Black Friday

So, I had a good Thanksgiving. 

I slept in until 8 and got up, got dressed, did some house cleaning.  Did the litter boxes.  My cats are better than I deserve. 

My aunt called me around 12, said her husband was on the way over.  Now, you don't know that Ron likes to lie around in bed, in his underwear.  So I had a heck of a time getting him to throw on a pair of knit shorts.  He finally did it. 

I knew my uncle would want to say hi.  He feels empathy for Ron, as my uncle had a severe stroke about 20 years ago.  My uncle made a great recovery and you would never guess. 

So, I got Ron dressed before he came.  He knocked on the door, I brought him in. 

Now, this is one thing I love about my aunt and uncle, they are very accepting.  My house is a mess but he just wanted to say hi to Ron and see how he was doing.  He said hi to Baby Girl, who was sitting on her box, and said hi to Ron, chatted a bit, Ron said he wanted to stay home today. 

It was clear we were getting along, too, so they had some relief on that.  We left (Baby Girl ran off rather than face more petting) and I locked the door.  I got to the car and realized I had not only forgotten the pie, I had forgotten her gift (a fancy bar of lavender soap).  My aunt can do lavender essentials, but not fragrance oils as they trigger bad migraines for her.  My headaches really are genetic.  Poor thing had to take an Imitrex on my wedding day!  But this was a good quality bar, with real flowers in it, real essential oil, so safe for her. 

I have also given her fancy bars of unscented soap, which she loved for bathing the grand children. 

God love him, he stopped at the gas station for me so I could get some soda.  Then we had a completely uneventful trip to their house. 

We had a good day, it was me, my cousin, and my aunt and uncle.  We hung out for a while and then ate.  She had done a nice spread, especially for 4 people.  We had turkey, gravy (like my father, I am fond of gravy), dressing (dressing is cooked separately from the bird), carrot and raisin salad, and green bean casserole.  We had two kinds of pie (one of them, mine - the Walmart pecan pie is pretty good!). 

Overall, a nice battery charge for me. . They are, as I've said, very accepting.  Now if I did something stupid like stopped taking my pills, or I started drinking, they would call me on it, but they know I am doing my best and have a load.  They recognize and support that. 

Any caregiver and/or someone in a verbally abusive relationship needs to get that.  It's really important. 

I never know who will read my blog but it she does I stand by everything I wrote.  She is a real gift.  Her whole family is: she did a really good job with them and picked a good husband.   I am glad she is my closest relative. 

It is nice to know, if something happens, I can call her.  When Ron was suddenly and emergently admitted to the hospital with blood clots, she was there within hours.  She stayed with us until Ron got settled and also helped me get dinner and drove me home.  She doesn't ask for anything in return - she wants me to be smart, take my pills, don't be an enabler - this is all implied.  But other than that there are no demands except for a hug maybe. 

I know a lot of you think my life really sucks.  In some ways, it does.  But she helps make it better.  I'm lucky to have her. 

She was a huge help when Ron was in the hospital after his accident, she did everything she could to take care of all the details.  Once "we" were home, she helped plan my wedding. 

I didn't want to plan a wedding.  I had to take care of Ron, and that was enough stress for me already.  I had found a wedding gown and some shoes.  I wanted purple and white roses for my theme.  I wanted a small wedding with a good reception.  Ron and I had been to some weddings where you had to wait forever for the food, and then they gave you a small, dry, portion.  I didn't want that.  I wanted only people who could wish us well. 

She took all that and gave me a fantastic, small, wedding.  Oh, well, not a lot of well-wishers.  We had the reception at a BBQ place so the guests walked up to the window and ordered, then the food was brought to us in the party room.  Everyone got what they wanted, everyone was served quickly, and everyone had a good time.  My Dad had a beer.  I wouldn't let Dad buy Ron a beer, but other than that it was totally smooth. 

Then I changed into street clothes, put the wheelchair in Chuck's pickup, and we went to Galveston for our honeymoon.  We didn't know they were having a motorcycle rally, so it was very "interesting" but we fit right in. 

So, she's good with everything I've entrusted to her.  I am lucky to have her. 

She brought me home around 4-5 PM.  I wanted her to get back home before all the drunks hit the road.  Harris County (mine) has a record number of drunk drivers every year and I wanted to keep her safe. 

Ron was in a pretty good mood when I got home and we talked a little.  I watched some TV, the two of us watched a movie together, and then we went to bed. 

I slept pretty well except for #2, I believe, making noise in the middle of the night.  She (the wife/mother) is not very mature in some ways and likes to play loud music - so loud you can hear it houses away - whenever she starts up her car or comes home.  It is a standard with her.  She has a young man living with her, most likely her son.  He is very quiet but she is not.  You would think it'd be the other way around.  Anyway, not very mature and always playing loud music whenever she departs or arrives.  It's like she wants a fanfare.  She gets (or stays) in the car, playing the loud music for several minutes, and then goes into the house, or leaves.  Anyway, it was "her type" of music, played loudly, sometime in the middle of the night, for several minutes like she does.  So I am guessing it was her.  It woke me up.  I wasn't happy about that.  I don't give a [censored] if you are going to a black Friday sale.  Let your neighbors sleep. 

What she doesn't realize, tomorrow morning we will be LEAVING at 6 AM and the driver may make some noise.  If they do, I am not inclined to correct them. 

A loud dispatch radio is pretty annoying, and the houses are all VERY close together.  If she wants to fire a shot I can return fire, if I choose.  And we get up a lot earlier than they do. 

I forgot to mention last night I called my Dad.  They were all having a party at my stepsister's house.  My stepsister married a vegan so it must have been an interesting feast this year.  But they have synthetic turkeys engineered not to have any animal products. 

I have a gripe with the vegan diet - it seems everyone eating it (I have met several, surprisingly enough, in Texas) eats highly processed "fake" food.  "Fake" sausage made out of fungus, "Fake" meat made out of soy byproducts, etc.  That just doesn't seem "healthier" to me.  But it's their body, not mine. 

Ron has a very hard time keeping his mouth shut around vegetarians and vegans.  He wants to tell them that all food is made of atomic particles (I am clarifying a little from what he actually says) and that they are all eating "energy".  So a beef patty is no different than a serving of tofu.  The vegans, of course, don't want to hear that. 

Now, when I was in junior high I actually became a vegan for a while, before I even knew what that was.  I just didn't want to eat eggs, milk, or meat.  That was virtually impossible as my stepmother did not make any dietary accommodations.  I had to eat what we had in the fridge and pantry, she wasn't buying, or making, special food.  I thought it was "mean" to the animals to slaughter them - and it is, they should be humanely "done" if at all possible. 

But the Bible says "Kill and eat" so I do.  I don't kill my food, although if I lived in the country I would. 

They all seemed to be having a good time.  I talked to my Dad for a little while, the conversation was pretty stiff but we communicated.  Some days are better than others for talking to Dad, and I'm sure he would say the same thing about me. 

I need to get ready to go, Ron is taking me out to the pet store to buy more cat food.  I ran out before our trip and got into my reserve - now I need to replenish and get some more "daily" food.  That will cost a little but either you can afford your cats or you can't. 

I have plenty of canned food to get me through my next pay period - get me TO my next pay period, so I will spend what I need to ensure the cats have a good supply. 

But I need to go.  I will post later if anything interesting comes to mind or something happens.