I worked from home today, but have to admit that I didn’t get much IBM work done. I will have to make up for it over the weekend. Grrrr!
During lunch I ran to CECE to drop off a box of items for Patti to take to sell in this Saturday’s Cat Angels‘ garage sale. My donation consisted of:
- 3 lampshades
- 2 holiday pillows (with reindeer on them!)
- 2 pillows that did have some sentimental value to them, but have been in my closet for at least 5 years
- A kit on how to record generational stories
- Greeting cards software
- Genealogy software
- 2 yo-yos
- A desk toy (looks like a level; round pieces floating in water that can slip through holes to move to the other side)
- A car trunk organizing set
- A metallic, silver in color religious cross with a burning flame in the middle of it (I have absolutely no idea where this item came from)
While I was there, I also dropped off the ottoman, which matches the one I already bought for the office and that everyone liked so well, we got another one.
Mom and dad arrived at a little after 2:00, and wanted to go directly to the Olive Garden. So we did. It’s all about the food. That apple didn’t fall far from the tree—it didn’t even roll.
We enjoyed breadsticks, salad, and Dad, Mom, and I respectively had: Spaghetti and Sausage, Wheat Spaghetti and a Meatball (she specified that she only wanted one meatball), and the Chicken Alfredo Pizza. I took half the pizza home for a snack later this evening.
At about 7:00, I left for class, and I left mom and dad watching the TV—well actually, by the time I left, it was watching them. Robert was a dear and not only brought his TV over for them to use, but also bought them a remote control.
I said, “You shouldn’t have spent money on that.”
To which he replied, “But they’ve given so much to me.”
I was thinking, “They have? Just the occasional Christmas gift.”
And then he said, “Yes, they gave me you.” How sweet is that???
Class was interesting enough tonight. We had a guest speaker, Deb Paxton, who talked to us about the IRB process at State, which most of the class will have to participate in as they formulate their research project. Fortunately for me, I’m analyzing the professor’s data, for which he got IRB approval to collect and analyze way back when.
I changed my seating location in the room tonight, moving over near Michelle in case we had to do any “group discussion” type activities. As it turned out we didn’t, but a bonus of tonight’s seat was that I saw this guy from the front, who I’d only seen from the back to date, and he is totally, totally hot.
I stopped at the grocery store on the way home, as mom and dad mentioned they’d like to have an English Muffin for breakfast in the morning. I also picked up a box of fully cooked Jimmy Dean sausage in case they want to make a sausage McMuffin.
I was surprised to find mom up as she’d said they’d probably be in bed when I got home. She was enjoying being able to watch something different from what they usually watch, as dad had gone to bed.
She had that show on about singing the words to songs, which Joe has told me about in the past. She seemed quite enamored with the whole thing, and kept talking to me about it and another show about being smarter than a five-year old or a fifth-grader, one of those, which I’ve also heard of through other folks.
After that she talked about dad’s doctors and her frustration with them, and the entire medical situation in this country. Join the club, Eunice.
In the course of that conversation, she did mention that she didn’t want to be kept on life support, and that she has “signed something” that lets my dad, my sister, and I all be able to see her medical records. Some HIPAA form, I’m guessing. I asked her point blank if it was a “medical power of attorney,” and that title didn’t ring any bells with her.
Oh yeah, writing this is reminding me that when I asked her, “What are you usually watching at this hour (with dad) that you don’t see this show (about singing the words to songs), she said they watch some political shows, “…the one with that O’Reilly guy…” she indicated.
She then, off-handedly said, “My God if that Hilliary gets in there… anybody but her. I sort of like that Mitt Romney guy, or Giuliani. That John Edwards guy from North Carolina is a bozo.”
I was trying to contain the verbal demons in my head that definitely wanted out, but instead did the empowering thing: I shook my head, and I thought, “My vote will cancel out yours. My vote will cancel out yours.”
In this instance, the apple not only fell far from the tree, it rolled around about 180° and when someone picked it up, it was actually an orange. But I digress…
Tomorrow we’re off for the big trip to New England—Coventry, RI to be exact to visit my aunt—where my mother will learn that her baby sister (who’s 5 or 6 years younger than her) gave up a baby for adoption 45 years ago, that that daughter has found my aunt and uncle, and that we’re going to meet her this weekend.
What’s the name of the drug that stops a heart attack, or jump restarts a stopped heart? Clear!!!