Hoodoo Highway

The White Gal's 40 ounce

posted by Deb @ 6:26 PM 5 comments

Mother's Day

We get all hyped up over holidays, don't we? I stayed in town on Sunday so I could take my mom to my brother's house. She could see her granddaughter and visit with them for awhile. My daughter was coming over there to eat with us. Would it have been my choice of the ideal day? No but it should have been nice.

Should have been are the operative words here. When my mom is involved, nothing goes as plans and she loves it that way. It gets her going, psyches her up and thrills her if she can create drama, in some form or fashion. This is nothing new in her life, I recall it from my youngest days.

I went over to help her bathe and get dressed. We spent at least 40 minutes trying to get her to the shower. She was obsessing over some tops she could not find. She is convinced that someone is stealing them. I cannot imagine why her caregivers would want her tops, they do not fit them. Obsessing is the appropriate word. She works herself up over it. I know some of this is the mental thing but it does get to you after awhile, KWIM? I got her in the shower and helped her. Washed her hair, etc. Got her out. Got her lotioned up, etc. Got her dressed, down to her shoes. Fixed her hair (the whole time she complained about the lotion, the shampoo, the deodorant, the way the caregiver organized her bathroom shelves, why she could not find her shirts, where were all her panties (those are missing, too - even though I counted at least 7 pair of this one kind she says is missing). I left her there to put on some makeup, do her final stuff while I went home to shower, dress, etc. When I completed all that and went back to check on her progress, she had stripped down to her shirt. She did not like the panties she had on, everything was choking her, those shoes were horrible, etc.... Another 40 minutes to get her dressed again - the whole time listening to her obsess about her shirts, etc... Oh yes, her perm is horrible. The hairdresser deliberately did it bad so she would have to come back sooner. I do not know where she gets that from, it looked very nice. She swears there is no curl in the back but it has a ton of curl. We finally head out almost 2 hours past the original time we were to head out. (Family is used to this when dealing with mom). On the way there, she started in on me. How I think she is lying about her tops missing, how I think she does not hear someone on her steps and trying to open her door all the time now (although she does not hear us on the steps or the doorbell half the time) and what a horrible person I am. I am used to this. Funny isn't it - the one who does the most for someone gets treated the crappiest. I finally had all I could take so I turned up the music a bit, which made her angrier. She started singing above the music. I blew ya'll. Horrible I know. I told my mama to shut up. It was not a nice scene. It was the typical "how can I ruin your day" scenario with my mom. She is so toxic. She accused me of running around on Michael with someone she calls "little beardie".. Michael and I tried to figure out who it is she thinks that might be. We are not sure. It just ruined my afternoon. I stayed away from her at my brother's, which made her madder. If she came outside to sit, I sat elsewhere. If I went inside and she came inside, I moved elsewhere. Nothing major - just did not want to hear it anymore. The bright side of the day was my daughter - Jen. She got me a massage at a local place here in town. I cannot wait to use it. It was very sweet. She told me I really needed it now, after spending the day with grandma.

Funny moment of the day? My mom was asking my SIL if she had gained weight ( only the negative, remember?) and my daughter butted in and told my SIL she looked great like she was (and she does). My SIL asked my daughter had she lost some weight and my daughter said "No, and if you do not believe me ask grandma!" I nearly lost it.

When I got Drama GrandMama home last night, she tried to act like nothing had happened. She was satisfied to have created chaos and upset everyone. My whole life has been this with her. I told her I was going out with a friend (not Little Beardie) to hear another friend play. Michael was not back from his mom's yet and I left. My friend Jim and I went to the Honey Hut to hear Gil Franklin (hmm, he is shorter than me and has a beard...could he be Little Beardie???). Jim and I were laughing about the LB comment from my mom. We were planning on staying just a little while but were there until the music stopped at 10:20 - it rocked!! No where else on a Sunday evening can you go to a bar, sit outside on a deck, drink some brewskies and listen to some awesome music - than the Honey Hut. I do not know how they get away with it. No one else can open to do this. I would so love to describe the Honey Hut to you but words cannot do it justice. It is a biker, redneck, Levy rat bar.... what can I say? The music is good and the beer is cold. I need to get pictures...because a picture is worth a thousand words.

Next year on Mother's Day, I am leaving town!!!!

posted by Deb @ 9:50 AM 1 comments

How was Da Boil?, he asked

Ah Larry - who missed Da Boil and most things that have happened down here in the past two months, sent me an e mail to find out what went on with Da Boil on May 5th. He wanted to read about it on the blog. Alas, there was no blog post about it or much of anything this week.

To start, Da Boil was a success, with many folks there (many I did not know). This is a common theme. We find that there are more and more people that other people do not know. Oh, they know someone there - we just do not all collectively know each other. Weather was lovely. Food was delish. House was trashed. That, my friends, was enough for me. They broke my toilet, trashed my house, went through my medicine cabinet (sorry I had no drugs), stole some shot glasses and used my very expensive decorative towels despite the fact that I had many towels laid out at the sink. There is also that thing where we find previously live crawfish all over our yard and on our porch. That would be kids taking them and playing with them and leaving them. Not a nice smell the next day. Any comments I make about kids is taken as a bad thing on my part but I have to say some of these kids are pretty bad. Not all of them but some of them are pretty bad. T caught one of them throwing rocks at little Maya, my dog. It is maddening. My house ain't kid proof because, well it does not have to be damnit. I do not have kids - so I can live like an adult. I know kids will be kids but there are a few things parents should do. 1) Watch your kids! 2) Tell your kids - do not go in and out of the house. You have no reason to be in their house unless you are using the restroom. 3) Do not get into things that are not yours. If you are not sure - ask. That is it! Those three things and yes, your kid, would be an ok kid to hang out here. I am refusing to host this event anymore. With that being said - the general consensus is it has gotten way too big. Who to uninvite? I think we are scaling way back next year to just the core group. No more than 20 or so. Should be much more enjoyable for all.

I was in Washington DC this week. It was lovely weather and a great group of co workers working on a project. Folks in HQ are, generally, an unhappy bunch these days. I have to say that it surprised me how unhappy all of them are. Even folks who normally say nothing bad about anyone or anything...well they had plenty to say. Sad really, I had thought this Chair was going to be pretty popular. At least I was very sure she had the capacity to be so. Not working out for her up there in HQ. The agency is moving to a very unsavory part of town. It sucks, really. I would feel pretty crappy as an employee to know that is what my agency felt I deserved - a empty lot across the street with beer bottles, drug paraphenalia, condoms, etc..., the county's largest methadone clinic two blocks away, a dilapidated liquore store two blocks away. Safety issues abound. Going to HQ will be less attractive, I tell ya.

On the bright side, we hit a fantastic Tapas Bar in Crystal City this past week. My friend, Steve, took us there. It is called Jaleo. If you go to DC, you should check it out. There are three locations and is highly recommended by all of us that went.

Cheerios to all of you. Have a great weekend!!

posted by Deb @ 1:06 PM 1 comments

Remodel Blues

I have the remodel blues. I am dead dog tired from all this stuff. I feel like I have walked around this house in circles more times than I can count. I keep looking at all that has to be done and getting frustrated. Today I took off work (and still fielded 4 phone calls and answered e mails) and got a lot accomplished, I guess. I totally dusted the living room including the blinds, yep each slat. The construction dust was everywhere. I got most of the junk out of there and tomorrow I can sweep the wood floors, vaccum (sp?) the rug, etc. I need to run a mop over the wood floors to gather up the fine particles the broom will miss. Then on to the dining room. That place is a disaster. At least I got the guest bedroom cleaned up and ready for this weekend.

The toilet leans because the floor leans in this old house. The cabinet looks crooked because the ceiling line is crooked in this old house. GRRRR. Tomorrow they are fixing the leaning toilet. Not much we can do with the cabinet but put something on top of it to hide the flaw of this old house. While old houses can be charming, sometimes they are just a pain in the butt.

The kitchen will get bamboo blinds. I love the two pendant lights over the sink. They are really nice and give a little pop in that area. The travertine backsplash turned out very nice. Overall, we will be very happy to have a bathroom that is not embarrassing and to have a nice shower to use.

Now, off to the tub before I go to bed. I have hit the wall tonight. I will be so glad to get out of this tub for good. I really missed my showers.

posted by Deb @ 11:56 PM 1 comments