Everyday Life in Middletown 12/15/18
I slept in this morning after a few restless sleeps during the past week. It’s Saturday and I get to enjoy the day. I get up when I hear the tea kettle whistling around 8:30. T. turned it on for hot water for me and for oatmeal. He ate some oatmeal and headed to the pole barn to set up speakers for better sound quality, and to clean it up. I pour the hot water into a cup and squeeze the juice from half a lemon into it. I take a shower and dress to give the water time to cool. I drink the water, have a small breakfast, and floss and brush my teeth.
I begin to clean-up the house and think about the task at hand today which is gathering and buying some Christmas decorations. Last year we vacationed for Christmas and didn’t have a “real” Christmas Day with my mother. She wants to have a Christmas this year with presents. Ah, my mother’s love language is presents. Not really however she is kind of like a small child at Christmas and loves to shake, peak, and open presents. A real Christmas also means decorating and I have been working through decorating the house over the past couple weeks in my head. We have never not had a fireplace and mantle, and open staircase, during the past nearly 25 years, until now. My dad always put up lights outside of the house and I loved it and have tried to continue that. This year that will be limited to lights around the upstairs deck.
At about 10:00 I head to Mom’s house to go through the Christmas decorations in her shed. R. joins me and I send her and my mom’s dog, S., into the yard. I check on D. My mom says he is favoring his paw. He purrs like a freight train while I gently feel his paw and leg searching for an injury. I find nothing and let her know he will heal fine when he stops jumping. He has become heavy and I am certain his weight could have caused a sprain or soreness when landing. Mom has her decorations up and we go through what’s left to see if there is anything I would like. I choose a few things and we notice the difference between the home-made stain glass tree ornaments we made when we were small compared to those made by my kids – metal versus plastic, and heavy versus light. Then I head to the shed and gather the rest of the decorations and place them in the trunk.
We go into town and stop at the apartment to see if the nutcracker and tree stand is in the basement. I didn’t find them but did get a little excited to find the sleds and can’t wait for snow. We go to Hobby Lobby to get flowers for the large vases. That costs more money than I want to part with however they will last a long time and I am not buying much else. We then enjoy a lunch at Panera and head back to the farm at about 3:00. Mom is getting worn out.
Mom helps me put the flowers in the vase then rests and I begin putting decorations up while T. is making steaks and veggies for dinner. We eat and talk. It looks like we are headed to our daughter’s house tomorrow to finish up their bathroom remodel started the week before Thanksgiving. They are out of town but will be back by noon and there is an hour or two of finish work that can be done without them but timing will allow us to see them. Mom heads home to rest. I continue putting up some decorations however I notice the time and stop about 5:40. I text my sister to let her know we are heading to her house. I leave to pick up Mom and we drive to my sister’s house. We take the bypass to the north side of town. It’s dark, raining, the road is under construction, and the outside lines are not painted on the road. It’s a slower drive with those challenges.
We arrive and I enter and hug my sister. I head upstairs to the game/tv room and hug my sister’s husband and his sons and their wife and fiancé. I head back down to hang out with my great nieces of the teenage years and they are a little disappointed that neither of our girls are with us (one made plans with a group of friends and an Airbnb and the other is not back from school), and T. is not with us. Several adult children didn’t make it either along with a very sick little boy. I make a mental note to make a special effort to get a few more here next year along with connecting in between. It’s not as easy as it once was when all were in town. Somehow we get into a conversation about social people and social anxieties. However, we enjoy some time talking about school. The senior is working, in school, and doing well in classes. The 8th grader wants to be an astronaut and go to Purdue. I tell her to consider taking the Project Lead The Way courses when she gets to high school, along with taking advanced math and science courses. She is excited for life and it’s beautiful. They eventually leave with some friends after we eat. My other sister and husband arrives with some of her grandchildren and now the small people bring fun and smiles to many. And, the dancing and singing Christmas toys do not stop dancing and singing. We eat Pizza King pizza – yes 4th meal (haha), but just a bit, too many carbs for me – and we visit, and take some pictures. Eventually, I play with the little great nieces and nephews. I manage to get the 4 year-olds to do some tricks and I take pictures and record them. My adult niece joins in and we get a big laugh. Mom is exhausted and we leave about 9:30. I drop her at her house and drive home. T. is ready for bed as am I and we go to bed.