Failures and accomplishments today.

Jessie, my dad was a "savor" from the day he was born. And if you got rid of something, he'd be livid. But I have to say, he usually found a use for everything he saved. Old prescription pill bottles became containers for fish hooks, sinkers and other small fishing gear in his tacklebox. Glass baby food jars, mayonnaise jars (any glass container with a lid, really) became storage for his garge - nuts, bolts, nails, screws, brads, fasteners of all kinds went into those jars, neatly labeled with permanent marker and stored on shelves or attached to the metal strips he put on the garage ceiling. (Those are still there - looks like some kind of strange fruit harvest hanging from the ceiling!) Any box, container or anything with a lid was repurposed. He would even save old plastic juice bottles when emptied and put trash inside them and THEN throw them away when full. LOL

I'm with you on the trauma of the cleanout, Jessie. Going through all these things is so hard. I'm finding things I'd totally forgotten ever existed. Each new find hurts anew.

This reminds me of the fortress of baby-wipe plastic boxes my father constructed around his chair. I thought they must be full of tools and treasures he was storing about him. When he died, I tackled the fortress. Mostly empty, with a few trinkets in a couple of the boxes. Don't ask me why. Old folks can be so strange in the nonsensical things they do.

Today I am tackling a clutter strong point on the enclosed back porch. It is psychologically pretty traumatic. Nasty, nasty. In four years I haven't had the stomach to tackle it. It is guarded by a non-functioning heavy power chair that my mother bought and never used. It is flanked by a heavy steel ramp to be used with the power chair. Maybe I should find a way to put the power chair out by the non-functioning power scooter that they bought and never used. Both probably just need batteries, but that would be about $500 -- a waste of money for things that are not used. I tried to donate the chair while it was working well, but my mother said no, no. Now it is just another albatross I'm having to deal with. I can't budge it, it's so heavy.

ROFL yaya! That would be just about it. It's ENTIRELY possible. He drives me insane, and the good ol' boys at the police station downtown won't do anything about it. (I haven't called, but other neighbors have, and were told to just ignore it, it's only a few months a year, blah blah blah).

Veronica, it might not be Capt, but maybe a cousin. LOL

I have a major accomplishment to announce:

....wait for it.....

I FOUND THE WILL! Finally! It was in the top drawer of the file cabinet, which contained all of Dad's old watches (all in various states of disrepair, scratched up, etc), several empty Preparation H wipes containers (huh?!?), an empty old teabag box (huh again?!!?) and various other containers that I guess he was saving for some purpose or other. The will was in an envelope, laying flat against the bottom of the drawer. Would have never guessed it was in that drawer with all that junk. Go figure! Now I just need to find their marriage license.

Susan are you sure it's not the Capt living next door to you?

im too tired to wiggle tonight . beat jiimy up all day . new heater blower motor , reinstalled my windshield cowl , cut a couple bad places out of the passenger door and pur steel back in it , put some screws in the door panels so they wouldnt rattle , truck is getting nice , i want to take alison to the alice cooper concert with a credible machine. chicaggy is a good distance , the truck needs to be in top shape ..
its done just in time to start firewood cutting tomorrow . it dont pay big but it beats the h*ll out of bricking a house . just not interested..

Accomplishment. Got the groceries bought, put away, kitchen cleaned and cake baked...yay! I am going to have a guest tomorrow and we are going to sit on the deck and chat and drink coffee and include Mom as much as she is able and for this day we are going to be like everyone else.

Susan, just had to tell you your last post conjured an Image in my head of a totally frazzled woman dressed in camo with mascara smeared over her face and a bag of sugar stuffed inside a fanny pack at her waist, attempting to break into her neighbor's garage in the middle of the night......heehee! It's funny cuz it's entirely possible.

Susan..aren't those yahoos something?? I guess I must just be boring but I knew from the time I was ten years old that my rights ended where they infringed on others....where I used to live, there was a kid across the pond who loved shooting fireworks..now his were not the earth rattling kind thank goodness, but he would start the week before every holiday and at dusk he would be out there, it seemed they were synchronized to go off one every three minutes...just one..like a black cat...pow pow pow pow pow pow this went on all through the night. my nerves would be in tatters..just the repetitive nature of it all....ugh...my parents would have tore my behind up...

Hey Hope - I'll see your fireworks and raise you a neighbor deep in the throes of a midlife crisis with a "hot rod" in his garage, which he insists on starting up every weekend, several times a day, and revving the engine so loud that the windows in every house around him rattle - including ours. I want so badly to pour sugar in his gas tank.....

success: I made it to my meditation group at last. Had a great time and volunteered taping the event. Meanwhile, my mother went off with a new friend to her family outing. No failures today!

I want to take a moment and wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day tomorrow - I hope you find time to enjoy a few moments during the day, maybe have a cookout with family, or just find a peaceful place for a bit. And a huge THANK YOU to those who have served our country, past, present and future.

Accomplishments for Today:
-Took Mom out to breakfast with the family
-Stopped at a local antique shop and - SCORE!! - found a replacement for my favorite mug that I broke a while ago (a Robinson Ransbottom Blue Spongeware mug). Also picked up a cute wicker stand for the bathroom and a lighthouse picture, also for the bathroom.
-Invoiced my clients last night and was very pleased to see my hard work paying off in the form of some extra money coming in. Very nice to see that.

Failure - at least until I fix the problem:
-Didn't get Dad's room tackled yesterday like I wanted to. It's just so hard to go in there and handle his things. Such hard memories. I'm going to try again tonight or tomorrow. Need to get it done soon.
-Came home from breakfast to find the front door wide open (screen door shut, but inside door open). I had trusted mom to close it on her way out behind me -even asked her to- but she insists I told her I would close it. Umm...nope. Just one more thing to remember NOT to let her do.

POSITIVES FOR TODAY ...SO FAR.... It's going to be a good day....I'm going to stay focused on that topic. got the major lawn work done yesterday, so today is gong to be about baking something tasty for tomorrow...I have INVITED company!!!! I'm also going to jazz up the deck with my patio lights and make it fun for us....nothing fancy, it won't be anyone but Mama, me and my cousin, but so what...we're celebrating amongst ourselves...she is alone, we are alone, together we will not be alone.... :) going to see if I can make some more fun somewhere around here.....

Oh I know! I could not afford it....I have called police before as well. I am trying not to be one of "those" neighbors who fusses about everything so for the most part I just grin and bear it but right after I moved back, I had brought my cats with me of course and they were not used to all that kind of noise. The 4th of July fireworks spooked one of my beloved babies to the point that she ran off and I can only assume into the hills that are a couple of blocks away from our home...she did not come back and late that night I could hear the coyotes destroying something...and I always feared it was my precious cat.....it broke my heart...I don't have children and have always been an avid animal rescuer...it broke my heart and that neighbor was the cause of her running away and her subsequent demise...I don't guess I'll ever like him again after that.... :( It is not against the city ordinance to fire them, but the time I did call I asked them, I understand they are ok in city limits but what about cannons...they checked that out ... lol......

One of my accomplishments today, which also belongs in the what's for dinner thread....after I boldly finished mowing the yard, knowing my nephew was popping in in a few minutes, (that was huge for me..the old me would have promptly left the mower where it stood, ran into the house, baked a bunch of cookies gotten a bath and lit some candles....) I mowed my yard...had not bathed, had nothing in the pantry because I didn't know they were coming and I didn't care...it was a whole lot less stressful let me tell you...I'm going to do that more from now on...after they left, I got me a good hot bath and ordered whatever I wanted in the realm of the pizza and pasta world and treated myself....I will be having to work it off this week but who cares....it was a much deserved treat and I was too tired to cook so I'm kind of proud of me....

Gave dad a shower after 2 months of no shower due to extremely dysfunctional family situation.. This is a big step.

Hope~we have a neighbor who live behind us that has set off fireworks every night from April-November. Last year, several of us starting calling the police as we were tired of it. It was not just a few fireworks, he/she set them off for up to 30 minutes at a time starting around 9:30pm. Then he/she would start again at 7:30am. Now, after calling the police, he/she only does it once in a great while. I wonder where they get the money to support all these fireworks.

However, that microwavable pizza has been calling my name all day. I might give in to it later tonight.

Failure today - I lost my temper with dad.

Accomplishment - made breakfast, unclogged the kitchen sink (took me several hours trying different methods), did 3 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen sink (better do it now before it becomes a forest of black mold) and finally cooked dinner. Ahem.. I hate cooking So for me to do real cooking is a shocker. I'm more into eating microwave food or take outs.

I hate fireworks. We have a neighbor who is an ex military and he is always inventing stuff to see how loud he can get it up here...he currently has something that sounds like a cannon...the entire house rattles when he sets it off.....This is an older neighborhood so most everyone, except them, are elderly...go figure...once again...as long as it is what they want I guess no one else matters..

wars arent going to end , pam . wanna hear a great tune about a current genocide ? you tube pick up the bones , alice cooper ..
youtubewatch?v=TnGtDL-HAQk
bosnis hergozvnia, 2001

Well we all had a great day, but now our idiot neighbors are settiing off fireworks. And the folks are in bed . Please don;t let them wake up and think the wars are begining,,,

thank you austin. im not sure a female has been born yet who could deal with my eccentricism . nice thought tho ..

oh h*ll , new door pins and bushings -- not my first rodeo . lol

edna came out early this am and sat in the cool garage for about 8 hrs watchin her " man " rip out and rebuild the passenger side of the jimmy .. both sides are rebuilt and its really looking good . edna got the thrill of riding to town with new fenders , rocker panels , cab corners -- but no hood yet . she thought that was pretty cool.. little b***ard is running nice, i dropped the rear trans mount to make the driveshaft smoother , and put plugs and wires on it while the fenders were off .. fun little truck ..
im pushing it cause the nurse said dont overdo it . that means one thing to me -- kick azz and dont even take names..

OMG, my mother gave me a compliment about my video biz! She said she was so proud of me. But then she added on what she thought were negatives by saying, "much better than ...." Well. It didn't faze me. That's the Bi-polar thinking she does. Can't ever let anything be. Always a bad/better thing with her. But now that I recognize the pattern it doesn't hurt anymore. So success: I enjoyed her compliment.
I also shall tap myself on the back for ignoring all the other stabs of the week. Does Mom really mean what she says? sometimes? can she help her behaviors?
It matters to me less and less. I think that's a good thing, do you?
I feel freer and am able to be kinder to her. But man, I am so happy to be back in my cave-apartment by myself. The difference in my mental state is like day and night.
As long as a caregiver can still carve out a place in one's head to be positive: whether it is while at work, creating a truck, making a video promo, or cleaning the refrigerator, long as you are smiling from the inside, call that success!

My great accomlishment is to get my computer back and working. I have missed my A/C friends and a lot has been happening

Way to go Austin! Sounds like a productive day! :-)

Summer you do not have to leave us completely -check in every three days -after 3 days it is easier to pick up what is going on with the folks here and we like your input. I got a lot accomplished today-I am ocd about dished and waste time washing 1or 2 I use Dawn with bleach alt in it so would soak off any hard food-if I let it. Got outside since we are having a cool spring here in my corner of NY good weeding done and summer furniture cleaned up and the front neatened up then did some weeding and planted sunflower seeds -I found you can use bird seed sunflower seeds-found out with hundreds of baby sunflowers growing near the bird feeder so do not have to buy expensive packs of sunflowers -love them but so do the deer. God a lot done then after a while will have a shower and a beer then watch sappy love stories on Lifetime or Hallmark-my honey will be over later.

Brenna If she is on Medicaid maybe you can get a lifter with no cost to you to make thing easier for you -worth a try.

Capt. hope you find you soul mate-I did and he was a guy I went to HS with 55 yrs. ago -it was worth the wait and misery of a bad husband-it is amazing when you just click with someone-keep looking and keep your heart open-it make life worthwhile to have someone to love-we are both in our 70's and will be happy with the years God's gives us.

Captain, you win for today - you just gave me a laugh! Flying flaming bees...reminds me of the time older sister set out glue traps to rid her big old farmhouse of mice. Caught one on the trap, but it was still alive, so she threw it into the burning fireplace. Mouse and trap landed *behind* the flames in a not-so-hot part of the fireplace, which melted the glue on the trap, and out came the mouse, scurrying across the floor, smoke pouring from his fur. She figured if he was tough enough to survive that, he deserved to live, and released him outside in the woods. LOL