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Mrs. Dunkin #9

This is an ongoing story I've decided to write and put on my blog every Monday.   Please excuse the errors, I'm only doing limited editing.  Constructive criticism welcome.  I wish I had a cute button on the side where the story could go but I don't know how to make a button.  Even if I did I wouldn't know how to link up the story LOL.   So if you miss a chapter, you'll have to look at my sidebar for it.  The first chapter was written on October 23, 2011 so that should at least be some help, ha.

 9

As I lay on the bed, I kept looking at my hope chest.  I may as well get up and look for the stuff for Jill.  Opening the chest, I rooted around looking for the family tree I had done years ago.  You see, Hank and I were only children so we didn’t have big families. We had cousins but we lost track of them over the years.   Here it is. I’ll put this in the locked drawer with my jewelry. 

I started looking through the chest some more and found a few empty journals.  Julie for years would buy me a journal for Christmas and tell me I should write my memories down and I never got around to doing it.  I should probably start doing that now while I can still remember things. She asked me for years if I wrote anything and I always had to tell her no.  I took out a beautiful lavender journal that had little violets on it and closed the chest.  I grabbed a pen from my purse and sat at the table with the journal. I opened it up and started to write.

*My first entry will be about Hank and me and how we came to be. We happened to join the same study group in college.  When I came into the library our eyes met and it was as they say “love at first sight”.  The next two years while in school, we saw each other as much as we could.  Since we were both from Ohio when we were on breaks we could meet each other’s families and get to know them.  When our parents came for graduation, we sprung the news that we were getting married the next day in the chapel.  They were none too pleased but that’s the way Hank and I wanted it.  I had called my best friend from home, Stella, and she and her husband came up so she could be my matron of honor.  Hank had his best friend from college stand up for him.  Our parents had given us some money for graduation and we decided to go for a few days to Niagara Falls for a little honeymoon.  To say the honeymoon was magical would be an understatement.  Back in those days, or at least how we were raised, there was no hanky panky before marriage if you know what I mean.  Enough said on that though. 

When we got back to Ohio, Hank and I rented a little bungalow.  He got an entry level job at a big corporation that he would eventually become the CEO of. I wasn’t going to start working until the fall as an English teacher at the high school.   It was so much fun decorating the house while he was at work.  We didn’t have a lot of money so I would go to Goodwill and decorate on the cheap.  I poured over recipe books and when Hank would come home from work, I would serve him my latest creation.  Sometimes I knew they were terrible but Hank would eat them without complaining. That first summer every evening, we would sit on an old swing on the back porch and have a couple of cocktails and dream about what the future would hold for us.  That’s about it for now.*

It’s 5:00 already.  I’m sure supper will be here soon.  I think I’ll go wash up.  When I came out Cheryl was leaving the room.  “Were you looking for me dear?” 

“Oh, I put your supper on the table.  I hope you’re hungry.” 

“Yes, I could eat something.”

“I’m going to be leaving pretty soon.  I’m sorry I never got to give you the tour.” 

“That’s okay, I enjoyed our conversation very much.”

“Me too.”

“I don’t have to work this weekend so I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Bye dear, and have a good weekend.”    

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

    

    

 

Merry Christmas

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A word

I'm trying to decide what to do for the coming year.  I'm not very good at resolutions.

I've heard of people selecting one word to focus on in the new year.  Has anyone done this and been successful?  

Mrs. Dunkin #8

This is an ongoing story I've decided to write and put on my blog every Monday.   Please excuse the errors, I'm only doing limited editing.  Constructive criticism welcome.  I wish I had a cute button on the side where the story could go but I don't know how to make a button.  Even if I did I wouldn't know how to link up the story LOL.   So if you miss a chapter, you'll have to look at my sidebar for it.  The first chapter was written on October 23, 2011 so that should at least be some help, ha.

8

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to interrupt you.  I didn’t see you were on the phone” Cheryl said.

“Don’t worry about it. Wait a second I have to write something down.”  I wrote look for family tree and put it on the bulletin board on the wall.   “I was talking to my granddaughter, Jill.  She is such an inquisitive child.  She always calls and asks me questions.  She’s done that ever since she was old enough to learn to dial the phone."

“That’s very nice.”

“Yes, it was nice.  Now I’m not so sure.  I’m worried about the time when she calls and I won’t be able to answer her question.  What will I do then?  You know the Alzheimer thing.”

“I understand your concerns about that but think about it this way for now.  Not everyone has the answers to everything whether they have Alzheimer’s or not.  How old is she?” 

“She’s thirteen going on twenty one”. 

“Oh, one of those, that’s how I was when I was that age” and she laughed.

“I was always in a hurry to grow up myself.  If I only knew then what I know now I wouldn’t be as eager.”

“Annie if you want to go for the tour we better get going.  I’ll have to get back to work in a little while.”

“How about we sit here and talk instead?  I can do the tour another time.” 

“I’m all for that.  My back’s killing me.”  

“Okay dear, tell me how you came to do this kind of work?”

“I’m going to nursing school and I needed money.  I took this job so I could put it towards my education.  At least that’s what I thought at the time.  I found that I’ve learned so much since I’ve been here.  It’s got me thinking when I do get my degree; I might want to do nursing with geriatric patients. I think I could make a difference in their lives. ” 

“What makes you like working with older patients?” 

“Part of it is the wealth of knowledge they have.  I’ve learned more about history from some of the residents than I learned when I was in school.  Also, most of the time, the residents are so appreciative and good hearted of what I do for them.” 

“Only most of the time?”

“I guess it’s not that some aren’t on purpose but with the unique situations of everyone sometimes they just can’t.” 

“I think I get what you’re saying.  My dad had Alzheimer’s and he could be very difficult at times.  I think it takes a special kind of person to deal with older people and I think this is a good place to figure out if this is where your heart will lead you.”

“It’s exactly what I thought.”

“Are you married?” 

“I’m engaged to a paramedic.  Next year, we are getting married.”

“How thrilling.  I suppose you’re getting all your plans ready.”

“Kind of, we are going to be paying it for ourselves.  Neither one of us has a big family so we thought we would have something small.”

“I’ve learned over my years, people spend more time worrying about how they can make it into an extravaganza then about the actual getting married and what that means.  When Hank and I got married, we had a small ceremony. We had our parents and a few classmates and went out to dinner.  I never regretted doing it that way.  On that wall, there’s a picture of me and Hank on our wedding day.”

Cheryl got up close and looked at the picture.  “Wow, you looked gorgeous.  Not that you don’t now” she said apologetically. 

“I know what you mean dear.” 

“Your husband was quite the handsome man and you both look so happy.”

“We were.” 

“Where did you graduate from?” 

“I don’t mean to brag but we went to Harvard.  He got a scholarship and got a degree in business.  He eventually became a CEO.  I got a degree in English and taught high school.” 

“Annie, it’s time for your medication” Katie said as she came into the room and handed me the little container and water. 

Cheryl stood up and said, “I guess it’s time for me to get back to work.  I’ll talk to you later.” 

“Bye dear” and she left.  “I like that girl.”

“Most of the residents do.  She has a way with them.  Is there anything else I can do for you before I leave?” 

“No, I think I might lie down for a while.  Is it okay if I close the door to keep out the noise?”

 

“Sure, I’ll close it on my way out.  Have a good nap.” 

“Thanks.”

 



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Saturday Centus #85

It's Saturday Centus again - in a nutshell, Jenny Matlock gives us a prompt from either herself or a guest submitter and then we have to write 100 words or  less related to the prompt (the prompt doesn't count toward the 100 words) Then link it up to her blog. It's open until the following Saturday, so that means you have all week to participate by either reading or writing.  The prompt is in blue.

http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/search/label/Saturday%20Centus

This week it's a picture prompt with 50 words.

“Hello?” 

“Mary, this is Joanne.  Have you seen Jenny’s house?”

“No.”

“She’s got a Christmas tree in her yard with all sorts of meats and vegetables.”

“She always has been an odd one.”

“There are animals there chowing down on it now.” 

“Oy vey, there goes the neighborhood.”  

Disclaimer: Any Resemblance to our hostess of Centus Is Purely Coincidental.. LOL

Random thoughts

1. My brother and his wife watched Corky while we were in Vegas.    When we got back,  my brother decided to keep Corky at least for now.   Ever since I've been trying to get all the dog hair out of my house, ha.

2.  One of my Dinner Friends became a grandma for the first time.  He was born on 11-11-11 in Room 11.  How cool is that!

3.   Interesting December so far.  Hardly any snow.  Avg. 4.9", last year 11.9", this year 0.9".  Calm before the storm?

4.  I'm having issues with the new tree.  When I close the blinds at night and the tree lights are on, I have a reaction.  I can't exactly explain it (it kinda makes me feel dizzy).  Hippie used to say the lights bothered him on the old tree.  I thought  he was nuts until now, ha, ha.   Anyone ever have these problems?

5. I've only had my hair cut once since I had chemo in '04.  It was very long.  On Tuesday we had to stop at the drugstore for a few things.  There's a hair place close by.  On the spur of the moment, I went in and got a haircut.  It's pretty short.  Everyone in the family will be shocked when I see them over the holidays (hi family!) LOL. 

Mrs. Dunkin #7

This is an ongoing story I've decided to write and put on my blog every Monday.   Please excuse the errors, I'm only doing limited editing.  Constructive criticism welcome.  I wish I had a cute button on the side where the story could go but I don't know how to make a button.  Even if I did I wouldn't know how to link up the story LOL.   So if you miss a chapter, you'll have to look at my sidebar for it.  The first chapter was written on October 23, 2011 so that should at least be some help, ha.

Chapter 7

 I started unpacking the last box.  I put my anniversary clock Hank had bought me many years ago on the dresser.  I was just pulling out my jewelry box when Cheryl walked in.  “How was your lunch Annie?”  

“It was delish.” 

“I hope you don’t mind if I give you a suggestion but I see you have a jewelry box.  If you have anything expensive in there, I wouldn’t leave it out.  We could put it in our safe.  You see, when some residents walk the halls and they see things in peoples rooms they would like, they take it.” 

“ I have a lock on my one drawer” and when I opened it the key was in it.  “Yes, I have the key.  Would that be good?” 

“Sure.  It’s not when they take things they are being malicious, their mind just doesn’t tell them they are doing something wrong.  We pretty much know who takes things, so if you’re ever missing anything let us know and we’ll hunt it down for you.” 

“Okay.” 

"I came for your tray.  I’m going to have a break in about half hour and thought I could show you around a bit.”  

“That would be lovely, dear.” 

“Okay, I’ll see you in a bit.”

I put the jewelry box in the dresser drawer and locked it.  I also found the key for the hope chest.  I opened it up and got out one of my mother’s fancy white laced runners.  All these years later it still looked as beautiful as the first time I remember seeing it.  I put it on top of the chest.  I also got out the quilted throw that Stella had made for me one year for Christmas.  It was burgundy, green and an off white. I always feel so cozy when I cover myself with it.  I think it’s because I know Stella took the time and love to make it for me.  I put it on the back of the rocker.  Then I locked the chest.   I decided the clock would look better on the chest and I moved it there.  I knew that girl, what’s her name again, will be coming soon.   I can finish with this box later.  I better put this in the closet and hide it.   

 I sat on the rocker holding the quilt, what’s that girl’s name that will be showing me around?  I bet you know.  It’s just terrible not to remember things. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been calling a lot of people dear.  It’s less embarrassing than having them see me fumble to recall their name.  When I was younger, I never could understand people calling someone they hardly knew dear, or honey and now that’s me.  I know I’m feeling sorry for myself and I don’t care.   I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I was an English teacher at a high school many years ago.  Now, I don’t mean to brag but I had such a good memory; I could remember kid’s names years later after they had been in my class.  They would be so tickled if I met them somewhere after they had children and I would greet them with their name and a little anecdote of something they had done in my class.   Now I can’t remember someone’s name I met a few hours earlier.  Think about it, how disconcerting that would be.  Another thing I never told anyone but the doctor I went to.  A couple of times when I went for a walk, I would forget how to get home.  It always seemed to happen at the same place, a bench in the town square.  I would sit there until I remembered how to get home.  Julie and Jerry would be so upset if they knew.  

 Excuse me; the phone is ringing “Hello?” 

“Hi grandma, it’s Jill.”  

“Hi Jill, I’m surprised to hear from you.  Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” 

“Didn’t mom tell you I was home sick today?” 

“No, she didn’t mention it.  What can I do for you?”  

“I found your number and I wanted to ask you a question.”

 “Okay, what’s your question?” 

“I have to do a school project.  It’s about putting together a family tree as far back as we can.  Do you have any of that kind of stuff?”  

“Yes, I have a lot.  It’s here in my chest.  I’ll sort through my stuff and can give it to you when I see you.” 

“Annie, are you ready?”  

“Who is that grandma?” 

“That’s some very nice girl that’s going to show me around.  I’ll have to go.”  

“All right.  Try to remember to look for that stuff okay?  Bye.  I love you.”  

“I will honey.  I’ll write myself a note so I remember.  I love you too.  Bye.”

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Jinx

I'm officially a jinx I'd say.  I was all thrilled that this year Mom was doing so well.  I even put it in my Christmas newsletter.

Last Tuesday my aunt (whose not really my aunt, ha) called to see how Mom's been doing.  I was regaling her about how wonderful she's been this year.

Wednesday night I get a call at 10:30 from the nursing home that they are taking Mom to the ER.  Apparently ( TMI) she was bleeding and they thought she might have a UTI.  We were there until 3 a.m. and she left back for the nursing home at 4 a.m.   They sent her back with antibiotics.

The next day, they call again this time at 2:30 p.m. she wanted to go back to the ER because now she was having a lot of pain and (TMI) clots.

They checked her and put a catheter in and decided to keep her to further evaluate her.  While she was there, she was in more and more pain.  For over a half hour I was asking for pain medication for her.  No one was bringing it.  Finally, I was so ticked (think Terms of Endearment but not quite) I went to the desk and yelled said "I want to talk to whoever is in charge."  The doctor happened to be coming by and asked what was wrong.  I then proceeded to blubber and yell tell him that I had been asking for pain meds for mom and no one was doing anything.  He said he didn't know and he would order her some.

A few minutes later the charge nurse came in and got things going for the pain meds.  I bitched and moaned to her that my mother was supposed to get comfort care and so far it hadn't been happening. I thanked her and she apologized for what had happened.

Anyhow to make a long story shorter, Mom got out of the hospital yesterday evening.  After doing CT scans and ultrasounds, she just had a very bad UTI.

When we went to see her in the morning yesterday they had her in an isolation room because now she has C diff.  She's supposed to be in an isolation room now in the nursing home.  I know she's probably not thrilled with that. 

We're going to see her later to see how she's doing, after the patio guy comes for I think the 4th time to see why it's still leaking.  Grrrrrrrrrr.

Mrs. Dunkin #6

 This is an ongoing story I've decided to write and put on my blog every Monday.   Please excuse the errors, I'm only doing limited editing.  Constructive criticism welcome.  I wish I had a cute button on the side where the story could go but I don't know how to make a button.  Even if I did I wouldn't know how to link up the story LOL.   So if you miss a chapter, you'll have to look at my sidebar for it.  The first chapter was written on October 23, 2011 so that should at least be some help, ha.

Chapter 6

     I was already looking through the boxes when Julie came back to the room.  “Mom, you’ll never guess who I saw leaving the building. Do you remember Sally Baker?  Her mom’s here.  She had a stroke last year.”  “Why yes, I do.  You used to be pretty good friends, whatever happened to that?”  “I had some important things to get done; you know things like med school, marriage, starting a practice and having kids.  All my friends fell by the wayside.”  “That’s not good.  Women friends are very important to have.  You should really think about reconnecting with some of them.”  “Yeah, I guess.”  “How is Mrs. Baker doing?” “We didn’t have a lot of time to talk.  She had to go back to work.  She did say her mom’s in a wheelchair now.  Sally also mentioned that we should get together and talk.”  “Then you should do that.  Trust me you won’t regret it.”  “Okay, mom I will.   Your room is starting to feel kind of homey, don’t you think?”  “Yes, it’s getting there.  Now if you can just hang some of these pictures on the wall that would be great.”

     Julie started looking at the pictures and hanging them on the wall.  “Annie, your lunch is here.  I’ll put it on the table for you.” “Hi Cheryl, let me introduce you to my family.  This is Julie my daughter, son Jerry and grandson Joshua.” “Hi Cheryl” they said in unison.  “It’s nice to meet you all. I see you brought more stuff.  The room is starting to look very nice.   I’d stay and talk but I have other meals to give out.  Feel free to ask anyone if you have questions.  Bye.” “Bye” again in unison. 

      “She seemed nice but didn’t stay very long.”  “Son, she’s not here to entertain us.  There are other residents here.”  “I know mom.  Look me and Josh have to go.  He’s got rec basketball at 1:00 and if we leave now we’ll be able to make it.  Is that okay?”  “Of course it is.  You go and Josh I hope you win your game.”  “Thanks grandma” and he gave me a kiss.  Jerry hugged me for the longest time, I thought he would never stop and then said “I’ll see you tomorrow.”  “Uh no you won’t, I don’t want any visitors until at least Sunday.  I need to learn the ins and outs of this place and I’d rather do it alone.  And don’t get that look on your face.  I’m fine.  I wish everyone would believe me.”  “Okay, I won’t argue with you.  I’ll see you Sunday afternoon” and they left. 

     I sat down at the table and Julie peered over from where she was hanging a picture.  “Well mom, let’s see what you have to eat.”  I pulled the covers off the food.  There was fish with tartar sauce, french fries, green beans and a slice of chocolate cake;  glasses of milk, juice, water and coffee.  “I don’t know why they give me so much to drink.”  “I’m sure they don’t want the residents to get dehydrated.  You know just because it’s on the tray if it’s too much, don’t drink it all.”  “Is that your professional opinion?”  “Yes it is” and we laughed.  “Do you want some?”  “No, I’m stuffed.  I ate a big breakfast.  You go ahead and eat and I’ll finish hanging the pictures.  I’ve got to get back to the office in a while anyhow.  I’ve got a couple of women that are coming in that are past their due date.”  “You go ahead”.

     While I ate, I watched Julie.  She has her whole life ahead of her and she has made a wonderful life.  When the time comes, I know she’ll be okay.  She’s strong although I know at times she doesn’t think so.  That will be my job from now on, to make sure she realizes that.

     “I’m done Mom.  Does everything look okay?”  “Yes, it looks great.  Why don’t you go now, I’ll finish up with the rest of this stuff later.”  “Okay, if you’re sure.”  “I am, see you on Sunday.” “Love you mom, bye” and off she went.  

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

     

    

Mom's eyes

 I haven't mentioned about mom's eyes lately but ..

Good news - In October we took Mom back to the eye doctor after she had issues with the one cataract eye surgery.  Mom was able to see two more lines on the eye chart than she did before.  They checked to see if with glasses she could see even better and she could.  Although we didn't get any there.  She told the doctor she could see well and he told her if she didn't want to she didn't have to wear glasses.  He did ask her if she could read without glasses and she said yes.  I knew she couldn't.  When we waited for her transportation back I had her try to read a magazine without her glasses and she couldn't. 

Bad news -  The doctor told me Mom has macular degeneration from aging in both eyes but the left is worse.  She will now be taking vitamins which some studies show helps slow the process.

Good news- She had her eyes examined at the nursing home in November, she should be getting her new glasses pretty soon, ha!


 

Mrs. Dunkin #5

This is an ongoing story I've decided to write and put on my blog every Monday.   Please excuse the errors, I'm only doing limited editing.  Constructive criticism welcome.  I wish I had a cute button on the side where the story could go but I don't know how to make a button.  Even if I did I wouldn't know how to link up the story LOL.   So if you miss a chapter, you'll have to look at my sidebar for it.  The first chapter was written on October 23, 2011 so that should at least be some help, ha.

Chapter 5

     Meanwhile, Julie had been sitting in the car for quite a while in front of the doors. She had to calm herself down before she could go back in.  She could feel the fear inside her of what was eventually going to become of her mother.  She was always the one in the family that kept everything going; the one they all depended on.  She couldn’t believe what was happening to her now.  She was feeling guilty about a lot of things.  She was a doctor for goodness sakes.  Why didn’t she see the signs?  She noticed her mom was getting forgetful but just thought it was old age creeping up on her.  She was 70 sometimes that will happen to people her age.  Ralph did tell her that he thought something might be wrong with her mom but did she listen, no.  She wanted to live in a fantasy world.  After the unexpected death of her father she wanted to believe that nothing was going to happen to her for a long, long time.  Thank goodness, she finally faced reality.  At least she’s on medication now and hopefully it will slow the progression of the disease. 

     Then she was feeling guilty that her mom ended up at a nursing home.  She told her she could live with her.  It would have been hard for her family but they could have made it work.  She then remembered all those years ago her mother telling her that she never wanted to have to live with her children.  She could have had a private nurse too that lived at her home.  There was no problem with the money.  Her father made sure her mother even if something happened to him that she would be set for life.  She didn’t get it.  Like her mom said though it’s her decision, and I’ll honor it even though she didn’t like it.   

      “Auntie Julie, are you all right?” Josh said peeking into her window.  Julie jumped.  “You scared me Josh.”  “Sorry, grandma wanted me to find you.  She thinks you were taking too long.  I brought the cart back for you.”  “I’m fine.  I guess I just got lost in my thoughts.”  “Are you worried about her?”  “ I guess I am.   I never expected her to end up here.”  “Me either.  Grandma’s always been so independent.  It seems nice enough but I guess with what she’s dealing with she thinks this is best for her.  Dad told me what’s wrong with grandma but that was it.   I looked it up on the Internet to see exactly what it was.  It’s kind of scary.”  “Yes, it is but we’ll get through it as a family and don’t you worry about it.  Now let’s get this stuff unloaded before she sends your father for us too.”  “Okay” and they unloaded three boxes full of stuff.  “You take that stuff to the room while I move my car back to the parking lot.  Tell grandma I’ll be right in.”

     She pulled her car into the parking lot and as she was walking to the door, she saw an old friend from high school coming.  “Sally, what are you doing here?” “Julie, is that you?  I haven’t seen you for years. My mom’s here.  She had a stroke last year and is in a wheelchair.  We couldn’t take care of her; our house is way too small.  We barely fit my family in it. What are you doing here?”  “My mom moved in yesterday.  We found out she has Alzheimer’s. For some reason she’s telling everyone it’s early onset which it isn’t.  It’s a little worse than that but perhaps she didn’t understand the doctor or that’s how she’s coping with it.  We wanted her to move in with one of us but if you remember my mom, she always did things her way.”  “She’ll be fine, don’t worry about her. I was so lucky to get my mom in here.  This is a wonderful place and they treat the residents like family.”  “That’s good to know.”  “Well, I hate to run but I’ve got to get back to work.  Every four months they have a family conference and I like to go to it.  Maybe we can get together sometime and if you have any questions I can help.  My number’s in the book.”  “I would appreciate that more than you know.  See you later.”

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

 

Saturday Centus #82

It's Saturday Centus again - in a nutshell, Jenny Matlock gives us a prompt from either herself or a guest submitter and then we have to write 100 words or  less related to the prompt (the prompt doesn't count toward the 100 words) Then link it up to her blog. It's open until the following Saturday, so that means you have all week to participate by either reading or writing.  The prompt is in blue.

http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/2011/11/saturday-centus-would-you-like.html

"Would you like fries with that?"

“Sure, why not.”

I looked around the tiny diner with all its Christmas decorations.

 “I’m surprised you’re opened.”

“Yeah, we’re always open on Christmas. Where you headed?” she asked.

“Nowhere really, I had some vacation time.  I just got in the car and headed west.”

“No family?”

“Let’s just say if you looked in the dictionary under dysfunctional you would see my family.”

“Why do you think I work every Christmas? I’ll get your order and then we can trade stories.”

Maybe this won’t be such a bad Christmas after all they both thought. 

Random Thoughts on vacation

1.  I haven't gotten chapped lips in years.  I did when we were in Vegas.  One day it was very windy, it must have been from that.  Also, I had flyaway hair the whole time, ha.

2.  When we were driving I was surprised at how many freeways were 75 mph through mountains and curvy roads.  Yikes!

3.  In May when we went to Vegas, we tried to see the big golden nugget in the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino and we couldn't find it.  This time it was my goal to see it.  We did.  It was pretty big lol.

4. The first Super 8 we stayed at you could have dogs in your hotel room.   From our room we could see people taking them out to do their business on a grassy area.

5.  I am starting to like flying again even though we hit some turbulence on the way back this time.  The girl sitting next to hippie was freaking out a little, ha.

6. When I got back, blogger was all different.  I'm having some trouble when posting.  Is anyone having issues?

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone..

I hope you have a lot to be Thankful for this year.  I know I have. 

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Mrs. Dunkin #4

This is an ongoing story I've decided to write and put on my blog every Monday.   Please excuse the errors, I'm only doing limited editing.  Constructive criticism welcome.  I wish I had a cute button on the side where the story could go but I don't know how to make a button.  Even if I did I wouldn't know how to link up the story LOL.   So if you miss a chapter, you'll have to look at my sidebar for it.  The first chapter was written on October 23, 2011 so that should at least be some help, ha.

Chapter 4

     “Mrs. Dunkin, my name’s Jim.  I’m from maintenance.  We got your son all set with a cart and your daughter mentioned that you needed some things taken out of here.  So, that’s what Paul and I are here to do.”  “Well, thank you.  I’m almost done with this dresser and then you can take it.” 

      They were about done when Jerry and Josh arrived at the door.    “Hello, Mom.” “Hi grandma.”  “Hello, you two.  Where’s Julie?”  “She packed the breakables in her car and she’s getting them.”  “I hope I have enough room for everything.”  “You’ll be fine, Mrs. Dunkin.  You have one of the bigger rooms here.  Do you need some help bringing the stuff in?”  “No, Josh and I can handle it.  Thanks for asking though.”  “Okay, we’ll probably see you around Mrs. Dunkin,” and they left. “They seem very nice, don’t you think Jerry?”  “Yeah, I guess mom.  Come on Josh, let’s start getting grandma’s things in.” 

     First came in my beautiful mahogany dresser and nightstand. I remember when Hank and I bought it.  We got money from our parents and it was the first things we bought as a married couple.  Next came in the mahogany hope chest.  My parents bought it for me when I was 10 years old.  Every year at Christmas, my mother would buy me something to put in it.  By the time I got married, I had a lot of stuff.  Then the most important piece of furniture I ever owned the mahogany rocker.  “Are you sure you want this rocker?  It is rather old and it’s not in that great of shape.”  “Yes, I most certainly do.  Your dad bought it for me when I was pregnant with you Jerry.  I rocked you, your sister and all of my grandchildren in that for hours on end.  I could never get rid of that.” “Okay, I was just asking” and he put it in the corner.   The last thing they brought in was the beautiful mirror for the top of the dresser.   I closed my eyes and remembered how many times I would be standing in front of it brushing my hair and Hank would come behind me and encircle me with his embrace.  I missed him so much even more now than when he first died. 

     “Mom, mom, are you okay?”  “I’m fine Jerry, I was just remembering something.”  “Okay, I’ll get this mirror on for you,” and he went about attaching it.  “Do you think you’re going to like it here grandma? I remember coming here that one year when I was in the choir; it gave me the creeps.” “Josh,” Jerry yelled.   I chuckled.  “Jerry, leave the kid alone.  Josh hopefully now that I’m here, it won’t seem so creepy.  I would hate to think you wouldn’t visit me.”  “No, I’ll visit you grandma. I promise. In fact, since I just got my driver’s license you might see me more than ever.You might even get sick of seeing me so much. That’s if dad ever lets me use the car.  .”  “Oh, I don’t think I’d ever get sick of seeing my favorite grandchild.”  “You’re not fooling me.  I hear you say that to all the grand kids, grandma.”  “I guess you got me there” and he gave me a big hug.  “If your dad thinks it’s all right, you can have my car.  I won’t be using it anymore.  It’s not a sports car but for a first car I don’t think it’s too bad.”  “Are you kidding me grandma?  I would love it.  What do you think dad?”  “I’ll have to talk to your mother but I’m sure we could work something out, although there would still have to be rules.”  “I know.  I’ll do whatever you and mom wants me to do.  It would be so great to not have mom drive me to school.  I could even go to the store and do all kinds of errands.”  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll talk to mom.”  “Okay, cool dad.” 

    “What do you think happened to Julie?”  “You know her Mom.   She’ll talk to anyone.  Son, go and find your aunt.”  “Okay, I’ll take the cart with me in case she needs it” and Josh walked out the door.  

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Hello

Is anyone out there? LOL.

This week we bought a pre-lit tree.  For years I've been trying to talk hippie into it.

The tree we already have is like over 20 years old.  Amazingly, it's still good as new but it's too full.

After last Christmas, hippie agreed to getting a pre-lit one.  I didn't want to get it last year, although it probably would have been a while lot cheaper, in case it didn't work.

We got it at Michael's.  We're going to set it up this weekend to make sure it works but won't decorate it until Thanksgiving weekend.

We'll still keep the old one but I hope I like the new one because after talking him into it, I don't think I can switch back next yea r to the old one, ha. 

Trip part 3

The next day it would take us until 4:30 to get to Vegas so we drove straight through.  We were pretty tired of being in the car already.

When we got there we went to our son's apartment.  He was sleeping.  He works nights (he has Monday and Tuesday nights off) and we said a quick hello and then his girlfriend took us to where we were staying.  We stayed one night at The Orleans because it was close to where they lived.  The room was very nice and was pretty reasonably priced.  I ordered a pizza and hippie went downstairs and got it.  On the order sheet it just said a whole pizza when I called she asked if we wanted 6 or 8 pieces, I said 8.  Holy Moley, this pizza was HUGE.  It was like an extra large one.  We ate 4 pieces and that was it.    Hippie went downstairs and gambled and I made a couple phone calls.  I never left the room the whole night.

The next day, we had to go to the DMV to get the title turned over and for them to get new plates for the car.  We checked in at 1:30 and got number 833.  When we looked they were only on 500 something.  We got done a little after 5:00.  It is so busy there that they have restrooms and a snack bar LOL. Since it was Halloween most of the workers were in costume.  A good portion of them were themed costumes from the Wizard of Oz.  There was Dorothy, Glenda the good witch, tinman, scarecrow, the lion, the wicked witch, yellow brick road and a couple of munchkin, including the mayor, ha.  Also, non-themed was the joker and a klingon (from star trek).  They all looked really good. 

When we were done there they took us downtown to Freemont Street where we stayed at the Fitzgeralds.  Since it was downtown, the rooms weren't as fancy but for the price they were fine.  On Halloween night they had a parade.  Freemont street was packed.  It reminded me of when you see Mardi Gras.  A lot of people were in costume.

We didn't go see any shows this time.  We walked up and down Freemont Street mostly and ate.  We did go to the Peppermill again.  I bought quite a few souvenirs for myself this time.   We also gambled a lot more.  We played the video blackjack machines and the poker machines at the bar that way we got free drinks LOL.

On Thursday, we took the shuttle to the airport.   We got home around 11 p.m.  All in all we had a great time.  We're thinking of going again in the spring.

 Side note:  I really didn't take any pictures.

Mrs. Dunkin # 3

This is an ongoing story I've decided to write and put on my blog every Monday.   Please excuse the errors, I'm only doing limited editing.  Constructive criticism welcome.  I wish I had a cute button on the side where the story could go but I don't know how to make a button.  Even if I did I wouldn't know how to link up the story LOL.   So if you miss a chapter, you'll have to look at my sidebar for it.  The first chapter was written on October 23, 2011 so that should at least be some help, ha.
 

 3

     My breakfast came about 8:15, a nice girl brought it in all cheery-like.  She was a tall girl, thin and looked to be in about her 20’s. She said her name was Cheryl. They must have a rule here, all employees must be cheery.  She put the tray on a small table and then left.  I sat down and surveyed the food.  Eggs, bacon, toast, and small glasses of juice, water, milk and coffee and it all tasted pretty good.   

     After I was done eating, I realized Julie and Jerry would be here in about 30 minutes and I thought about where I would put the things they were bringing.  I had everything all ready for them.  All they had to do was load it up in Jerry’s truck.  It should only take them one trip.  I thought about going out and looking around the facility a bit but I wasn’t ready for that. 

     While I’m waiting for them I’ll tell you a little about them.  Jerry is my first born, 40 years old.  He’s been married to his wife, Sue, for 20 years.  He has two children.  Joshua is 17 and Amy is 15.  Like I mentioned he’s a financial planner and is very good at what he does.  Since Hank died, he’s helped me a lot around my house.  We had issues with him when he was growing up but we don’t need to get into that now, there will be time later I’m sure.  He’s the spitting image of his father.  Tall, handsome, a good build, and black wavy hair. 

     My daughter, Julie, 36 years old is married to Ralph for 16 years.  They have two children; fraternal twins.  Wait for this… Their names are Jack and Jill.  They thought it would be cute.  I remember at the time thinking how much they would be teased because of it.  Now that they are 13, I can only imagine.  Julie’s a Pediatrician.  Her husband’s a surgeon.  I wonder how they do everything they do with the kids and their jobs but they somehow manage things.  She favors me.  She has hazel eyes, thin and auburn hair although my hair’s long turned gray.   I don’t mean to brag but I was quite the stunner back in the day. 

     “Hi Mom.”  “Hi Julie.”  “Jerry and Josh have the truck in front.  They are seeing if they can get something to put your stuff on so it’s easier to bring in.  How was your first night?”  “It was wonderful.  Everyone’s so nice here and my breakfast was just so yummy.  It will be so nice not to have to worry about cooking or doing dishes.”  “Really mom? I always thought you loved to cook.”  “Sure I did when you kids lived at home and your father was alive.  It’s not so fun when you have to cook only for yourself.”

     “Oh by the way, Stella called me last night.” “And..?”  “I did just what you told me.  I said you didn’t have a phone yet and when you got one you would call her and tell her when she could visit.”  “Thank you Julie, you know how Stella can be.  I love her like a sister but sometimes we don’t see eye to eye and this happens to be one of those times.”  “She’s just worried about your decision just like we are.”  “Let’s not go there again.”  “Okay, I’m going to see how Jerry and Josh are doing.  Do you want to come with me?” “No, I think I’ll start emptying these drawers and put the stuff on the bed so they can move this small dresser out before they bring in mine. You go dear,” and Julie left the room.  


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.