My day started at 7:30 am with my cell phone ringing. As soon as I looked at the caller id I knew it was a wrong number. I knew the call was for Miles Farm Store. This happens at least once a day, sometimes several times a day. I answered the phone by saying, "Dial 926." The caller laughed and said he was very sorry. Depending on my mood, I sometimes go along with the caller. Once a guy called and just started talking. He asked to speak to someone about a 30,000 gallon tank. I told him that we didn't have them anymore. He asked why and I told him they were no longer being built in the US. He was distraught, asked what he should do. I told him all our customers were asking the same thing and that I was very sorry.
At 10 o'clock I took Mama to the beauty shop. I came home to get my things ready to go to Owensboro. When she was finished with her hair we left for Owensboro. She was eating a biscuit and immediately spilled the crumbs all over the car. Hansel and Gretel had nothing on my mother.
She asked me questions all the way to Owensboro. Most of which I didn't know the answer. So she rephrased them. I still didn't know the answers.
As usual, we were hungry. We had lunch at Tumbleweed, potato soup, cornbread and chips and salsa. She asked me more questions, really the same questions. I still didn't know most of the answers. We argued about who would pay for lunch. I paid and she left the tip. She worried that she didn't leave enough. I told her she did and it was no problem. She asked me if I was sure. I was.
We needed a couple of things at the mall. Mama decided she was sleepy and would take a nap in the car while I did the shopping. She wanted a gown and I bought two pair of shorts. I used her credit card because discounts were being given for charging. When I got back to the car I told her what I had done and paid her cash for what I had bought for myself. She didn't want to take the money. I told her she was taking it, I had no intention of her paying for my shorts, I just charged them to get the discount. I put the money in her lap, she put it back in my lap. I stuffed the money in her purse. All the time she is telling me that she was not taking the money. I was telling her I wasn't taking it either. Finally I told her I was leaving her in the parking lot. She said she would stay if I didn't take back the money. I won. I'll have to check my purse later, sometimes she is sneaky.
As we were leaving the mall we remembered we were going to get a chicken pot pie for Anna Ruth so we had to turn around and go back for it. When I ordered at the drive through she kept telling me the order was to go. I finally got her to realize that everything at the drive through is to go. Then we laughed all the way to Anna Ruth's house.
We took AR the pot pie and visited with her for a while. AR is feeling poorly and is weak and tired. Mama is also weak and tired. As we were leaving, AR was walking us to the door so it could be locked behind us. Mama was in front of me, staggering on her cane, wobbling, AR was behind me, wobbling and staggering. I told them I didn't think I would be able to get either one of them up the hall. By the time we left I was staggering and wobbling.
We had left our iced water in the car. It was no longer iced water, but was now tepid water. I remember that I need print cartridges and we go back to Office Depot. Next door is Books A Million so I have to run in there for a minute. I make the mistake of telling Mama that I found 2 books that I really, really want. She wants to go back and buy them for me. No, I tell her. I can order them cheaper. She worries that she never buys me books anymore. She used to all the time, she tells me. That is okay, I tell her. Next time, I will let her buy me a book, I promise her.
On our way to Walmart we decided to stop at St. Vincent de Paul. Mama likes to use a shopping cart. It helps her to walk more easily. The only cart available was much too short but she said she would use it anyway. So she puts in her cane and her purse but she has to bend over much too far to push it and walk. We are laughing our heads off by now. Thankfully, another cart becomes available and this one is just what she needs.
The first thing I see is a piggy bank that I know I have to take home. Mama just can't believe I am buying this pig. What will I do with it, she asks. Of course, I have no idea what I will do with this pig.
She says she would like to have a small china cup for her hot tea. I find the cups and start showing them to her. I find one that I like, it is white with blue and pink flowers. She likes it and I tell her it is 50 cents.
"50 cents!!", she says. "Well, good Lord, it should be a quarter. I like the ones that are a quarter. 50 cents!!"
I say, "Mama it's just 50 cents."
So she says she will take it. We add it to our cart. I find several other things I like right well. I find an amber glass, three striped glasses, a San Tan bowl, a flower pot that is a calico cat (not a real one), a white stoneware cup with a blue stripe around the rim, an amber votive candle holder, a glass with a stem, a small thin glass and 2 spoons. Mama asks me repeatedly if I am really going to buy all of these things. I assure her that I really am. She wants to know what I will do with them. I have no idea, I tell her. In the meantime, she finds a sugar bowl and creamer that she likes and decides to put back the 50 cent cup. I feel bad for the cup and don't want it to feel rejected so I put it with my things. She asks me if I am really going to buy the cup. I am, I say. She continues to shop and finds a white rectangular bowl. I tell her I like it so she wants to buy it for me. No, I tell her, she can have it. Finally I tell her if I decide I can't live without it, I will steal it from her house. She seems happy with this and buys the bowl. She also finds a couple of small juice glasses. I tell her to look around a little longer while I go and make pictures of the underwear. My batteries die so I tell her I am going to the Family Dollar to get some and will be right back. While I am walking back up the street, putting the batteries in the camera, I mistakenly walk in the door of the 8-Ball Pool Hall. Sheepishly, I back out of the door, walk down the street to the next door which is where I thought I was going in the first place. I make more underwear pictures and start to find Mama so we can pay for our stuff. This is when I see the couch and love seat. They are clean and sturdy and I want them. Now they are mine. John Michael will again have to deliver my purchase.
We pay for everything, it is all wrapped in newspaper (not the couch and love seat) and we head for the car. Now we have to go to Walmart.
Mama asks me what she told me she needed from Walmart. I can't remember what she wants, I can't even remember what I want. She finds her list. I don't have a list.
We go in different directions. About an hour later we meet at the check out. She has found everything she wanted without my help. She is happy she did it without my help. She worries that I will have to do everything for her. I don't care what I do for her but I understand why she wants to be independent.
The last thing I have to do is get the car washed. So I buy $50 of gas in order to get a $7 car wash.
I call Judy Russ to tell her about all the things we bought at St. Vincent de Paul. She has been there today too and we have a good laugh about all the funny things we have bought.
Mama and I laugh all the way home. We wonder what we will do with all our new treasures. I'm sure my children will kill me when I die and they have to go through all my things.
Mama is so tired when we get home that she has trouble getting up the steps and into the house. I get all her groceries in the house and then get her situated. I worry that she is so tired but she assures me that it was all worth it. She has had a fine day, she tells me. And so have I.
No comments:
Post a Comment