doing girl stuff
still in york, pa
I guess the old girl is wearing me out too. I snoozed my alarm this morning when it went off at 7 and woke up around 7:30. I had only been up for about 15 minutes (started the coffee, got the paper and was watching Good Morning America or is it God Bless America?) when Grandma came out.
She was a little worked up because she forgot she had a hair appointment at 9:30 and only remembered when she was combing her hair. No biggie – all I did was take a shower quicker, get dressed a little faster and gobble down my cherrios.
Today was our day of girly fun – first the beauty salon where I read Martha Stewart, Lucky and Brides while I waited for Grandma's wash and set to be done. That was fine with me – now I know what magazines not to buy for the plane home tomorrow.
Then we went to the local mall. It's not all that great, but Grandma only likes the big department store anyway. So we shopped at the Bon-Ton for about an hour. Of course, I bought more stuff than she did – a skirt and a shirt. She got a shirt.
So far on this trip I've bought: 2 pairs of sneakers, a skirt, 2 t-shirts, a tank top, a blazer, a dressier tank top. Not bad for only shopping a few hours.
Then we went to lunch. Grandma gets embarrassed when people read her the menu and wanted me to just pick the first thing that sounded good for her, but I told her I had never been to the restaurant so I wanted to read the whole thing. We ended up having a chicken salad special – the whole big salad thing is really new to Grandma. She had never seen anything like that and not being the biggest fan of baby greens, brought half home.
The service at the restaurant frustrated her – like little kids, senior seniors need to get their food fast. And staying on schedule is really important. Still she had fun. More than anything she loves to eat out.
Grandma was getting tired, but wanted to return her books on tape to the library. So after lunch off we went. Her friend was working there so we had a little bit of socializing time. I found a bunch of books on tape that I thought she'd like. She settled on two – the first Harry Potter and Tuesdays with Morrie.
She thought Harry Potter might be fun so she'd know what all the fuss is about and be able to talk to her great-grandson about it. I thought she might enjoy Tuesdays with Morrie. I did. Maybe after reading it, she'll understand I like to hang out with her.
When we got back, she insisted that I do my laundry so I didn't take back dirty clothes. I made her split pea soup to put in her freezer for those days when she doesn't feel like cooking and cleaned vegetables for her while she napped.
Later in the afternoon Grandma put me to work fixing little things around her house. Plugging stuff in that she couldn't reach, cleaning things, changing the time on clocks, finding "lost" things, etc.
Afterwards, she decided to give me an angel music box that she got in Lucerne, Switzerland on a vacation with my grandpa. She said it was because I was like her angel and she wanted me to know how much she appreciated my visit. She had been thinking all week of what she could give me to take back with me as a souvenir and decided last night when she was lying in bed that it would be the best thing.
She's been complaining that I am waiting on her too much so I stayed out of the kitchen and let her make dinner on her own. I would have cleaned everything up, but the husband called.
Grandma has a really hard time with all the phone calls the husband makes. She doesn't really understand that it doesn't really us cost all that much and we started our relationship via phone so it's a real comfort to both of us to chat on the phone. Whatever. I'm going home tomorrow so he won't be calling any longer.
Maybe the real problem is that she has a really hard time with the phone. Tuesday night she hung up on me when I called her from Panera Bakery asking her about my cousin's address. Today the lady that helps her with cleaning called and she almost hung up on her too.
I don't think the hearing aids really work very well with the phone. She really needs to take one out as soon as the phone starts ringing so she's prepared to talk to and understand the person who's calling. And she needs to get another big button amplified phone for her bedroom. I'll tell the parents and see what they can do about it.
After dinner, I went out to Target to pick up a few things and Panera Bakery again to check email (lots! and lots of work to come next week!). When I got back, she was freaking out because it was getting dark. I reminded her that I often drive in the dark, I parked in a well lit area, etc. I had also told her I'd be back in an hour and a half and I was actually back a little bit early. Again, whatever. It's one of those things.
Then the phone calls started. First, my DC cousin called. We had a nice chat and she'll be visiting in the next few months. Then my DC aunt called. She's coming up to Muskoka with a friend and might be doing a drive-by.
We went to bed around 11. I packed first and got organized for tomorrow. The less commotion I make about leaving the less depressed she'll be.
I guess the old girl is wearing me out too. I snoozed my alarm this morning when it went off at 7 and woke up around 7:30. I had only been up for about 15 minutes (started the coffee, got the paper and was watching Good Morning America or is it God Bless America?) when Grandma came out.
She was a little worked up because she forgot she had a hair appointment at 9:30 and only remembered when she was combing her hair. No biggie – all I did was take a shower quicker, get dressed a little faster and gobble down my cherrios.
Today was our day of girly fun – first the beauty salon where I read Martha Stewart, Lucky and Brides while I waited for Grandma's wash and set to be done. That was fine with me – now I know what magazines not to buy for the plane home tomorrow.
Then we went to the local mall. It's not all that great, but Grandma only likes the big department store anyway. So we shopped at the Bon-Ton for about an hour. Of course, I bought more stuff than she did – a skirt and a shirt. She got a shirt.
So far on this trip I've bought: 2 pairs of sneakers, a skirt, 2 t-shirts, a tank top, a blazer, a dressier tank top. Not bad for only shopping a few hours.
Then we went to lunch. Grandma gets embarrassed when people read her the menu and wanted me to just pick the first thing that sounded good for her, but I told her I had never been to the restaurant so I wanted to read the whole thing. We ended up having a chicken salad special – the whole big salad thing is really new to Grandma. She had never seen anything like that and not being the biggest fan of baby greens, brought half home.
The service at the restaurant frustrated her – like little kids, senior seniors need to get their food fast. And staying on schedule is really important. Still she had fun. More than anything she loves to eat out.
Grandma was getting tired, but wanted to return her books on tape to the library. So after lunch off we went. Her friend was working there so we had a little bit of socializing time. I found a bunch of books on tape that I thought she'd like. She settled on two – the first Harry Potter and Tuesdays with Morrie.
She thought Harry Potter might be fun so she'd know what all the fuss is about and be able to talk to her great-grandson about it. I thought she might enjoy Tuesdays with Morrie. I did. Maybe after reading it, she'll understand I like to hang out with her.
When we got back, she insisted that I do my laundry so I didn't take back dirty clothes. I made her split pea soup to put in her freezer for those days when she doesn't feel like cooking and cleaned vegetables for her while she napped.
Later in the afternoon Grandma put me to work fixing little things around her house. Plugging stuff in that she couldn't reach, cleaning things, changing the time on clocks, finding "lost" things, etc.
Afterwards, she decided to give me an angel music box that she got in Lucerne, Switzerland on a vacation with my grandpa. She said it was because I was like her angel and she wanted me to know how much she appreciated my visit. She had been thinking all week of what she could give me to take back with me as a souvenir and decided last night when she was lying in bed that it would be the best thing.
She's been complaining that I am waiting on her too much so I stayed out of the kitchen and let her make dinner on her own. I would have cleaned everything up, but the husband called.
Grandma has a really hard time with all the phone calls the husband makes. She doesn't really understand that it doesn't really us cost all that much and we started our relationship via phone so it's a real comfort to both of us to chat on the phone. Whatever. I'm going home tomorrow so he won't be calling any longer.
Maybe the real problem is that she has a really hard time with the phone. Tuesday night she hung up on me when I called her from Panera Bakery asking her about my cousin's address. Today the lady that helps her with cleaning called and she almost hung up on her too.
I don't think the hearing aids really work very well with the phone. She really needs to take one out as soon as the phone starts ringing so she's prepared to talk to and understand the person who's calling. And she needs to get another big button amplified phone for her bedroom. I'll tell the parents and see what they can do about it.
After dinner, I went out to Target to pick up a few things and Panera Bakery again to check email (lots! and lots of work to come next week!). When I got back, she was freaking out because it was getting dark. I reminded her that I often drive in the dark, I parked in a well lit area, etc. I had also told her I'd be back in an hour and a half and I was actually back a little bit early. Again, whatever. It's one of those things.
Then the phone calls started. First, my DC cousin called. We had a nice chat and she'll be visiting in the next few months. Then my DC aunt called. She's coming up to Muskoka with a friend and might be doing a drive-by.
We went to bed around 11. I packed first and got organized for tomorrow. The less commotion I make about leaving the less depressed she'll be.
posted by jooles_p at 10:30 PM
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