Notes from Home

It's Monday morning, and I thought I'd take a few minutes today to look back at the last week and catch everyone up on the goings on in my little world.

About a week or so ago, I heard from my brother that my mom had taken it into her head to sell her mobile home without talking to us first. She knows nothing about real estate. She knows nothing about the value of the place. She doesn't have a realtor. She simply talked to other residents of the mobile home park, and as it turned out, a friend of a friend was looking for a mobile home in the area, so she decided to sell. She's going to live with her childhood friend, Laverne. This was after insisting for the couple months since my dad died that she didn't want to make any changes in her life for the first year, at least. So now it's sold along with all the furnishings, and she'll be moving at the end of July. It would take me a week of posts to tell you all the reasons why this isn't such a good idea, but I'm sure you'd get pretty darn bored with that. On the positive side, Laverne lives down near my brother in Salinas, so my mom will be more his headache than mine soon. Perhaps not coincidentally, my brother called late last week to let me know he'd be camping this week at a location where there's no cell phone reception. Yeah, thanks bro! Your turn is coming soon!

My sister-in-law's long time faithful companion, Smokey, had to be put to sleep last week because of cancer. We had talked recently about her dog getting old and one of my cats getting old, so these things aren't unexpected, but they are very sad, nevertheless. Condolences Kath--my thoughts are with you.

That same sister-in-law and other family members, including my son, helped my husband's aunt move into an assisted care facility over the weekend. She's in her mid-80s and has gotten quite forgetful lately, although her doctor says it's not Alzheimer's or dementia (which would have precluded her from going into this facility). Her driver's license was revoked when she was stopped by the police driving around, lost and confused, one evening a month or so ago in a city that's about 30 miles away from ours, several hours after she was last seen heading home. She's still pretty sharp at times and stubborn as can be, so we're all relieved that she finally agreed to move--it's something my sister-in-law has been working with her on for quite awhile now. While everyone moved her things, the aunt went to spend the day with my mother- and father-in-law and, from what I'm told, forgot that she was even moving. Yeah, I'd say it was time for that move. Besides, her apartment was filling up with toilet paper and other paper products because she'd see a sale at the store and forget she already had plenty! You kind of have to laugh.

When I called my son Thursday night to fill him in on family news, he and his girlfriend were sitting on top of his roof, watching the sunset. Whatever happened to driving up into the moutains or the beach or somewhere romantic to see the sunset? He came over yesterday, wearing a new sweatshirt, even though it was 80-something degrees out. He thought I'd be interested in the print, which looked kind of feminine to me (although I didn't actually SAY that), but he pointed out that the feathery/ferny pattern contained skulls, so I guess that's okay then. It looked kind of odd with the camouflage hiking shorts he was wearing, though. Which I DID say. Weird kid! I worry about him sometimes. Did I mention that he also has bright, bright yellow leather soccer shoes? I know this because he stopped by our place on the way home from soccer practice one day and I was blinded. This is my kid who used to be so conservative in his dress!

And speaking of worrying about kids, the Wild Child called yesterday on her way back from Yosemite where she DIDN'T climb Half Dome again. She really wanted to make the climb at dawn, but when she started off on the hike in the dark, she felt a little uneasy, being by herself and all, so she went back to her SUV to take a little nap until it started to get just a little lighter and then overslept. She's starting a new job today at a bar and grill where she'll be waitressing and bartending; she's excited about that. Unfortunately, she'll still be working out her two week's notice, bartending at the casino, so she'll be working double shifts for awhile. At least that should keep her off Half Dome for the next couple weeks. Then, too, there's this fire that's burning out of control in South Lake Tahoe. That's a bit disturbing to a mom, I'm telling you! The Wild Child lives and works in the north shore area, but still . . . .

My husband's 52nd birthday is this coming Friday, so for about a month, he'll be TWO YEARS older than me, and I can tease him about being so old. I think he's having another mid-life crisis. How many can a person have; can anyone tell me that? It seems most of his mid-life crises take the form of growing his hair long, and he's been doing that again for the last couple months. He finally, FINALLY, went to get it cut about a month ago but found that his "stylist" was no longer working there and the place had been sold. Okay, give me a break. The guy goes to SuperCuts or something like that for an $8 haircut. How fussy can he be? Our friend Lisa asked him about a week ago if he was trying to grow his hair long, and he said yes, but he wanted to get it styled and cut shorter in the front. Honey, happy birthday, and I mean that sincerely, but I have to tell you that you're just not young enough, cute enough, or rich enough to carry this one off. And I'm pretty sure that wearing your hair in a MULLET is grounds for divorce in California. Get a friggin haircut! And have a happy birthday!

I'll think I'll pull my head back into my shell now and dream of cool ocean breezes, palm trees, calming music, and an icy drink close to hand, a delicate orchid perched on the rim of a frosted glass. Cabana boys. Pedicures. Massages. Ahhhhhhh.