More Mom news, Florida and the Chile Earthquake

Mom is on me about vacation and the newest earthquake in Chile. I try to explain to her that Chile is in the Pacific, BUT, she told me the tsunami is hitting Puerto Rico. Really, seriously?

She doesn't remember that I was in an earthquake in Acapulco, Mexico on my honeymoon. Sue, it was scarey, but I'm not going to NOT go on vacation because there could be an earthquake. Hell, there could be an earthquake right here in PA.

Mom also has a chance to go to Florida with her friend and cousin Pat. I really like Pat, but Mom won't fly. So...I told her I would fly her down and then come back to get her. No way, she's not going. Know why? She won't have a car....lol

I'm definetly not driving her down and back.

I'm so Lazy & the snow

I really intended to keep this blog a daily one, but life gets in the way alot.

How about that snow? God, I hate it. We did watch alot of movies and did some things around the house. Glenn basically snow blowed the whole city. He did get over to my Mom's house, but not before we received quite a few phone calls.

Mom: My neighbors are throwing all their snow on my property.
Me: Did anybody shovel or snow blow for you?
Mom: Yeah, and they put it all on my property!
Me: Mom, I'll make sure Glenn or Georgie (my brother) gets over there.

Glenn finally did get over there with Kenny, my nephew, but by then, there was about 6" of packed snow that the snow blower wasn't blowing anywhere. Glenn and I finally went back about 2 days later and chopped it all up. It wasn't easy. Had to get Mom to the Doctors, so it had to be done.

Mom doesn't like kids playing her massive snow mound on her front yard either. These are kids, what are you going to do? Well, Mom said something to the kids and now she thinks the neighborhood is mad at her.

God, I hope we don't have snow like that last 2 snowstorms again this winter. If we have another bad one, I swear, I'm moving her in for the duration.

I hate snow!!

This is crazy. We've had so much snow. I'm sick of. I mean really sick of it. Who needs it?? It really doesn't serve any purpose in my mind.

We had 28.5 inches of snow this past weekend and another 12-18" is coming tonight and tomorrow.

Mom's been stuck in the house. I took her out yesterday, but it's pretty dangerous for her to be walking around in snow.

If we lose power at any time...I think I'll cry.

I hate snow

I'm not a winter person. In face, I hate it. Not only do you have to deal with dirty snow, really bad static hair, and stupid crazy people at the supermarket, it's just depressing in general.

It's been kind of quiet

There's really not much going on, but we still haven't gotten the washer or basement door. I'll probably just do her wash this weekend and that will save me for another week or so.

I've been tired lately. It seems I'm dreaming more and I think it's just exhausting me. You know, the dreams you think are real? I dreamt my best friend was pregnant the other night and she's 55...no way, but funny. I try to remember most of my dreams and in the morning if husband is around I tell him about it.

I just wish I could sleep through a whole night and not have these kinds of adventures.

Something is brewing

I hate that saying, but it fits with Mom. There is so much on the agenda that I don't think I'll ever get it done.

Phonecalls in the last couple of days are going like this:

Me: Hi Mom, what's up? (I don't think I should be asking)
Mom: {sigh} Ohhhhh....nothing {sigh}
Me: What are you doing?
Mom: Going through some papers (Now..Mom's been doing that for 50 years, you'd think she'd be on top of things)
Me: Oh, ok.
Mom: We need to get this work done. The basement, I need a new garage roof, I have to get to the eye doctors, I want the second floor done, I need a new toilet, the washer, the basement door and my taxes.

Just kill me.

Not getting Mom on the phone

So, I go to Zumba this morning. I really like it. Love dancing instead of walking or running or biking. I'm just tired of that.

I get back and there's a message on the phone:

Mom: Connie, call me when you get in.
Me: Oh God, something is wrong.

I don't like it when I get calls like that. I think that either she's fallen or something is wrong with her hair.

I try calling her...busy, busy, busy. I'm thinking of driving over there as I have so many other times just to see if she's ok.

FINALLY...I get her. Evidentally I left a card in the papers I gave her last night. I have a dentist appointment March 4th.

We chat a little bit and I tell her we had to suspend daughters cell phone. Long story, but Mom doesn't like that.

Now I feel guilty :o(

Mom need a basement door and a new washer

Mom's washer broke down. Oh My God! Mom is also addicted to washing. She does more wash then we do and we have 4 people living here at our house. I have no idea where she gets her wash, but it's seems like she's obsessed.

She calls me the other night and tells me that the washer is dead. This causes a big problem because her door to her basement was done over and it's only 27" wide. She has an old washer and dryer down the basement because she can't get them out. She's been pissed about this for years because she wants her basement clean. And....she wants it NOW!

I swear, if I hear another thing about getting her basement clean, I'm going to lose it. None of the stuff down her basement is either mine or husbands. Glenn refuses to clean it up. He does alot of things for my Mom...but he has to draw the line somewhere. Here's a typical conversation.

Mom: I'm down the basement. I'm trying to clean it up, but I'm making more of a mess.
Me: Mom, just stop, you shouldn't be doing that. It's too hard on you.
Mom: I can't stand it anymore! I have to do something.
Me: Ok Mom
Me: Ok Mom
Me: Ok Mom
Me: Ok Mom

So, the plan is for Glenn to rip out the door to the basement and then get a washing machine in. This is going to bother her and in turn, bother me until we get that washing machine in there. I've offered to do her wash, but she says she can last a week. I guess we have to get the door and the washing machine in that basement within a week or I'm in trouble.

p.s. Please don't tell my Mom that Glenn cleaned up our basement last week. It looks really good :o)

Mom fell last night

It's was about 8:15 last night when I got a call from Mom. She sounded fine on the phone. Here's how it went.

Mom: Connie?
Me: Hi Mom, what's up?
Mom: I'm fine, don't worry, but I fell and I can't get up (thoughts of that commercial)
Me: Are you sure you're ok?
Mom: Yeah, but I need somebody to help me up, I've tried and just can't do it.

Husband and I jump into the car. I know I couldn't pick her up by myself. Or...We'd both end up hysterical laughing if I couldn't. That's just what we do.

Mom isn't that big. She has lost alot of weight do to age and a bout with colon cancer.

We jump in the car and race over. Takes us all of 3 minutes. When we opened the front door, there she is! Sitting near the steps to upstairs, looking fine (thank god).

I have a bad back and Mom is always worried about me. It's always "Connie! Watch your bad back".

We grab under both arms and up she goes.

We sat with her for a little while and bascially talked about nothing. I'm really looking at her and she looks good. Even her hair, which is rare :o)

I said I was going to stay until she got up to her bedroom. I followed her up and she was fine...again Thank God!

She starts to try to turn on the damn TV and has problems again with the remote control (that's another story).

So, we turned off all the lights, closed the door and went home. Today, she had an appointment at the doctor at 8:30. She's driving herself :o)

My Mom and her house

Whatever we do in our house, my Mom wants. If I need a new toilet, she needs one. If I need to paint, she wants me to paint her house.

About six months ago, I started planning to do her downstairs over. Mom lives in a 3 Bedroom, 1.5 Bath house.

Husband Glenn started by taking the wall paper off. That wasn't easy. She even wanted to put wall paper up again. I talked her out of it....thank God. Wallpaper is out Mom!

One problem with Mom is, she can't make a decision on anything. She wanted blue carpets again. No Mom....blue is out. She couldn't make a decision on the paint, or the the curtains, or the chandelier, or the sconces. So, it was left up to me to pick almost everything out. I even made her a book with samples. She didn't care. She wanted it done and she wanted it done fast.

Once the wallpaper was off, we called in the Mexicans to do plaster the cracks. I don't think she liked the Mexicans in the house. She called me on the phone the first day and whispered on the phone...."Connie, they're all Mexicans". I said..."Mom, I told you they were Mexicans, don't worry about it, they're good".

My brother George was great with helping with the painting. He's actually good at it, but he's kind of bossy. He loves to tell Glenn what to do...Glenn! Glenn! Glenn! But I appreciate how much time that he spent helping. Dennis did some electrical because there's no way I would let George or Glenn do it.

Her house looks good now, the only thing is.....since I had to pick out everything and in addition, put a couple things from my house into her house, her downstairs looks just like mine.

Bottom line. Don't ask me to decorate anything unless you want your place to look like mine.

Next up? She wants her upstairs done. I think I'll call in my sister-in-law Bernie to do this one :o)

My Mom has an addiction

There seems to be nothing more important to my Mom then her sweet tooth. I seriously think she would die within one day if she didn't have sugar fix. Whenever I bake something I think of my Mom. I'm not a big sweet person. Every now and then, I'll have a piece of cheese cake or my sister-in-laws rum cake. Mom??? She just can't just eat one piece. She'd rather eat the whole cake herself.

At family get togethers I can see she has her eye on the desserts. She has to have her fill when she's there, but she wants to make sure that she brings home a platter too.

I could buy her 6 cinnamon buns and they could be done in one day. When I ask her if she ate all of them, she'll laugh and just say "yeah". I'm thinking to myself you're kidding me!!!

Fudge anyone? She LOVES it!! When we go down to Wildwood we always try to get Laura's fudge. Mine usually ends up in the refrigerator until it gets so hard you can't eat it. Mom's pound is done before the end of the day.

Mom is an addict.

My Mom and her Hair

Oh God....where do I start with this story.....

My Mom still has her hair the same way that she had it in the 50s. I remember it, but I don't remember that she has always been obsessed with her hair style. This has only started to make me crazy within the last 5 years or so.

Mom broke her shoulder in a fall while up the ass of my husband. We come home from the shore and she wants her mattress flipped and turned. No problem, easy. The BIG problem starts with her always having to be the foreman on the job. She has to be within 1 foot of you to make sure it's getting done right. That's where she made her mistake. Within 10 seconds, she's on the floor screaming. Somethings wrong with her arm and we didn't want to move her. We call the ambulance, go to the hospital. Shoulder is broken. Fast forward...she had shoulder replacement, but it didn't work well...so...back to the hair thing.

I started washing and "doing" her hair. Rollers..I hate them. I have no idea how she sleeps on them either. She sometimes will even have those pink snap on curlers that have nail like thingies that dig into your scalp. I know....I use to wear them in the 60s and 70s. Now, I'm not a beautician, but I try my best.

Sometimes, she'll go get her hair washed and set. She NEVER likes it. Sometimes she will get it dyed. She NEVER likes it. Oh no!!! The haircut. Too short, too long. She NEVER likes it.

Here's a typical conversation:

Mom: I hate my hair.
Me: I hate mine too.
Mom: I hate the color, it's too dark.
Me: I think it looks fine.
Mom: No, it should be lighter, they never do it right.
Me: Do you want me to do it?
Mom: If you think you can find the right color.

How the hell do I know what color is right? Believe me, I've dyed her hair. It's either to light or too dark.

Does ANYBODY have the right color for my Mom?

MY MOM DOESN'T WANT ME TO GO ON VACATION

Here's a recent conversation that I had with my Mom on the phone about our vacation to St. Thomas which is coming up in late April into May.

Mom: I don't think you should go on vacation.
Me: Why??
Mom: Too many earthquakes down there in the Islands.
Me: Mom, I'm going on vacation!
Mom: Don't you fly into Puerto Rica? (That's how she says Puerto RicO)
Me: No, I have a direct flight.
Mom: Well, you're still too close to Puerto Rica and I heard on the news that a fault line runs right through it.
Me: Mom, we could have an earthquake here.
Mom: There's more a chance you having it down in the Islands.
Me: Maybe, but I'm going on vacation.
Mom: Do you have life insurace? Do you have a will?
Me: Mom!!! Stop!!!!
Mom: I'm not taking care of the cats if something happens to you...no way.
Me: Ok
Mom Gotta love her.