Mom & Me Four Archive

...completely out of whack. I have some moments while Mom indulges in a late nap so I thought I'd record the details.
    First, I was awakened much earlier than I would have liked, this morning, considering when I've been getting to bed the last few nights (between 0300 and 0400) by one of my Prescott friends who calls me when she's in dire computer straits. We exchanged phone calls back and forth, in and out, around and through, all morning long, while I was doing the usual chores, catching up on computer blogs, editing the last couple previously published posts (which I hadn't edited the first time around), rushing to get our big trash out to the curb for Residential-Wednesday-Trash-Pick-Up "Yard Trash Week", etc. Luckily, our house wasn't hit today and I got everything out; well, at least everything that was ready. I've still got to finish trimming the tops of those damned pyracantha bushes.
    Around 1230 everything had calmed down, my plans to make a staples run to Costco had been waylaid, since Mom's 12-hour-sleep mark would arrive at 1300, all the windows were open, inviting a light, cool breeze through the house, the sun's angle was just right through our pseudo-cathedral living room windows (which are perfectly placed to take advantage of winter sun and keep out summer sun), stirring up a mid-range fleece-warm cross current, our beloved cats were settling onto the couch for their first Sacred Nap of the day, I was so tired I was no longer making any sense to myself and decided, hmmm...I think I'll stretch out on the couch, cover myself with the down throw, which will guarantee that the cats will tuck themselves around me and catch a quick snooze before 1300. No need for an alarm, I'm not a nap person. I'll be up-'n-at-'em by 1300 or soon after.
    At 1600 I bolted out of a sleep so deep I'd been drooling, to the sound of Mom opening the bathroom door. Holy Shit! Not only had I overslept, I had allowed both of us to find out just how long Mom will sleep if she isn't interrupted at her 12-hour-sleep-mark or just a bit beyond!
    As seems to be usual after she steals extra sleep, she was perky, almost full of it, really. And, as well, since she'd been up and at least three times in the night going to the bathroom, her bedding was dry for the second "morning" in a row, which means a little less choring for me after she awakens. It also means a "short bath", which involves soap washing only her torso and simply water-wiping her extremities and face.
    She's been fine, today, alert and feisty. Earlier I mentioned that we need to get to the lab for her monthly blood draw...we're a couple days behind.
    "I don't think that's necessary this month," she argued.
    "You know what," I said, taking my cue from the fact that, if she's feeling good enough to refuse it, it probably isn't necessary, "I think you're right. How about if we put it off until after my birthday?"
    She was taken aback. "I don't like that idea, since you're birthday's tomorrow."
    I laughed. "Well, you have a point, considering that this is my birthday month, so, yes, we should be celebrating all month, but it's still two weeks away, Mom."
    "Well, Halloween's tomorrow, I know you're the one who was born on Halloween!"
    I know where she got this. Last night, out of the blue, she decided she wanted to spend the evening watching horror movies. As it happened, there was a channel doing a George Romero horror fest, with a few oddities thrown in. Between movies, the channel broadcast Halloween themed advertisements for further horror fests through the last day of this month. I'm sure she decided, sometime yesterday evening, that today must be Halloween. I reminded her of this and said, "We've got two weeks to go before my birthday, Mom, So, that's two weeks before you have to have you're blood drawn, again."
    "Well, that sounds better."
    So, that's settled. I'm truly amazed that she's remembering my birthday this year, which means that she's vaguely aware of seasons and months. It's not like I've been reminding her of any of these markers, either. I think she's noticing months from the paper in the morning, which she assiduously continues to read. That Niferex-150 is a minor miracle.
    Anyway, the day has so distracted me that I forgot to take her stats this morning for a second day in a row. I was especially curious because of her insistence on having nothing but popcorn for dinner last night (goes well with horror movies) and managing to down two 3.5 ounce bags, by herself (I'm rarely in a popcorn mood), of microwave popcorn before she retired. But, you know, whatever. She's doing fine.
    I was surprised that, despite her looong night sleep, she felt the need to take a nap this evening, but, old habits die hard, I guess. At any rate, dinner won't be happening until around 2300, because of her late arising. I was also surprised that she specified that this was going to be "just a nap". She has a "clock-habit" brain, which is to say, her brain remembers decades old schedules and, at least once a day, I have to gently remind her that, "Mom, it's okay, we're not on school schedule anymore, [name of a particular activity] is perfectly appropriate for this time of day on our current schedule." Sometimes, her brain simply can't grasp such things as taking a "midday nap" at 2030. She had no problem with the concept this evening, though. No reminder that it's "nap-nap time", not "night-night time" was necessary.
    The gods only know how late she'll be up, tonight. I'm not going to push it. So she got a little extra sleep. What the hell. If she decides retirement is in order after only an eight to ten hour day, that'll be fine with me. I'm ready for a good night's sleep. I don't think the extra sleep will hurt her. After all, "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." This aphorism seems to be eccentrically appropriate to Ancient, lightly demented, astonishingly determined women who are pushing (hard on) 90.
    Later.