my pill caddy, folded the clothes in the dryer and dragged them into my bedroom, gathered some recycling and garbage, cleaned the laundry room litterbox, and swept up all the litter that the cats had kicked out of the box. I packed all my 1:6 scale Harry Potter dolls in a tote and will probably have Hope take them to the basement next time she is here. The cats keep knocking them off their shelf, and I don’t want them to lose their tiny wands.
I ate half the sub sandwich for lunch and the other half for supper. I ate it pretty late in the evening, which was a mistake as it kept me up till nearly 3 am feeling queasy and out of sorts. I didn’t actually get acid reflux, but I felt like it was on the horizon.
In the evening, I watched The Avengers: Infinity Wars and Thor: Ragnorak. Since the new Thor movie is out in theaters or soon will be, the FX channel is showing all of the Marvel movies that include Thor. The guy who plays Thor (Chris Hemsworth?) is so gorgeous and he doesn’t take himself too seriously either, which I find very attractive in a human. My two favorite parts of Ragnorak are when he tells Darcy (sister of Jane) “Do you really threaten Thor with a weapon that puny….” Then she tases him and he drops twitching to the ground. Ha ha! Perfectly played. The other is when he is in the hospital flinging orderlies around in his attempt to escape, howling that he is Thor Odinson and …. One of them pulls his pj bottoms down and gives him a shot of go-to-sleep in the butt cheek. When you see his face mushed up against the glass sliding down as he drops to the floor, it is hilarious. Certainly not hugely heroic—more like middle school shenanigans.
Any how, that’s about it for now. I am hoping Hope will be able to come one day this week. We will be starting on the laundry/craft/sewing room next. I am eager to get some order in that room.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-11 08:33 am (UTC)I got my amazon Fresh delivery today and I did make a list for Vons but I'm holding off. I'm hoping that a few days after successfully passing my driving test my license will be restored and I can go shopping in person and load up my car instead of buying a few things that I can fill in my cart and then have to manhandle on the bus and pull through the streets. Then my lawyer will work on expunging the suspension from my driving record, getting a copy of the police report and the body cams (of which there will likely be nothing) and then we will discuss what further steps I can take to make C. Beck's life a living hell. It's his name on the ticket that was never filed but used as a basis for the DMV form and the perjury on the DMV form so I feel no guilt whatsoever for making this dumb fuck answer to the perjury he was stupid enough to sign off on. If I can't make him suffer legally I am still going to write it all up and submit it to The Reader for publication. If they don't publish it I will post it on my three blogs open to public. I don't have many followers but maybe it will go viral.
I've got seasonal outfits with accessories for my Muffy Vanderbear and Hoppy Vanderhare. They go beyond just hats and shoes. I have like furniture and tea sets, etc. What I really need is a diorama box for each of them. I'll have to see how Edward Tulane's apartment goes before I start trying to make dioramas for Muffy.
Feathers never last. I had a genie hat for Hoppy with a big feather and it disintegrated too. You can buy a small remnant of faux white fur, cut it into very thin strips and then hand sew it on where the feathers were after you remove them.
Why doesn't Cecelia have a capri set? Does she only wear dresses? They have pet dogs but only three? Do the other girls have cats? What are their names and what breeds are they?
I hope Finn will work out good for Lily. Even though he is old it will be a nice, quiet, low-key environment for him and hopefully he will bond with Lily and be there for her when Missy dies. I don't see Missy living for many years, not with diabetes. No matter how dedicated you are, you can't fight nature and even with medication, the diabetes isn't going to allow Missy a long life-span.
I watched that Katherine Hepburn movie too. I had never seen it before.
I need a Hope.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-12 12:37 am (UTC)He’s a pig and an asshole.
C. Beck deserves everything that you rain down on him. Ignorant little fuck embraced injustice without a qualm. If you write up the experience, I will post it on FaceBook where it has a good chance of going viral.
Some day when you have the time and inclination, I would love to see pictures of Muffy and Hoppy and their finery and accessories. Diorama boxes would be fun for each of them.
Occasionally you can have them visit each other. I am excited to hear updates and progress on Edward’s apartment too.
Cecelia does have a capri set, but she looked so cute in that little sundress that I didn’t have the heart to take her out of it. Maybe in a few days, I will put her capris outfit on her.
I will get pictures of the doggies soon. The dogs are all from Walmart in their fake American Girl section. I haven’t really given the dogs names yet. I have to work on it. I only have three because only three of the dogs appealed to me. I haven’t been out shopping enough lately to find two more doggos that I like. I would love to get them some cats, but I haven’t found any cats that are the right scale and cute. Stuffed cats just aren’t as realistic looking as doggies are. I’d love to get some of those needle felted cats. They are adorable and very realistic, but SO expensive.
I’d really like to create a couple of rooms for the little girls—Maybe like a big playroom area with a little table for having snacks and doing projects. I’d like to have one room with beds in it too, but so far I haven’t found any beds the right size for these 14.5” dolls. There are all kinds of really cute beds for the 18” American Girl sized dolls, but they are just so big—they’d eat up all the space in the little bedroom.
I spend a lot of time thinking about the doll rooms I want to create. Obviously.
I liked that Katharine Hepburn movie. I also had never seen it before. Who knows what other treasures are out there?
Everyone needs a Hope. Or better yet, a Cynthia. They make life so much better!
no subject
Date: 2022-07-12 02:52 am (UTC)Yeah, I'd love to have a Cynthia.
When I get to a point of trying to hire someone, I may end up with a Russian instead of a Mexican. While my mother's cleaning ladies have been Mexican the one time I hired someone through a service it ended up being a Russian MAN. He did an outstanding job on the bathroom but spent most of his time in there. I wanted the bathroom sterile as Armando and Patricia were going to stay with me overnight until my parent's Anniversary surprise. Then they moved over to stay with them. I gave them my room and I slept in the twin in the sewing room. This was when my house was clean and decent and looked like a magazine layout. Those days are long gone but I want them back. I want to walk through my house and have it look like it could be listed for sale instantly with no cleaning or repairs necessary. But it will be a long, long road of work to get it back that way. I can't even hire anyone because they'd take one look and turn around and leave. I've let it go since I hurt my back the first time. I had intended when I retired to do something but stuff came up and I didn't have the motivation. Now I do but I'm depressed over the DMV thing. I'm hoping once I have my license back I can get going. Once I get the HELOC there will be nothing stopping me from hiring anyone to help. I've left some of it because I thought I would be moving permanently to my parent's house but now that my sister has thoroughly screwed me over, I will need to keep the house for my use; I won't be able to rent it. Not until and unless I can move to Carlsbad by the Sea. That won't happen until the house is paid off and I find the money for the intial fee. After I'm in I have no doubt I'll have the income to stay there. But I'll have to save over $100,000 to pay to get in to begin with. Maybe the dividends from the stocks will accrue to cover it, if my sister hasn't screwed me out of that too. The promised Wells Fargo account is gone. I knew I'd never see that money the minute my Dad told everyone it was for me. I'm sure she plotted from that moment to make sure I never saw a penny of that money.
45 years and all I get is ingratitude and to be thrown out of the house.
Fuck them all. I'm taking the dog anyway. Legally, she's already mine as I've changed the password on her account and it's under my e-mail now with my mother listed as a co-owner. My Mother said I get Dolly and that's what I did. If they want to fight it, my lawyer can beat up their lawyer and if it comes to that, I'll take more than the dog. I'll have ShitForBrains removed as executor and my sister removed as trustee.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-12 03:30 am (UTC)I know it is difficult to keep up a perfect house when you are sick or in an emotional upheaval. My house was looking pretty good before I had the appendix disaster followed by the spawn of hell infesting my house. I am slowly, slowly seizing my home back from the jaws of chaos. Thank God for Hope and Cynthia. They both played a big role in helping me get stuff back to the way they should be.
I hope Karma bites your sister and nephew right where it hurts and bites them HARD.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-12 10:21 am (UTC)Don't forget Cora. She also helped and didn't she also find something you were accused of losing or throwing away or something that was lost?
Too late for ShitForBrains to get arrested for perjury over his brother's death. He's been rewarded for being a fucking loser. His car is paid off, he lives rent-free with his mother, he's going to get more money than his mother when my Mother dies and as executor, he'll get a percentage of the estate as well and have control over everything, which means he can give his mother even more. No one will ask me what I want because I'm "controlling" and I "get everything" and I "always have first pick" and my sister gets the leftovers. Only now it's reversed because she's been whining about it for some many DECADES and my Mom can't stand to hear complaining and my Dad doesn't care or just believes her. So she'll claim as much of the contents of the house as possible and sell them, then probably keep the money too. I need to make sure I take as much of the stuff I'm entitled to as I can. My Mom promised me the elephant. I should get all of the Guatemala stuff. My portrait that hangs over the fireplace. I'm sure my sister would love to burn it. It's probably angered her her entire life having to look at it every time we use the dining room. But it's mine upon my parent's death. Those were the terms of the gift.
I want Dolly and some of the stuff in the house. Some I already have, like the dresser and armoire. Some I will get like Armando's little table and chairs and everything *I* paid for. If they cross me I will break the will and trust with my own lawyer and see how they like that. I actually have a screen grab of a text where my sister admits they both have dementia and it's from BEFORE the will and trust were made. I think even from before Mr Petty's death.
My sister will work until she dies because she lives beyond her means and can't make enough money to really live the way she wants. She will always be behind. Even all of the money she'll get from my Dad won't satisfy her. She won't sell the stocks, the dividends won't be enough and she only owns a third of the house which won't provide any income at all. It will take too much to fix it up to rent or sell and she'd need my permission, which I am not giving. She'll soon realize what a money pit the house is with no hope of generating revenue to match the work it needs. If she tries to do anything without my permission, I will break the trust and will with my lawyer.
Now if she hadn't cheated me out of that Wells Fargo account, I would have spent the entire $300,000 renovating and repairing that house, even the irrigation in the yard and replanted. It would not only be updated and functional but would go farther to generate income. But noooo. I'm CONTROLLING. Never mind I'm smarter than her and know what I'm doing. I also have better taste and unlike her spawn I actually know the difference between an adjustable wrench and a pair of pliers. He can't repair shit. I also know enough about electrical, plumbing, construction, etc, that I could oversee what is happening and know when it's not being done right or we're being cheated. But noooo. I'm CONTROLLING.
I had the perfect plan to fix the house that wouldn't cost her or my brother a dime, plus generate income in the future after I moved out. But NOOOO. It was too important for her to screw me over, even if it ended up biting her in the ass. Because she is just fucking stupid. She can't stand for me to decide anything, no matter how SMART it is. I suppose it's the same insecurity as Holiday Inn. It would gall her she didn't think of it first, and then further infuriate her that her little vendetta screwed up a free ride and extra income that would allow her to finally retire. No way anything she's managed to put in a Roth, plus the dividends would equal my pension. She's counting on her husband's social security but she'll have to wait until she's 72 to really max it out. Or at least 67. That means she'll have to work another six years at least. And once she retires, she is on a fixed income and subject to the whims of the stock market. I'm not. My pension is fixed and I got a small COLA every September. About 2-3% usually.
No. I'm just smarter than her because most first borns are. The IQs drop unless there is a large gap between pregnancies. She was a mistake, as my parents only intended to have two children and had the perfect family already, a boy and a girl. They were too lax with her as they were tired and by the time she came along they couldn't handle her whining, complaining, selfishness and self-centeredness. So she was indulged and spoiled as a way to just shut her up. She's also worshipped money from the start. She used to smell it. Give her a dollar and it immediately went to her nose so she could sniff it. Once we were all given a dollar and she was warned to put it away. Instead she held it out the car window to watch it flap in the wind. (She was sitting by the window after one of her "Mary always gets to sit by the window and I always have to sit in the middle" tantrums.) So she lets it go and it's gone. And she cries and whines and is told told you so you were warned you're not getting another. So when we get where we're going my brother and I have our dollars. The the cry baby gets another just to shut her up. This is why she is the way she is. My Mother can't stand to hear arguing so nothing was ever resolved, just suppressed. And she was always given her way just to shut her up. We parent as we were parented and both of her sons were spoiled even more than that. That is why both ended up immature, irresponsible manbabies that were still living with her in their 30s. A few times she gave them ultimatums about leaving the house but never followed through and they knew she wouldn't because all their life they were never disciplined or held accountable.
Sound like any sister you know that starts with KIM?
And yeah, both of her deadbeat, useless boys were indulged and praised by my parents, oblivious to two grown men who can't hold full time jobs and were still living with their Mother in their 30s. Total denial. Love-blind. Worshipped for just being born and coming to see them every once in a while (when they were short on money) Sound like any useless nephew-spawn you know with the initials Kyle and Lucas?
I would love for Karma to give "Rejeanne" and her remaining Spawn a big slap of Karma right upside the head. Unfortunately they will both profit from their self-centeredness so will have learned nothing except lying, laziness and whining pay.
If either one tries to approach me to manipulate me into leaving them anything, I will get a restraining order. No way they can break my will and trust as I was perfectly cognizant when I made it. If I am living at Carlsbad by the Sea I will leave instructions that neither are to be admitted and will call security if they try. Of course, by then they won't even know where I am and they are blocked on my phone so they can't call, text or e-mail. I may tell my Brother where I am if he's still talking to me. I still think my sister has poisoned him against me. If I no longer get cards and Birthday/Christmas presents I'll stop sending them and won't bother to tell him my new address either. Plus it will be unlisted as I won't have a landline any more. I will have essentially disappeared. There will be very few friends I will be keeping in touch with so it would be a simple matter to get a new phone number and then notify those that need to know. Then there would be no way for either to find me.
I have the perfect comment for her obit page at the funeral home, if my lazy, cheap-ass nephew pays for one.
"I'm sure she's happy now. She finally got to be first."