One More Thing

When I was 14 I was driving my grandparents new 1960 pontiac down the road (no license of course). My oldest brother was with me- well I hit some ice, spun out, and landed in some field, I blamed it on my brother of course and nobody knew that I did it.!

OK - I got tagged.

CherkyB musta run out of people to tag, as I am sure I was on the bottom of his list. So I will try to come up with 5 things about me that are secrets - hey I don't have any secrets- everybody already knows all about me because I am selfish and love to talk about myself.

1. When I was a kid (about 100 years ago), I taught myself how to play the accordion by taking my father's accordion and playing it when he wasn't home. I was actually quite musical and could play the piano, violin, viola, trumpet, harmonica and accordion. I was in the school orchestra and did play first violin. Can't do any of the above now.

2. When I was a teen, I was a very good ice skater and roller skater. I actually had one of those little felt skating skirts and would go the the Hyde Park skating rink several times a week in the winter. In the summer I would go to the pool. Can't do any of the above now.

3. When I was a teen, I worked on a chicken farm and processed 10,000 eggs a day- I would collect them, wash them, candle them, grade and pack them. We would have dead chicken wars- you haven't lived until you were hit with a dead black rotted gangerine chicken. I used to go home and jump right in the river off the dock - clothes and all. Those were the days when I knew how to swim. We used to take inner tubes and hitch hike about 5 miles up river and then get on the tubes and float home. Can't do any of the above now.

4. I lost my virginity to a married man. He is now deceased. Along with two husbands and all my boyfriends. My kids call me the black widow. Can't do any of the above now.

5. I used to be skinny and rode my bike 10 miles a day. I walked all around Grand Island with some friends and the Army guys that were stationed at the Nike base on the island. Can't do any of the above now.

So there you have it!

Go Home tomorrow!

The feast was quite a success. I will say that is the most delicious turkey I ever had. Brother #1 injected it with some type of butter Cajun seasoned stuff. It comes with a syringe, and you inject the stuff under the skin all around the bird. It was excellent, as was the ham and stuffing and taters and gravy and salad and cranberries with oranges, punkin pie with coolwhip. Had ham and turkey sammwiches for lunch and went to real Mexican for supper. I had steak fajitas that were delicious (almost as good as my son's). Earlier I went to Postie and W's place and glued heads onto stuffed material pincushions. They are kinda cute (I guess).

Last year I started crocheting something and went to work on it and could not find the book that had the pattern in it. I lookmed thru every single book I had, not once but twice and could not find it anywhere. Well yesterday I found it - in Postie's living room - about 850 miles away from home. Will wonders never cease!

Anyhow- I go home tomorrow, and have to at least do a load of laundry sp I have clean unders for work Monday. A good time was had by all Damn It!

Day 3

V- A's mother passed away this am about 15 min after A and #1 brother got to the nursing home. Then everybody came back here and Postie brought the cookie making stuff back here (sans pan) and I made oatmeal raisin and toll house cokkies and generally just wasted away the day. We postponed the feast until tomorrow due to circumstances beyond our control. Postie and W went home around 4 PM before it got dark. E and J (A's sister and husband) showed up around 5 pm and brother #1 fixed this delicious chicken curry sauce to have over rice and a nice salad for dinner. Tomorriw I am to go to Posties for part of the day, while Brother #1, #2, and J go straighten up the rental storage to make room for the rest of V's stuff. Then they have to go the the assisted living where she was and get the rest of her furniture - bed and dresser and a few other things - and take them to the rental storage place. Then A and brother #1 will cook the rest of the feast (some of it was prepared ahead of time) and we will all congregate her for the feast.

Then there will be only 2 more days until I can go home - be it ever so humble and all that. But all in all the visit has not been too bad except for V's passing. A seems to be doing quite well- she accepted it a few days ago that the end was very near.

Getting colder here and quite windy. The back deck has several birdfeeders which attract many different kinds of feathered friends, along with squirrels and a rapoon or two, all of which I have seen this evening. Very amusing.

A good time is being had by most, Damn It!

DAY 2

It is Wednesday evening. Today Postie and W came over quite early and the oldest brother, Postie and W, and myself went to buy Postie a new teakettle. We stopped at a craft place (highland Craqft Guild) which had all handmade stuff like quilts and wood carvings, pottery. woven articles, mosiacs etc all hand made by locals. It was quite awesome and very expensive. Then the Oldest brother or brother #1 to simplify matters, took me to see some of the sites of downtown Asheville. It looke the same as Barfalo, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Fridays, Applebees, etc. etc. Well we went to a place called BoJangles for lunch that had cajun chicken as its sppecialty. I got that with some dirty rice and it was goood. Then we made a trip to the grocery store, as I wanted to make some oatmeal cookes. Postie claimed she had everything we needed.
ME: "Ma, do you have oatmeal"?
Postie: "Yes"
W: "No."
ME: "Well how much do you have, Ma?"
Postie: "How do I know?"

So I put some oatmeal in the cart.

ME: "Ma, do you have raisins?"
Postie: "Yes, we have raisins".
W: "But they are stale- better get some fresh".
Postie: "Well, what's wrong with stale?"

So I puts a box of raisins in my cart.

Me: "Ma, do you have flour"?
Postie: Yes I have flour".
Me: "How much flour do you have?"
Postie: "How do I know?"

So into the cart goes a bag of flour.

Me: "Ma, do you have brown sugar?"
Postie: "Yes."
W: "No."
Me: "How much brown sugar do you have?"
Postie: "none"

OK - that went into the cart, along with nuts, eggs and butter AND A COOKIE PAN! I'm sure glad that Postie had everything I needed to make the cookies.

Well then we went back to Brother#1 and Postie decided to take a nap instead of going to her house and makeing cookies. So I helped Brother #1 out in the kitchen for quite a while, as his wife A was in the Hospice with her mother who is no doubt terminal - in a coma - and is getting no nourishment nor liquids at this stage.

A has been there from about 7AM and comes home for dinner and then goes back until 9:00.

Well Brother #2 arrived tonight from near Atlanta, and brought his 4 legged companion Ginger. Now there are 2 dogs and 2 cats here. Brother #3 called and is not going to be able to make it at all. However A's sister and husband are driving in tomorrow from Lancaster PA so we will either have an early dinner (3:00) and then another meal much later in the evening with the sister and hubby, or wait until late and all eat together. It will probably be plan A, as Postie and W do not like to drive home after dark- these roads are treacherous after dark.

Thats all for now and a good time will be had by all DAMN IT!

I Have Arrived!

Thanks to the modern drug, Antivert, I had a non-eventful flight. The only downfall was that we left Buffalo late, which put me into Charlotte 20 minutes late, which only gave me about 20 min to go from terminal B to terminal E which of course was about 1000000 miles away. I made it just as they were boarding for Asheville. Otherwise everything else was ok. Postie was slightly put out because I am sleeping at the brothers instead of her little one room apt which they keep at about 90 degrees. Here I get my own room, my own bathroom and I can open the patio door to cool off. It is quite warm here.

Anybody want a real thrill? It is all mountain windy very small lane roads here. Wel go in the car with an 88 yr old woman at the wheel who is going about 45 and then slams on the brakes at every turn or corner. I had my foot pushing on the floor the whole time. Then we get on a 6 lane highway and guess who is driving down the middle of the dotted line taking up two lanes. Good Grief. I told the brother that he can take me to Posties house thank you very much.

We went to Outback tonite - bloomin onion and steak and salad and taters. Yum yum yum. Tomorrow we will go shopping fof a teakettle for Postie (her late birthday present) and then come back to the brothers and start preparing stuff for the Turkey feast. It is unknown if Unkle D and his woman will be coming, as she has strep throat and their new appliances for their new house may be delivered Wed or Fri - in which case they have to be in Georgia and can not do the 2.5 hr drive. here. It is anybody's guess as to the other Unkle D- if he shows he show - if not - oh well. Also the brother's daughter may or may not show. Great to know exactly how many people to cook for, no?

We also stopped at the nursing home to see the brother's mother-in-law. She seems to be in a coma and was totally unaware that we were there. Thank God she seems comfortable and not in any pain. She is getting no nourishment now so it is just a matter of time.

These people sure keep their houses hot- I think I will go outside and cool off as I am very warm. A Good time will be had by all, Damn it.

Doktor Visit

Well, ever since she became engaged, Dr, Baldandhairy has actually spent more time with me than she used to. Anyway, she gave me som tussin with codeine cough medicine, antivert for vertigo and something else for anxiety that I really don't need. So I should be all set for my big adventure to North Carolina next week. Wonderful. Time to go for another back treatment on the rack - a good time will be had by all.