Mindless Monday

 Oh Marty.... what a bummer!!  All that effort!  I put almost no effort into my Easter.  Just stopped at the grocery store and bought a carrot cake per hostess request.  Arrived and hung out w/my sister and her family and my parents. 

Only downside to my Easter was my mother suddenly gets very demanding when she is around my sister for some reason.  Demands to be greeted like the queen has arrived, demands hugs and kisses goodbye from everyone.  Fine.  But after going to a show with me recently she has decided she wants to learn Rally. "Where can I go to learn that?" 

Uh.  Mom.  I teach Rally.  But if you feel like that might be uncomfortable, or you don't want to drive in the dark at night (cuz it's so scary when you're over 60), there's a woman down the road from you who also teaches Rally.  Mom opts to sign up with me.  Fine.  I explain that there are some pre-reqs and if you don't have them, you'll need to go to a drop-in class to learn them. 

Mom insists I show her how to do one of these prereqs.  "Well, as I explained in class, you'll need to go to a drop-in..."  No, you'll just show me.  "Well, that's not really fair to the other students.  There are a variety of drop-in classes on the schedule, they're cheap, a great venue for learning, and you'll get a lot out of it."  No, you just show me next class.    What's worse is that I've taught her this particular exercise before, but she forgets a lot.  When I tell her (again) she acts like it's a fantastic new idea!

Speaking of Alzheimer's, I'm really sorry to hear about your DH's grandmother, Lisa.  We've been talking a lot about dementia lately btwn my coworkers and another friend.  My grandmother who died most recently was very lucid, thank goodness.  However, in her final week or so she saw people coming to visit and she had a neighbor friend who assured us they were "her" angels she left behind to keep my grandmother company.  One included a young boy who sat by her chair and my grandmother would stroke his hair.  Another was a lady in a floppy hat.  *shrug*

Wasp nest = ugh!  The unseasonably warm temps we had all weekend must've roused the dormant yellow jackets.  We spotted a couple of them lazily flying about.  I encourage mason bees and bumble bees in the yard, but I hate yellow jackets and wasps.  We had a big problem with them 2 summers ago -- a very large nest was inside the space above our bedroom (not an attic, just a space).  It took major carpentry work to get it out of there.  Did I ever post pictures of the nest?  I should find them.  It was cool-looking, I admit (we took it out in the winter -- no active yellow jackets in there).

Oh, speaking of pest control, I have an update on our squirrel poisoning neighbor.  I send his wife a very friendly email -- I said the kids told me about the poison, and would she mind telling me what kind it was so I'd have the info to give to a vet, on the rare chance that Ruby somehow got hold of a poisoned squirrel and ingested any second-hand. 

Not 2 hours later, the husband came over with the bag of poison to show DH (I was out for a walk).  He told DH what the pest control guy said, what the arborist said about the damage to the tree, etc.  He said he was following their guidance to prevent the tree from dying and didn't know what else to do.  They talked a while about other ideas, DH went over to see the tree (turns out they are doing major damage to it -- DH was shocked at how they stripped huge sections right down to raw wood).  Neighbor said he would remove all the poison because it was out for over a week and they'd eaten none of it from what he could tell.  They talked about other options, like spraying the bark with a deterrant like cinnamon or pepper spray, wrapping lots of chicken wire around it, etc. (tough, because it's twice as high as their 2-story house).

Not sure what he'll do, but at least the poison will be gone, so that's good.  I'm glad it didn't turn into an argument.  Like I said, they're very nice neighbors; the guy just isn't a nature/animal senstive type for the most part, and I sympathize with his worry about a dying tree crushing his house.

I am also a compulsive list maker! I have a very organized set of "stickies" on my computer desktop, in addition to notes I make throughout the day and stuff in my pocket. I always take a list with me to the store, even if I only need like five things.

Bummer about the casserole, Marty! Years ago when I worked full time (pre-kids), I dropped a whole container of freshly nuked Stouffer's mac n cheese, face down on the gross carpet at work. I didn't even get one bite. I think I may have cried a little.

Oh Lisa, your poor grandma-in-law. 

Tracy, that's really great about your neighbor! You never know how some people are going to react.

We had Easter dinner at my gramma's last night. She sent the rest of the apple pie home with me. Today after lunch I cut myself a slice and headed downstairs to work. Since I was holding my plate in front of me, I didn't see that Willa had left one of her boots on the top step. Down I went, straight to my left hip/butt cheek, right on the metal edge of the top step, then bump bump bump down a few. OW. It really sucked and I had a few choice words for Willa, --but-- I managed to NOT spill a crumb of my pie! lol So now my butt and back are sore, in addition to the sore back I have from shoveling 2" of packed ice off my gramma's driveway yesterday. Waa waa.

Paige, I didn't see your post before I did mine.  I think it's kind of neat to think of people sitting with your grandmother in her final days and hours.  Hey, if it brings us comfort as we near our last breath, that's okay with me!

I'm sure it's frustrating dealing with your Mom and her rally interest, but I had to chuckle at your story.  What it is about parents?  Even when we're WELL into adult-hood, they can still push buttons and make us feel like we're being treated like a child or that our requests or opinions don't hold the same weight as someone else's might!

Edited to add:  Jan, I'm sorry you had such a nasty fall, but my, what an acrobat to NOT spill any pie!  Well done!  Here's an ice pack to go along with your pie!

 Jan - OUCH!  At least the pie was saved!

Tracy, I'm glad your neighbor was fairly reasonable. It sounds as though they might need to have the tree removed if it is dying.

With regards to people dying, the hospice my son's dad was with as he lost his battle to cancer gave us a booklet about the process of dying. He'd been fairly lucid because all the chemo had been stopped a month before his death and in his last couple of days, he was talking to people that nobody else could see. It's my understanding that this is fairly normal and common, like Paige's grandmother did. I was amazed how that hospice info was so accurate, and wondered how they figured that out.

OWWWW!  Jan, thank goodness you saved the pie.  Seriously, I hope you're not too sore tomorrow.  

Tracy, that is great that the neighbor is getting rid of the poison.  Wasps are great at keeping bad insects under control so I try and have a live and let live attitude.  If they had been inside my house, as you're describing, they'd have to go. 

We've had a very strange looking bee visit lately that I can't identify.  It's very territorial of one particular flower pot.  It's not a honey bee and it's not a bumble bee (we have both in our garden) and it's not a carpenter bee.  I got tired of looking at bee pictures and gave up identifying it but it's pretty cool looking as it hovers and then zips after any insect that comes close to it's flowers.  It zips right back and resumes hovering in place over the flower pot. 

Two very sketchy looking guys were looking in our office windows.  I'm by myself today and I was glad Gabby jumped on a chair and barked them away.  I'm not sure I would have let them in if they had knocked or rang the bell.  Too many strange people these days and yes, clean cut bad guys are out there but we call those insurance salesmen.

Get 'em, Gabby!

Jackie, did you look through all of these: http://www.whatsthatbug.com/category/bees/

OH! I forgot to say THANKS for the Box Tops Jackie! Willa was very excited to add them to our bag.

Thanks for the link, Jan.  I'll look through it and see if I can identify "our" bee.  If I can get a decent pic I can send it to an entymologist for ID.  So far, I can't get too close without the bee trying to drive me away. 

You're very welcome and I'll keep clipping those boxtops.