Catching Up!
Since last we met, Mom moved to Heritage Monona, a really lovely assisted living complex where she has STAFF! I hope that when I'm 84 I will have staff too. She has to prepare only her breakfast every day, they would do her laundry but she prefers to do it herself in the machines just across the hall from her apartment. They dust and vacuum for her and haul away her trash daily. They also bring her pills when she needs them, in the right varieties and amounts, check her vitals, and peek in at her at night. She's much more active than most of the other people who are in the assisted living area but she almost always goes the wrong way when she gets off the elevator so she does, obviously, have her issues as well.
I was laid off on April 2. On April 8th the Movers showed up and hauled the furniture to both our houses and about 60 boxes of stuff to Mom's. (We now have comfy chairs and couch in the living room and Mom has a new couch and bed.) My wonderful friend S came over and worked for 2 days beforehand packing, washing, and organizing both Mom and Me. On the 9th, the old apartment was still full of stuff.
We spent the rest of April working on that apartment. Mom's church is having a sale and they took truckloads of stuff to it. We brought home a wooden cabinet for the basement and boxes and bags of food and stuff. We now have a small freezer in the basement, half full. It was rough but it got done on April 30th at 2:30 p.m.
May 19
Started this a week ago and lost my steam.
What's it like being one of the UNEMPLOYED. I hardly know. It seems I'm terribly busy. After leaving Mom off at her apartment on April 30th, I went home and finished making some cherry preserves. Then I spent the rest of the evening cooking dinner, eating, and packing for a trip to Wichita KS where my niece, Vicky, was getting married. It was a last minute decision to go but seemed impossible not to. I have been wanting to see my sister J and her two younger kids who I had never met except when Chris was 3 months old. To cinch things, it turned out that J's older daughter Tina (42) was going to go and I haven't seen her since 1985.
Gnomee needed some time for himself so Little Guy and I went alone. We drove his big (old) American car for comfort and the automatic transmission. It's a 10 hour drive, minimum--if you are anywhere near the speed limit--so it was a long grueling drive, especially since neither L G nor I had slept over 2 hours the night before! We did it. When I got slap-happy, then brain dead in the afternoon I took a too hour nap in the back seat. That helped! The last hour of the trip down, Alex was reading the funnies to me--excruciatingly slowly starting with "Rex Morgan, M.D., Ally Oop" and other deadly stuff finally getting to Get Fuzzy (my favorite) during the last minutes of the drive.
The wedding was lovely and it was wonderful meeting my niece and nephew for the first time. They are so much family. I was stunned by how familiar they were. Then to see Tina! What a treat. I vow to become one of those auntie's who remembers birthdays and such, at least sometime in my life. Not there yet and I've been really neglectful. Good also to see J in her home setting, a rather shabby old "Sears" house with a spectacular bed of Irises in the front. The home comes with an ancient Mother-in-law creaking around, all her family members gathered, and her husband weighing down an easy chair. It was good. They love her. She grounds them all. Her kids are fabulous and caring. That made me happy.
So I, unemployed, was thinking I would have time to do so much. After we got back, I was frantic to do with my stuff what I had done with Mom's. Weed it out, clean it up, get rid of 3/4ths of it. But I couldn't do it. At the same time I was working on making as much jam as I could come up with in this season, planning to sell it this summer. Aside from Cherry Preserves, I made several batches of "Pirate Blues Jam" which is Blueberry/Blackberry with a bit of good grape juice and some lemon, then Apricot jam, Apricot Butter, and apricot pineapple jam. Goblin Girl and I came up with some wonderful Raspberry Orange too. We were very happy with it. But it wasn't getting my house cleaned up, or novel written, or garden planted, etc. . . .
Then there is looking for work. I've been applying for everything I can find at the State that I would be eligible for. Also branched out a bit. Last week I went to a program at the Wisconsin Job Center for out of work people and found out I am eligible to go to special classes through the city college. I wanted to take some business classes there. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any way to sign up for those. The information on it seems bogus and they don't return my calls. I'll get on that tomorrow :)
I did have two job interviews Monday, one at the state. Both look promising. I'm hoping to hear something good from one of those although if I don't I will survive. I have yet to open the file I made last winter of "Things to do if I'm unemployed."
Goblin Girl is walking gracefully using one crutch (doesn't that sound better than saying "hobbling around?") She and I went on an outing today, enjoying La Brioche for brunch, Pensey's for spices, a kitchen store nearby which was amazing, then to Vom Foss to taste amazing flavored vinegars and liquors, even a locally produced gin (which I found smooth but rather flat.) That was a treat and I came back with 3 vinegars, two of them especially chosen for Little Guy for an early birthday present.
We then went on to Costco where G.G. got to ride the wild electric shopping cart...she was a danger to all! and we bought the guys a brisket to put on the grill. Did I mention the Kansas Barbecue they served at the wedding? Ah that was great. So, onward! I will put some pictures in here very soon.
I was laid off on April 2. On April 8th the Movers showed up and hauled the furniture to both our houses and about 60 boxes of stuff to Mom's. (We now have comfy chairs and couch in the living room and Mom has a new couch and bed.) My wonderful friend S came over and worked for 2 days beforehand packing, washing, and organizing both Mom and Me. On the 9th, the old apartment was still full of stuff.
We spent the rest of April working on that apartment. Mom's church is having a sale and they took truckloads of stuff to it. We brought home a wooden cabinet for the basement and boxes and bags of food and stuff. We now have a small freezer in the basement, half full. It was rough but it got done on April 30th at 2:30 p.m.
May 19
Started this a week ago and lost my steam.
What's it like being one of the UNEMPLOYED. I hardly know. It seems I'm terribly busy. After leaving Mom off at her apartment on April 30th, I went home and finished making some cherry preserves. Then I spent the rest of the evening cooking dinner, eating, and packing for a trip to Wichita KS where my niece, Vicky, was getting married. It was a last minute decision to go but seemed impossible not to. I have been wanting to see my sister J and her two younger kids who I had never met except when Chris was 3 months old. To cinch things, it turned out that J's older daughter Tina (42) was going to go and I haven't seen her since 1985.
Gnomee needed some time for himself so Little Guy and I went alone. We drove his big (old) American car for comfort and the automatic transmission. It's a 10 hour drive, minimum--if you are anywhere near the speed limit--so it was a long grueling drive, especially since neither L G nor I had slept over 2 hours the night before! We did it. When I got slap-happy, then brain dead in the afternoon I took a too hour nap in the back seat. That helped! The last hour of the trip down, Alex was reading the funnies to me--excruciatingly slowly starting with "Rex Morgan, M.D., Ally Oop" and other deadly stuff finally getting to Get Fuzzy (my favorite) during the last minutes of the drive.
The wedding was lovely and it was wonderful meeting my niece and nephew for the first time. They are so much family. I was stunned by how familiar they were. Then to see Tina! What a treat. I vow to become one of those auntie's who remembers birthdays and such, at least sometime in my life. Not there yet and I've been really neglectful. Good also to see J in her home setting, a rather shabby old "Sears" house with a spectacular bed of Irises in the front. The home comes with an ancient Mother-in-law creaking around, all her family members gathered, and her husband weighing down an easy chair. It was good. They love her. She grounds them all. Her kids are fabulous and caring. That made me happy.
So I, unemployed, was thinking I would have time to do so much. After we got back, I was frantic to do with my stuff what I had done with Mom's. Weed it out, clean it up, get rid of 3/4ths of it. But I couldn't do it. At the same time I was working on making as much jam as I could come up with in this season, planning to sell it this summer. Aside from Cherry Preserves, I made several batches of "Pirate Blues Jam" which is Blueberry/Blackberry with a bit of good grape juice and some lemon, then Apricot jam, Apricot Butter, and apricot pineapple jam. Goblin Girl and I came up with some wonderful Raspberry Orange too. We were very happy with it. But it wasn't getting my house cleaned up, or novel written, or garden planted, etc. . . .
Then there is looking for work. I've been applying for everything I can find at the State that I would be eligible for. Also branched out a bit. Last week I went to a program at the Wisconsin Job Center for out of work people and found out I am eligible to go to special classes through the city college. I wanted to take some business classes there. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any way to sign up for those. The information on it seems bogus and they don't return my calls. I'll get on that tomorrow :)
I did have two job interviews Monday, one at the state. Both look promising. I'm hoping to hear something good from one of those although if I don't I will survive. I have yet to open the file I made last winter of "Things to do if I'm unemployed."
Goblin Girl is walking gracefully using one crutch (doesn't that sound better than saying "hobbling around?") She and I went on an outing today, enjoying La Brioche for brunch, Pensey's for spices, a kitchen store nearby which was amazing, then to Vom Foss to taste amazing flavored vinegars and liquors, even a locally produced gin (which I found smooth but rather flat.) That was a treat and I came back with 3 vinegars, two of them especially chosen for Little Guy for an early birthday present.
We then went on to Costco where G.G. got to ride the wild electric shopping cart...she was a danger to all! and we bought the guys a brisket to put on the grill. Did I mention the Kansas Barbecue they served at the wedding? Ah that was great. So, onward! I will put some pictures in here very soon.