Tag Archives: family matters

Georgia Snow, Not!

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Jared's Grocery Store Theory

Jared’s Grocery Store Theory (Photo credit: redjar)

In the past 47 years, or at least as long ad I can remember, people have panicked, raided the grocery stores, and driving like idiots at the mere mention of SNOW/ICE, in this area. Well, I am honestly shocked and surprised. They were talking like we would at least have s little ice. Guess what? No one nutted-up and bought every slice of bread in the southeast. Are we finally listening or is everyone just that broke? Either way, the sun will be out tomorrow and this mess will be forgotten.(till the next storm slides slightly south and the reporters want to get everyone all riled up!

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Daily Prompt: Breaking the Law

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Think about the last time you broke a rule (a big one, not just ripping the tags off your pillows). Were you burned, or did things turn out for the best?

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Backseat Betty made me do it! My stepson graduated from basic training and we took a road trip to Kentucky to watch the ceremony. My mom (Backseat Betty) went with us. 

After the ceremony there was a problem with his orders, so he could not leave. Barry stayed with him waiting for his orders and mom, I and Frank’s then girlfriend headed back to Georgia in the dark. We had an eight-hour ride ahead of us with my mother at my side. 

By the time we hit the Georgia State line, I was ready to get out of the car. Fortunately, we were now only three hours from home. The closer we got to home, the faster I drove and mom kept telling me I was speeding every thirty seconds. By the time we got to the Tucker, Ga. City Limits, the police stopped ignoring me. I was pulled over almost immediately. 

I tried to explain the situation to the officer, with my mother chattering to him behind me telling him I’d been speeding since Kentucky. I got the largest speeding ticket, I had ever received, from this officer. I said ‘Thank you’, slowed down and headed home with mom in my ear lecturing me on the dangers of driving fast.

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We were at my house within 30 minutes. I got her bag out of the car, put it in hers and said ‘Go Home Now!’ She didn’t argue, she left quickly.

I definitely felt burned by mom, not the cop. If Backseat could have kept her mouth shut, it might not have been so bad. Today, I flat-out refuse to be in a car with my mother longer than one hour! Let my sisters take her on long trips! 

How many one-handed people does it take to change out headlights on a car?

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0511-1201-1903-1206The answer to the above question, at least around here, is two plus one dog to supervise.  Mom has had so many little bumps and bangs to her front fender, that it made it close to impossible to remove the headlights.

Barry tried for over an hour before giving up. He came in defeated. I suggested that he give it one more shot with a little help. In no time, we had the new lights in and working well.

This is just s good example of not getting discouraged and giving up. Barry and I both have weak left hands, but between the two of us we had one good set of hands and got the job done. Making us feel good and saving mom some money.

When I let her know we finished, I suggested she quit hitting things with her front bumper. Her claim was, ‘I didn’t do it’. I just love how she will never admit to doing anything wrong. It is always someone else’s fault. You gotta love her!!!! 🙂

Daily Prompt: In a Crisis

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Honestly evaluate the way you respond to crisis situations. Are you happy with the way you react?

After 26 years of nursing, I react the same way to any emotion evoking situation. No matter what the situation, crisis or otherwise, I am always cool as a cucumber.

There are only a few exceptions to which I will lose my cool, the main one is when the crisis involves a close family member. When Barry had the stroke, I was on top of the situation until help arrived and then I lost it. I couldn’t drive myself to the hospital.

The second is if the “Chipmunks’ are on the movie screen, I have a tendency to burst into tears. I do not understand this one at all, but hey…..it happens!

As a trained professional, am I extremely happy with my reaction to a crisis. I think my reaction over a close family member is perfectly normal and I cannot say I should act any other way.

As far as the ‘Chipmunks’ thingy, I haven’t got a clue…..other than they are just so incredibly sweet and absolutely cute as buttons. How can you not get emotional over something soooooo sweet……???? 🙂 🙂

Crazy Thursday

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I would love to be home tomorrow for BrainTumorThursday. Since I cannot be there, I thought I’d share my itinerary with all ofMC900433230 you.

10:00am Barry, I and the girls are going for our first visit with the breast specialist. The girls are having some major issues that freaked my regular gynecologist out, so we get to add another doctor to our list! Yea!

I’m kinda freaked out about seeing a bombom specialist with Cowden’s Syndrome and Lhermitte’s Duclos Disease in the picture, I have to stay on top of health issues. I do not want anything creeping up on me without warning.

After the Bombom doc, we are off to discuss my screwed up genetics with a specialist. I am hoping she can elaborate on this genetic nightmare I am muddling through. I think if I just had a few answers, I’d feel a lot better.

I have been questioning relatives for weeks. I always saw my dad’s side of the family as the healthy side, little did I know they are just better at keeping secrets and keeping things to themselves. I felt so bad when I heard some of the things my cousins have been through.

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I can sum my mom’s side of the family up with a few words. They are heart attacks, strokes, factor five ledium, and arthritis. There have been a few cancers in the picture. My Uncle Bud was the worst. The heart attacks do not play around with us, either. One Uncle dropped dead at age 29 from a massive coronary. Three cousins, younger than me, have already suffered BAD heart attacks.

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It is really scary. Both families look incredible, BUT have survived numerous serious illnesses. I guess I get my will to fight from both mom and dad. I come from family of survivors!

Stuck between a rock and a hard place!

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Let’s just say, I was stuck I’m my very own metaphor this afternoon. With the exception of a rock, my dilemma involved my favorite chair in the living room.

Barry was on a grocery store run, while I did a little reading. It was nice and quiet in the house, so I started to fall asleep. As my snooze was getting good, I started to slip down in the chair and the ottoman started to roll away from my chair. A few moments later, I was wide awake and realized I could not move. 

The ottoman was stuck where the rug started. The rug had started to push up and the ottoman was hung. I was positioned with my weak side up, I’m strong on my left side, but it is pretty useless trying to push or pull up.  

I struggled with it for a bit and gave up. Mom was home, but she was behind two closed doors and could not hear my call, soooooooo….I got comfy and waited for Barry to get back. Not sure how long I was in that position, cuz I fell asleep.

Barry came in, laughing as he helped me up. He wanted to take a picture, but I threatened his life. Maggie thought we were playing a game. She was squirming all over the place and licking everything she could get too! What an afternoon!

Daily Prompt: 1984

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You’re locked in a room with your greatest fear. Describe what’s in the room:

As I sit here trying to determine what my greatest fear would be, I think of where my life was in 1984. My fears then are incredibly different from today. I wouldn’t like being locked in a room, period. Wait, it just hit me how to write this up.

I’m in my favorite chair, in the living room at my parents home (since I was a mere 17 years of age in that year), I’m reading a mystery. The door to the kitchen is to my right, the couch is against the wall to my right and the door to the front yard is in front of me. The fireplace is to my left. There are windows  to each side of the fireplace. The television is between the fireplace and the front door. The laundry room door is to the left side of my chair. The ceiling fan is bustling above, moving just enough air to keep the room from being stuffy.

My fear is sitting on the screen of the television, a good twenty feet from me. Sitting on the screen of the television is a tiny, harmless, dinky spider. In my mind it is enormous.

It is just sitting still, not moving an inch.  My mind is telling that is the largest critter on earth and it is staring at me, waiting to attack. I’m feeling like a mid-morning snack.

A prickly sensation is running all over my head and the back of my neck feels like every hair is standing at attention. I break out in a cold sweat. The spider is just sitting there. I slowly stand up and attempt to get up the step to get into the kitchen, but the door is locked. That door isn’t supposed to lock. I do not understand. I can’t get near the front door, it is too close to that spider.

I sit still and just continue to read my book. Someone will be home shortly and let me out of here. They also have to get that nasty creature off the television.Cuz, I ain’t touching it! 🙂

Raising Mom

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At this point in my life, I never thought I would be taking care of my mother. It is what God has led Barry and I to do, so here we are……raising mom.

She was in a situation, at her new home, that was not a safe. James, her new husband, I say new…..I should have said her husband of four years.

The home he provided was not the best place for her to be. I will not go into details about the situation, but let’s just say mom needs to be with us, than her husband.

Having mom move in has been an experience. She acts like she is afraid of Barry and is trying to raise me again. She treats me like I am ten years old, not 47. 

Having her around, has been amusing, as well as a huge challenge. Mom is a breed of her own. She believes in being treated right and will quickly let you know if she feels if she has been wronged.

I’ve written several posts about mom’s exploits, but believe me….I have only written about the tame ones.

One of my many lessons, since she moved in, was on how to freeze pork chops. Needless to say I have had my kitchen for over 20 years. Guess what? I was doing it the right way! As Gomer Pyle would say, ‘Surprise, surprise’!

Mom and I share a love for gardening and houseplants. I discovered my plants were not looking well and I could not figure out the problem. I found out, Mom trying to helpful, had been watering my plants too! I know, I know…she was just trying to help. There are certain things I am totally capable of doing is handling my plants. After throwing out the plants that were not going to survive and re-potting the others, I am now the only person watering them!

Mom and I sat down and went through the household chores and I have asked for her assistance with a few things and she knows that I will let her know if I need more help!

I have to admit, I love having help with the laundry. I hated laundry before becoming disabled, but I simply adore finding cleans clothes in the closet when I need them. So does Barry.

Mom’s memory is declining, ask her she’ll tell you there isn’t a thing wrong with her or her memory. She is overall in better shape than most people we know.

She doesn’t drive after dark any longer and I set her medications up for her by the week. She wasn’t handling them well. Mom can think at times that she is a doctor and will decide which pills she needs and the ones she doesn’t. I settled that issue and just started doing them for her, hint, hint….

If she needs directions, we get them for her. If I need to go with her to an appointment, I go. Our biggest problem has been her adjustment to living with Barry and I, as well as our adjusting to her.

Mom does not know what the word quiet means, nor does she know how to be that way. I am beginning to think she likes to hear herself talk, because she never STOPS! There is always this constant chatter.

I have a huge family and mom always seems to go on for hours about relatives, never heard of in my lifetime. She can’t find her keys, but she remembers all of these people. After numerous head butts, she is starting to understand that she needs to be a little quieter and not to talk as much in the car.

I enjoy the time I have with her in the mornings, when we first get up. She does all the talking while we watch the news. I’m starting to believe she corners me in the living room on purpose at that time of day. It takes an hour of waking up for my voice to wake up, so I get the pleasure of hearing about her crazy dreams. There are times that it is hard to distinguish whether she is describing a dream or a hallucination.

This morning was a little strange. The first thing she asked this morning was if ‘we had seen it?’. When questioned further, she was talking about a little girl in a rocker floating around house. How so you respond to such?

If I can get mom and Barry on the same page, things would be copacetic in the house. Barry doesn’t like her un-nerving me and questioning everything we do. She is also having to adjust to the ‘New Barry’. My life would more stability  if those two could figure each other out. It’s in God’s hands, I’ve been praying…..