(Old) April Showers bringing May Flowers in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
281

Well, yeah, there is that. My daughter’s freshman year at UCF was 2004-2005.

"During August 13, 2004 – September 25, 2004, Florida experienced four major hurricanes: Charley and Frances (both Category 4) and Ivan and Jeanne (both Category 3). "

She was in Orlando and we’re in Merrylande - we did a lot of long-distance worrying. I believe for one of the storms, she went to Ocala to stay with her grandparents.

Could you get him added to the In Memoriam thread? He quit posting 20 years ago, but a few of us still remember him.

When my dad died, Zappo drove down to Bel Air, MD, for the visitation. He was a Mumper back in those days. I was truly touched that he’d come all that way for someone he’d never met (neither my dad nor me.) It was so sad to hear he’d died.

When it was time for my evening snack, I had enough calories left to have an ice cream sammich. I kinda wish I’d had an apple instead - it was oddly unsatisfying, and I lurves me some ice cream. Weird.

I called my mom after supper - almost forgot about calling her. Once again, she cracked me up - saying “Well, I’ve kept you long enough” before launching into another monolog! That’s my mom!

And that’s the weekend. I’m going to mosey back to bed and read till my eyes give up.

282

Everyone was grilling today. I wanted to walk up and say, May I join you? Nothing is better than a well done grilled burger.

283

Hi all - Welp, it’s nearly done. All the big items are in place, all the boxes and packing materials have ben hauled down to recycling, bags of trash are gone as well. I still have some kitchen and linen closet stuff to stow, artwork to hang, and Mon is another few Amazon arrivals, but my part of the heavy lifting (literally and figuratively) is over!!!11!.

I was diligent aout wearing my lifting belt the whole time and avoided injury although my whole body knows it’s been doing unaccustomed labor on little food and less sleep for 5 days now.

I’m enjoying a glass of wine on the balcony in the breezy warmth of a SoFL May evening. The stars are out, the ocean is dead black, and the city glows all around. Now approaching 9:30pm as I type and NWS sez it’s 81/27 although I don’t quite believe them.

Tomorrow will have less work, a major league grocery run, and some fun somewhere.


Sad to hear of Zappo’s passing. I’m not sure I recognize the name, but teh loss of any Doper is a blow to us all.

284

I remember Zappo! I’m so sorry to hear that he’s gone. I never got to meet him, but he was always a great Doper, and there were so many stories about him helping others in small and large ways.

285

There are, indeed, bats :bat: in my belfry. :slight_smile: I saw them again tonight, having gotten out before sunset (and a very pretty one!) after the predictably hectic Mother’s Day rush.
LOTS of double-pizza orders, clearly families saying, “Mom, you don’t hafta cook tonight!”

Oh, and one of our regulars gave us the sweetest card with a poem.

I gotta call my own mom here in a minute & then figure out dinner, but I’ll post a pic if I remember.

Oh, that made my day.

Thank you!!

Someone else here originally … well, not really suggested it, but mis-read it thay way & the pseudo-typo stuck; it really is perfect.
Dude can burn the shit outta some pizzas.

His newest today was taking a phone order, and handwriting “allergy” on the ticket once it printed.

We asked what the customer’s allergy was … “Oh, well, they didn’t really say …”

THEN WHY DIDN’T YOU ASK?

S.M. was understandably quite irritated.

Also, he keeps leaving his empty drink bottles on the break table instead of throwing them away, which is annoying as hell.
(We all have different beverage preferences so it’s actually pretty easy to guess who left what lying around.)

ALSO also, he’s notorious for leaving the light on in the men’s room, to the point where I’m getting notorious for checking the men’s at the end of the night when he’s worked - I never bother checking the ladies’, it’s always O.K. - and at least 2/3 of the time I yell his name.

Same! Nice to have ya.

We need to keep reminding her; I think she hasn’t really heard how wonderful it is.

I’ve been texting a bit with the guy who asked me for coffee the other night.
Nothing pearl-clutching yet, just basic “gettin’ to know ya” stuff.
He’s a really hardworking handyman who does everything on projects, including the design work, and so far I’m quite taken by him.

One of the problems with G.C. has been that he lives out of town.

This one lives out of STATE and comes through a few times a year.

Dammit!

Alrighty, time to call me ma.

286

I cleaned. I changed the sheets. The bed purred. I removed Spot and remade the bed. I napped.

Would you care to adopt a granddogbutler? :wink:

{{{{Coppertone}}}}

{{{{Fishy}}}}

Same here. :frowning:

Glad you enjoy!

287

Well, that went predictably badly. She would. not. stop. harping on how much SHE want me to get a different job.

She kept going on about how I can’t afford a new fridge, that I asked them to replace it. NO, she asked what I wanted for my birthday, and that was the 1st thing that popped into my head, that would be helpful and practical.
(Mind, I’m not looking for anything big or fancy. Hell, just a simple chest freezer would be great.)

But I kept saying, “It’s not that I can’t afford it, you asked what I wanted as a gift!” endlessly back and forth, until I told her I’d be ending the call.
Then MOAR ARGUING until I just friggin’ hung up on her. I’d told her, through gritted teeth, “Good NIGHT AND HAPPY MOTHER DAY!” a few times already.

But guaranteed, I’m the bad daughter tonight.

288

Why does this keep happening? It is his bed, after all!!!

:people_hugging:

No you aren’t. You are the bad daughter every day because you left your mother all alone and lost and bereft. Just ask her friends.

Seriously, I’m sorry she is taking all of her issues out on you. You are an adult and perfectly capable of making decisions for yourself. I’ve also noticed that you take all of the blame for your mistakes instead of trying to blame other people. That’s what an adult does…which makes me wonder about your mother at times.

I still have the recipe, will try it after the move.

I like your new profile pic…but I liked the last one too.

I agree with your dinner choice and hope that you are feeling better now.

And…suddenly it is late and time to do things before bed.

Packing keeps happening and hubs went through his closet then carried all of our biker gear out and put in my trunk for me. I’ll take that to friend who’s having a yard sale tomorrow or Tuesday. She WFH, so I can drop it all over while she is at lunch.

GG is bored and has started standing under my needlework stand and digging his claws into my canvas. He still has feets left tonight, but things could change at any time.

I have actually found a new companion for him. One of the local WV rescue groups has a preggy stray who is ready to pop. She is people friendly and will need a new home when the kittens are weened. They say she is around four years old, so that is a good age as well. The timing will work out so well, fingers crossed that they will like each other.

289

Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave,

Me: “You’re spending a lot of time in my bed today.”
Spot: “Well, how often do I get to sleep in a bed that isn’t covered in cat hair?”

: crosses fingers :

{{{shoe}}}

290

Because I know you, and because I have a dark sense of humor, this made me quite literally laugh out loud.

291

Welp, kids are off to school (they started a half-hour late). All but 2 schools are back in, but all testing has been suspended as they are still struggling with consistent networks.

My building and several other state offices remain closed. Doors chained so we can’t even get in to get our laptops. I’ll be lucky to get 4 hours in today checking e-mail and Teams, dealing with urgent issues, and general support stuff. I NEED MY LAPTOP! Seriously, I can’t understand why they can’t have somebody there, let us in a few at a time to grab stuff and leave. The building is still on the gennie which operates basic lights and one elevator.

292

Another monster busy day, with a large grocery run to re-populate my larder. I just keep knocking out tasks 12ish hours a day. Slept well lsst night on new mattress. Will be nice to have a bed frame etc., under it on Wed night.

I’m typing on my phone and just have bandwidth for two comments:


Shoe my dear, what did you think would happen when you called Mom? She is toxic, evil, and everything ghastly that human nature can be. Quit calling. Block her phone number. She is, or should be, dead to you. You will think better of her once you’ve done that.


JtC, looks like your project is plowing along quickly. May it be trouble free.

293

Late edit … add the following to the end of shoe’s section:

    She will keep dashing your fantasy hopes for normalcy as long as you keep communicating. The only way you can keep up your comforting illusion that she can be reasonable is by not letting her burst that bubble with her actual behavior when you actually communicate.

    Sort of like imaginary lovers never disappoint, largly imaginary Moms are much better than the real ones.