A few months ago, my mom's phone suffered from spontaneous botulism and sort of exploded. It burst apart at the seams. Naturally, she then had to get a new phone. This one must have been set up with similar sounds as my father's phone, because they started confusing whose phone was going off. Even now, several months later, I don't think she ever ( Read more... )

I got grandma to myself on this Sunday's phone call. My parents were out at a brunch and they weren't home by 1 PM. Grandma actually answered; I guess she's been a lot better about that as of late. I got to tell her about how busy last week was for me as well as my concert. She then started to go into how her life recently has been flipped, turned ( Read more... )

It's a little after 9 PM. The phone rings. For some reason, I'm thinking it's grandma. I'd forgotten that mom was out of the house, and it's her on her cell. Her car is telling her there's no key, so it won't start. Okay, give me a few minutes, I'll come to you with the spare. Where are you ( Read more... )

Every month, we get a call from the Amvets lady. She is looking for donations to support, as she says, our American veterans. Mom once donated to them years ago and has been on the list, and we know if a call comes in at a particular point in the evening, it's probably her ( Read more... )

I came downstairs today to discover a letter opener on my placemat at the kitchen table. I picked it up and put it on mom's, which is covered in stuff from this convention she went to on Sunday. She was in the dining room on her computer and could see me, so she made a comment about how dare she leave something out of place. Well, yeah, I take up ( Read more... )

Earlier in the week, my mom had an issue getting into her AOL account. I think it first happened on Monday, then it happened again on Tuesday. Around that time, we had internet and cable issues, and when I left for work that morning, I saw an Xfinity van nearby, confirming it wasn't just us. Since she couldn't get online anyway, mom didn't worry ( Read more... )

An update on Crankypants, AKA my dad ( Read more... )

Dad and I went shopping yesterday so that mom and I could head downtown today. It was library book sale day--it's held once a month--plus the farmers' market was going on. We also hadn't gone to the Boardwalk Shops during Windmill Fest and I wanted to see what was there. Mom was unaware that they change every year, so she agreed to go ( Read more... )

I had an eye appointment today, and since I'd be in the area, I decided to go to the arboretum afterward. My parents hadn't seemed interested in going there, so I decided not to make them do it, but this way I'd still get to go. And then once mom caught wind of it, she went, if I'm in the car when you're ready to go, I can come too, right? Sure. So ( Read more... )

I come across various articles that interest me for whatever reason, and I tend to email myself links so that I remember them later. Then they sit unopened in my inbox for months. I want to start going through those articles ( Read more... )