August and halfway through September, I find that, once again, I have been busier than ever. When I look at it on paper, it doesn't seem that much. But as I look back through my mind's eye, I see a seemingly endless string of days that, frankly, I wasn't sure would EVER end.
August brought Daddy to live NEAR us...not with us. He wants his independence and, at 81, I think he deserves it. His health, however, made it to where he could no longer live in his home in Mesquite. He can't walk ten feet without stopping for breath so maintaining a home was out of the question. He could no longer mow his own yard so he had to depend on the kindness of neighbors to get that task done. More often than not he had to pay for someone to mow it because, honestly, most of his neighbors were elderly, too...or had busy lives of their own. For a while there I could drive to his house in Mesquite with my eyes closed. We made soooo many trips, sometimes two or three a day. And the cleanup! Sixteen years of clutter needed to be disposed of in three garage sales...one EVERY friggin' weekend for three weeks...in ridiculous heat, no less...during a time when a stomach virus was wreaking it's havoc on us. Seriously? A time that I would just as soon forget. Even after he moved we spent hours upon hours of getting Daddy settled in his new digs...a travel trailer behind our house. It's nestled under the trees and he has his own driveway and can keep his "work tools" in either the garage or the barn. At first I was certain that it just wasn't going to work. Daddy began drinking whiskey like it was the only beverage in town. He was depressed, apparently, at being 81 years old and "everything he had worked for in his life was gone" (i.e. no house to speak of, no neighbors that he was close to, too far from his girlfriend's house to just drive up there and break the monontony). Part of the problem, we discovered, was that he had a raging infection flaring up in his intestines. Diverticulosis. Your intestines can develop small "pockets." His did. Food/waste can get trapped in those pockets rather than passing smoothly through. His did. That trapped waste material can rot. His did. Next thing you know...four days in the hospital on very high doses of antibiotics. The good news is that during those four days he sobered up and realized just what the whiskey (and, oh yeah, the jugs of wine) were doing to him and he said, "No more." And he has been true to his word. The doctor told him he could have a glass of wine at night and he bought a jug...but hasn't bought any more...and no whiskey...and no beer. He has met some of the neighbors and has even been given free access to go fishing at a neighbor's pond. God bless you, Vince Aloi! Daddy's health is still fragile. He has his good days and his bad days. That is to be expected. He is, after all, 81. I realized that I won't have him forever, but I am getting to enjoy him more while I have him and I think my mom is smiling down from heaven that we have this time together.
During Daddy's move we were also involved in helping my son, Ryan, move into Daddy's house. Ryan and his partner, Richard, got the house from Daddy on a lease/purchase contract. They are leasing for two years and will contract to buy the house at that time. They completely redid the house. New carpet throughout. New furniture throughout. New painting throughout. Once they got the carpeting in Ryan was unhappy with the kitchen floor. Not having the money for a professional to install a new one, Ryan bought vinyl squares...the peel and stick kind. Ron and I went over to "help" install the floor. How hard could it be???? Well, the answer is "pretty damned hard...but doable." Ryan had to go to work so he couldn't help. Richard had a migraine and was in bed. We did the perimeter of the room and the area where the refrigerator would be so they could move it in the house and get it hooked up. The next day neither of us could walk. Knee and hip pain. A few days later we went back and finished the job. It looks pretty good, even if I have to pat myself on the back. For novices, we did a really good job.
End of August I went with some girlfriends to Shreveport for an overnight gambling trip. Not going to take up much space discussing it here...almost enough to say I lost and leave it alone. Almost. I will say, however, that my sister-in-law with her ridiculous luck, won $2400. I took $300 and came home with $40. My luck is about to change, however. I went to the Breast Cancer 3 Day Expo in Grand Prairie yesterday with some of my walking team members. Afterwards, we stopped at a Chinese buffet and my fortune cookie said, "You will be traveling and coming into a fortune." That was delightful to hear since Ryan and Richard are taking me to Las Vegas Oct. 6-9 as an early birthday gift! Don't worry...I won't forget the little people in my life...or, maybe I will!
Before school started I got a phone call from Forney ISD asking me to take a longterm sub position for a teacher who had a baby. I would need to attend inservice to get everything set up and then work through September 28. So, in I went. Worked five days and then I was told they had finally found someone with music certification. I was somewhat relieved since I was worried about being able to sing and dance "One Green Jellybean" without it causing permanent damage. The bad side of that is that I was already counting on that money...saving for Vegas and Christmas. But, I have worked almost every day in Forney since then. I worked the first day for a teacher whose grandparent passed away. I worked the second day for a teacher who has a recurring heart condition. I didn't work for a couple of days and then I worked seven and a half straight days for a teacher whose sister was dying (and did) of leukemia. Finished that assignment last Friday...and am scheduled to work Monday through Thursday of next week. I took Friday off for medical appointments. I was asked if I could work...I declined. I need a break and I needed to get some prescriptions renewed.
Labor Day was a big day for us. We invited all the family out for one last summer fling. Worked like dogs getting the pool ready. It looked really good on Sunday. By Monday it was cloudy. Figures. We swam anyway and had a great time. About 20 people swimming, eating hot dogs and all kinds of yummies, and playing games like Testicle Toss and Murder. If you're reading this you probably know what I'm talking about. If not, it's not as gruesome as it sounds (probably). My daughter, Kristin, took dozens of pictures for me. Can't post a single one. It seems that the DVD drive on my laptop is "corrupted in the registry" and I can't install the software to pull the pictures off the camera. Why not use the desktop, you asked? You know you would have asked. Because that one blew up about three weeks ago. No power getting to it. It froze up...I turned it off...I turned it back one...it didn't come back on. Guess I will have to add one more thing I'm saving my work money for.
Happy "Retirement" Carol!
