Mrs. Dunkin #18

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.

18

We walked into the lobby and then outside.  We sat on a bench in the sun.   

“Tell me if you get cold, mom, and we can go back inside.”

“It must be in the 60’s out here.  It’s gorgeous.  Pretty soon it will start getting cold.  I can’t believe in it will be Halloween soon.”

“Yeah, this year has been flying by.”

“Will your kids go out this year?”

“No, Josh didn’t go last year and Amy decided she doesn’t want to anymore.  They each have parties to go to though so they will still dress up. I don’t know where the time has gone.”

“I remember thinking the same thing about you and your sister.”

“How have things been going the last couple of days?”

“Pretty good, I’m starting to learn the ins and outs.  I was fortunate to meet Clara.  She’s helping me.  The staff is very nice too.”

“I’m glad.  I was worried if you could get adjusted.  Next weekend, all of us are going to your home and we’re going to figure out what to do with everything.  Let me know if you think of anything you would want from the house yet.”

“Did you work it out with Sue about the car for Josh?” 

“He was so excited when we got home.  Sue agreed to it but she told him if his grades started to slide we would take it away.”

“That was smart thinking.  How’s Amy doing?”

“She’s fine.  She’s a little upset that you are here.  She thinks you should be with us.”

“I’ll talk to her about it the next time I see her.”

“Julie told me you played bingo.  I remember family game nights. We all sat at the dining room table and played bingo and all sorts of games; until I became a teenager and I didn’t want to do it anymore.”

“Yes it was fun.”

“Mom I want to thank you for not giving up on me when I was a teenager.  I know I disappointed you and dad.”

“You weren’t so bad, Jerry.  Sure you tested our limits but we always loved you unconditionally, and knew in the end you would turn out the great son you are” and I gave him a hug.

“I hope we do as good a job as you did.”

“I know you will.  How’s the job going?”

“With the economy the way it is, things have been slow.  We’re holding our own.  Sue is thinking about getting a part-time job.  Now that the kids are older, she doesn’t have much to do.”

“That might be good for her.  Does she have any idea what kind?”

“I don’t think so.”

“If she just wants to do something she can do volunteer work that can be very rewarding too.”

“I think she wants to make extra money.  She wants us to go on a vacation next year and right now we can’t afford it.”

“I could help out.”

“No mom, I don’t want you to do that.  We can handle it.”

Quickly changing the subject I asked “Did you notice I’m wearing the earrings you bought me?”

“It took me a long time to save up for those when I got my first job.”

Jerry’s phone started to ring.  “Hello?”

“I’m still visiting with Mom.  Mom Sue said hello.”

“Tell her hello back.”

“Mom said hello back.  Okay, two bottles of wine and some crackers and cheese.  I’ll see you.  Sue and the kids are on their way home from church.”

“You should probably get going then.”

“Are you trying to get rid of me” he said laughing.

“No but it’s such a beautiful day out.  Enjoy it.”

“We’ll be outside a lot today.  For some reason Sue’s family wanted to have one last barbeque. I thought they were crazy but it looks like the weather cooperated.”

“Okay, go then.”

“I’ll walk you in.”

We walked into the lobby, and then through the two doors.  As we got to the family room, I noticed no one was in there.

“Jerry, I’m going to sit in here for a while” as I gave him a hug and a kiss.

“I’ll probably give you a call next week” he said.

“If I don’t answer, don’t be alarmed like your sister.  Just leave me a message I might be at an activity.”

“Okay” and he left.

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Las Vegas revisited

People we went to Vegas AGAIN (that now makes 3 times in less than a year, lol)  Since our son wasn't able to come home for Christmas, we decided to go visit for his birthday after all he was turning  the BIG 3 0.  We got their on the 20th and came home the 24th.

I must say we had beautiful weather.  The weather the first day was 59 (felt warm to me) and the rest of the time during the day was sunny and in the low 70's.

The day we got there before we checked in, we went to breakfast at a place called The Omelet House  http://www.omelethouse.net/ Our son has talked glowingly about this place since he moved to Vegas.  The omelets are huge and I mean HUGE.  They are about half the plate.  I only ate half of mine and we dropped the leftovers at their house on the way to the casino/hotel. I would recommend the Omelet Place if you eat a lot, lol.

We stayed at The Orleans again.  We gambled the rest of the day.  I never was hungry for a meal after the omelet.  My son and I did go to Baskin Robbins and got a chocolate shake. After the kids left (not really kids but for this post that's what I'll call them, ha) , I went up to unpack and hippie stayed gambling until 11 p.m. and brought me a chocolate croissant from The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.  It was yummy.

Tuesday, I awoke to the alarm going off on my phone, I turned over pretty quick and landed on the floor.  I hit part of my head on the nightstand and hit my butt pretty hard. Ouchie!!  I think that's the first time I ever fell out of bed and I wasn't even drunk, LOL.  I had set the alarm because we were meeting the kids.  We went to a place called The Neon Museum http://www.neonmuseum.org/ They have a lot of old neon signs from different casinos and other places, some of which they are restoring and putting back onto display.  The neon signs I showed in my other posts about Vegas from Freemont Street were from there.  The guide told some interesting facts about the signs.  I would recommend going to this if your ever in Vegas.  After that we ate a place called Firefly http://www.fireflylv.com/  They serve very small amounts of food so you could get several kinds of things.  I wasn't very hungry so I got the chicken skewers and it was enough for me.  I think the kids said it was a Spanish place but I would recommend this place as well.  I think we just went to the food court and ate stuff there for supper.  We gambled the rest of the time.  Because it was Fat Tuesday, they had a little band go through the whole casino every hour and they gave out beads. 

We hadn't planned on doing any shows.  We wanted to mostly relax and gamble, kinda low key.

On Wednesday was our son's birthday.  We went to the food court for lunch.  His girlfriend is a Vegan and he doesn't get a lot of meat so he got a hamburger from Fuddruckers.  For supper we went to Battista's Hole in the Wall Restaurant again http://www.battistaslasvegas.com/where he got a big steak.    Since it was Ash Wednesday for me I got cheese ravioli which was excellent. We also had that excellent cappuccino, yummy. Another place I would recommend.  It was very crowded but luckily girlfriend made reservations and we didn't have to wait long.   Then back to gambling.

On Thursday, more food court for lunch. Another hamburger for son lol.  They had a bowling alley in the place we were staying so we all bowled two games.  None of us had bowled for a long time but we had fun and that's all that counts.  For supper we went to TGI Fridays and son got a rack of ribs which are his favorite.  Hippie got ribs and lobster so son got to take his ribs home with him.  They took all the leftovers home, from Battistan's too so he had plenty of stuff to eat after we left.  Then more gambling.  When the kids left, I gambled for a little bit and hippie stayed and gambled more.  He got propositioned by a hooker when he was at one of the bars.  Luckily, he turned her down  but he has a good story to tell his buddies now.  I got another chocolate croissant. 

I lost $225 gambling but hippie won, yippee!  We're not sure how much he exactly won because he didn't keep track of it.  He originally put in $100 and played with that the whole time.  We figured out of everything we spent, with the money he won, we spent a little less than $400 which we were delighted with considering all the food, money to the kids for gambling and miscellaneous stuff.    I told him too bad we didn't stay longer we might have recouped our air fair and room.as well  ;-)

I think this should be our last trip to Vegas until next year but you never know.

We came back to the 30's and flurries.  After being in that weather, I can only hope that spring is right around the corner. 

Mrs. Dunkin #17

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.

17

Sunday morning, I got up at 5 a.m.  Breakfast wouldn’t be ready for a few more hours, so I hopped into the shower.

When I was done, I came out in my robe and looked through my clothes trying to figure out what I would wear.  I decided I would wear a dress.  I got all my undergarments out then went to the drawer, unlocked it and pulled out my jewelry box.  I got a pair of pearl earrings out, left them on top of the dresser and put the jewelry box back in the drawer.  I went into the bathroom and got my clothes on.  I then came out and started blow drying my hair.  I hadn’t worn it in an updo for many years; I wondered if I still remembered how to do it.  I fiddled with it for about a half an hour and with no success just brushed it down. 

I then went to get the earrings and they were gone.  I got down on my knees and looked under the dresser thinking I had knocked them off. 

“Annie, are you all right?  Did you fall?” and Sheila came running into the room.

“No, I’m fine dear.  I was just looking for something.”

“Here, let me help you” she said.  “Can I help you find whatever you’re looking for?”

“No, it’s not that important.”

“Okay, here are your pills.  The residents are starting to get ready for breakfast if you want to eat in the day-room.”

“I’ll be there soon” and Sheila left.

“Now what did I do with those earring” I said out loud to no one.  "Maybe I really didn’t take them out."
  
I unlocked the drawer, pulled out the box and looked through all the jewelry and couldn’t find them. 

“Annie, are you going down for breakfast” Clara asked as she wheeled into my room. 

“Yes, I was going to” and turned to her with tears in my eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“I put my pearl earrings on the dresser and when I came back from getting dressed they were gone.  I looked on the floor thinking they fell and then I thought maybe I didn’t take them out but they aren’t in my jewelry box so I must have.  What could have happened to them?”

“I bet I know.  Remember I told you about the thief, Annie” and as she said it she made quote marks with her hands. “I would bet money on it that Bessie took them when you were getting dressed.  It sounds right up her alley.”

“I forgot about her.  My son is coming this morning and he bought me the earrings years ago.  I wanted to wear them.  I wonder how we can find out if she took them.”

“I’ll be right back” Clara said.

About ten minutes later, Clara wheeled back into my room and said “Are these your earrings?”

“Yes, they are.  How did you find them?”

“Bessie once told me about a place in her room where she keeps all her valuable things.  She was down in the day-room so I snuck in her room and looked and there they were.  She’ll never know they are missing.”

“I guess I won’t be able to leave anything out for even a second.  Thanks for the help.  Let me get these in my ears and then we can go down for breakfast.”

They were already serving breakfast when we got to our table.  We had cream of wheat, pancakes and sausages.  They had music playing and someone had put little pots of different colored mums on all the tables. 

We were finishing up eating when I saw Jerry coming towards me.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Hi Jerry, I didn’t expect to see you so early.”

“I went to Church last night.  Sue and the kids are there now.  We had plans to go to Sue’s family today.  She said to tell you she’ll see you next week.”

“Okay.  Jerry, this is Clara.”

“Nice to meet you Clara” and he shook her hand.  “It’s a beautiful day, Mom.  Let’s go outside for our visit.”

“That would be great.  I’ll see you later Clara.”

Jerry told the nurse we were going outside.  As we walked to the doors someone was coming in and we walked out.

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Mrs. Dunkin #16

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.

16

“Ladies, do you want to eat your supper in here?” 

“That would be fine but I’m not really hungry” Annie said as the aide left. 

“Annie, try to eat something.  They mark down how much you eat.” 

“They do; for what?”

“I don’t know they just do.  They always want to know something.”

“Here are your trays” and the aide shimmied Clara up to the table. 

“Let’s see what we have.  Mmmm, tuna salad on lettuce.  This is one of my favorites.” 

“I like it too.  Perhaps I can eat a little something.  I have a feeling I’m going to gain some weight being here” and we laughed. 

“So Clara, you didn’t like being a stay at home mom?” 

“It’s not that I didn’t like it.  When my kids got older, I would have liked to work even if it was only part time but Harold said no.”

“What did you do with your time then?”  

“I did a lot of volunteering at school and then when I had more time at the hospital.  I loved it.”

“Well then, you might not have worked for money but what you did was very important.  Without volunteers many things would never get done.  You should be proud of that.”

Clara brightened up and said, “Thanks, I never looked at it that way.”

We sat quietly eating when I suddenly felt something rubbing on my legs.    

“Clara, I think I might be delusional.” 

“Why” she asked. 

“I think I see a cat”.

She burst into laughter.  “You’re not crazy.  That’s Maggie.  Hasn’t she come to visit you yet?”

“No.”

“She lives here.  My understanding of how she got here was she was a resident’s cat and when that person passed on; the nursing home people just let her stay.  She’s very good with the residents and knows just who to go by when they are having a bad day.  You must not have needed her yet.”

“She is a beautiful cat” as she reached down and petted her.  “Hi Maggie, it’s nice to meet you” and Maggie purred at Annie’s touch.  “I’ve still got a whole lot of stuff to learn about this place.  I’m happy I met you Clara.”

“Me too” Clara said.  “I think I’m going to go see how Helen is doing.”

“Night Clara, maybe I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good night, Annie.”

I put my nightclothes on and grabbed my knitting and sat on the rocker.  I turned the TV on.  Not that I really wanted to watch anything, it was more for the noise. 

Maggie looked quite comfortable sleeping on my bed.  I knitted for a couple of hours and was thirsty.  I put on my bathrobe and decided to go down to the visitor’s room to see if I could get something to drink. 

The lights were already dimmed as I made my way down the hall. 

“Annie, can I help you” Sheila asked.

“I was looking for something to drink besides water.”

“Would you like some juice or milk?”

“Juice would be great.  What are you still doing here?”

“This is one of my long days.  I’ll be going home soon.  I’ll get you the juice from the fridge.”

I walked into the day-room and sat on the recliner.   There was really no activity happening except for the low sounds of TV’s in the residents rooms. 

“Here you are, Annie.  How are you getting along so far?”

“Okay, I suppose.  It sure is different from being at home.”

“Better or worse?”

“A little of both I suppose.  I think I might miss the freedom I had but I think I’m going to like having people around all the time and there seems like a lot of things to do here to keep myself busy.”

“That’s a great way to look at it.  If there is something you would like to do that we don’t have maybe you can join the ladies club here.  They have meetings once a month with the administration and discuss what’s happening.  The administrator feels that the residents are the best ones to meet with to see what’s going on that’s right and wrong here. He’s always looking for suggestions too. ”

“I think I would enjoy something like that.  Who would I see about that?”

“I’ll leave a note for the receptionist and she can pass it onto the club and they’ll contact you.”

“That would be great, dear.  I’m going to take the juice back to my room.  I’ll probably go to bed early.  It will be a big day tomorrow with my children coming.  Good night.”

“Have a good night’s sleep, Annie.”

 

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Mrs. Dunkin #15

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.

15

Waking up again I was a little hungry.  I saw the tray was gone, so I grabbed the chocolate cake and ate it.  It was yummy.

I went into the chest and pulled out my knitting.  Why yes, I knit.  I was never a very good knitter and I haven’t done it for years but I have knitted a few Afghans in my time.  I still had some yarn left and thought I could use it here.  I remember doing a whole lot of thinking once I would get it started and didn’t have to concentrate on it too much. 

As I got a few rows done, Clara started wheeling herself in my room. 

“Hi there”, she said. 

“Hi Clara.” 

“I hope I’m not bothering you but I thought we could chat some more.” 

“That would be lovely. I could use some company. Can I ask you a question?  Do you ever feel that you’re trapped in this place because of the locked doors?”

“I did at first but I got used to it.  I’ve never tried to get out that’s why they’ve never put an alarm on me.” 

“That will be me too Clara. I am not much of a rule breaker.  When I was in school and the other girls would smoke in the washroom, I wouldn’t.  If there wasn’t a crosswalk, I would walk further until I found one.  The speed limit, let’s just say I was that woman you were cursing at that was in front of you.  I could go on and on but I’m sure you get the picture.  Why did I do that?  I think it’s because I had it drummed in my head.  You see my parents were very strict.  Not to speak ill of the dead, but my mother was very domineering and a force to be reckoned with.  I was always told to be a good girl and follow the rules.  All she had to do was give me “the look” and I bent to her will.”

“A lot of us were raised that way, Annie.  That’s just the way it was back then.  Can I tell you a secret?”

“Sure, I won’t tell anyone.”

“I’ve watched when they’ve done the code for the door.  They don’t seem to change it because it’s been the same one since I first came.  I always have visions of busting out of here.  I wouldn’t go out of the building but sometimes I’d like to go out into the courtyard without having a shadow with me” and she laughed. 

“Clara, now that I’m here we might just do that sometime. If there’s ever a time to break the rules now would be it.   Do you have any other family besides your children?”   

“You mean child.”

“Yeah, right.” 

“I have a sister but she lives out of town.  I talk to her about once a week.  She’s a few years older than me.  And you?”

“No not really.  I was an only child as was my husband.”

“Did you work outside the home” Clara asked.

“Yes, I was a high school English teacher.  I worked before I had my kids and then I went back when my kids went to school full time.  I retired when my father came to live with us.  When he died, Hank and I were going to start traveling and then he died.  We thought we had more time to do things but it wasn’t to be.”

“You were one lucky woman, Annie.  I was a stay at home mom my whole life.  My husband never wanted me to work.  I was dumb enough to listen to him.”

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