By the time this Publishes it will be my Younger Brother's Birthday, I think he's turning 66, he was Born in 1960, you do the Math. *LOL* And I'll have to Work this and next Friday Night to cover for a very bad Medical Situation with a Co-Worker. Princess T woke up Sick on Tuesday Morning so had to call in to Work, but I was up anyway, ready to take her to Work so I did go to The Gym and get my Two Hour early Morning Workout from 6:30 am-8:30 am before any of the Silver Sneakers folks are allowed to come in. I'm rather enjoying my Paid Membership more so feel the budgeting for it was worth it to be able to go anytime I want to and not have to change Gyms for where HUMANA Silver Sneakers is accepted. I always feel better to start my Day after a Workout so I should get in the habit of doing it often as I can manage to every Morning.
Then I went to the Antique Mall and put my Merch in, it was quite busy for a Tuesday. Some Group Home had a Field Trip of their Residents they were bringing in and they always spend Money while there, it's a big Group, a Bus full, with their Caregivers. My Room was a Hot Mess like Feral Humans had been in there, I don't know why Shoppers tear things up so when Shopping?! So it took me a long while to put it all Right again so it didn't look ransacked! I'd finished out the Pay Period decently so will get a Check that isn't great, but isn't pitiful either, so will be Helpful. This Month only Four Days after Valentine's Day is The Man's Birthday. My Brother's Birthday is February 6th too. And our Family want to send Dear Blog Friend Shirley a lil somethin'-somethin' to do something Kind for herself during her time of intense Grief of losing a Daughter. There are No Words any Sympathy Card can convey really.
After I did the Antique Mall I went Grocery Shopping at 'Sprouts' to pick up Essentials we were out of. With a Family this size you go thru a lot of Essentials and I had to wait 'til we got Paid first to re-stock them. I also got The Man what I was getting him for Valentine's Day and presented it early, since his Birthday is so close to Valentine's Day I usually give him his Valentine's Gift earlier in February than Valentine's Day. He was Jazzed to get a Valentine's Gift Bag filled with a large assortment of his favorite Snacks and Candies. He had gone thru what he got for Christmas already and really enjoyed all of that. Our Dollar Store was well stocked for Valentine's Day, making it affordable to get a large variety of what he likes and put it in a pretty Gift Bag.
I'll be taking The Young Prince to his Dad's again, I guess they're doing Karaoke Night at one of the Clubs they go to together all the time. His Dad actually has a good Singing Voice, I don't think his Son inherited that attribute of a Singing Voice, but he is Musically inclined and can play any Instrument. My Mom's whole Family, except for her, had Gorgeous Singing Voices. Wouldn't ya know Mom got skipped on that, which is Rare, a lot of Welsh have lovely Singing Voices. My Uncle could Sing Opera, and had a Voice as good as Famous Welsh Singer Tom Jones. And when we'd go to Vegas he'd goof around singing Italian Opera at the "Venetian Casino" and people thought he was part of the Act!!! *LOL*
My Maternal Great-Grandfather was an Orchestra Conductor and could play any Instrument, as well as Sing, so I think that may have been where The Young Prince Inherited that? My Welsh Nanna was a Stage Actress and Dancer, before Television was Invented, she could Sing, Dance and Act. It was during a Performance that my Gran-Gran met her and fell in Love. *Winks* My Mom was a Ballet Dancer until she had a serious Injury, she could also do Ballroom Dancing, and said if she hadn't of had the Injury, she would have made a Career of Dancing becoz she was apparently very good at it. But, she couldn't Sing, only one in her whole Family who couldn't. They think it's coz she was partially Deaf, and that could be?
.webp)
.webp)
I got the Quarter of 1998 South Park Figures from Goodwill Hunting Today on Senior Day, and Online they're selling as a Set for $150 or more. I'll have to put them on top of my Locked Case then at the Antique Mall and Sell them as a Set for around that much. The little Pletherette Shoes didn't hold up well over the Years, but other than that this Quartet still has the Original Tags and is in great Condition except for flaking off of the Pleather. That shit never did hold up well on Vintage items made of it. I remember The Son had this Set when he was Young, including the Rarer "Chef" Character Plush as well, I Sold all of his for a lot at the Antique Mall Years ago. They didn't have Chef, he usually Sells for $30-$40 Online even tho' he's not as common as the rest of the Characters.
The Son is now re-arranging the whole Guest Room damned near so I'm having Anxiety about that and can't watch until he gets it Right and Done. He knows it heightens my Anxiety when you Change too much of anything I finally got Decorated and looking the way I wanted it. *Le Sigh* The Daughter helped out to lessen my Anxiety by cleaning off the Dining Table beautifully coz that was one part I hadn't gotten to yet and she knew I wanted to. So she Surprised me by getting it Done while I was out and it looks so nice now. She knew I was already having Anxiety about the Changes her Son was gonna make in The Art Studio Space he'll now be Occupying, so I guess his Uncle thought, well, Perfect Time then to make Changes in the Guest Bedroom so Mom will just have ONE Meltdown? *Breathe, Dawn, Breathe... Hysterical Laughter of nearing The Edge and Le Sigh*
I had just gotten myself back to Center with my Morning Workout Dammit, and The Young Prince had come into the Room here to give me a Heads Up about what his Uncle was doing so I wouldn't Freak Out, since, it was already in Progress. Then The Son finally did tell me, when he was halfway thru it to ask just how much he could Change in there? I realized, after he'd moved his Media Chair that he and his Friends had gouged out some of the Drywall of a Wall by reclining it too far back and hitting the damned Wall!!! So, Yeah, I'm now trying to be able to Breathe and not go from an Anxiety Attack to a complete Meltdown now. Sharing your Home and all Space in it with more Generations than you anticipated ever living with in your Retirement Years is a Process to have a Peace about and embrace fully. Coz sometimes it doesn't even Feel like YOUR Home anymore.
I can Share my Space so long as they leave most of it Decorated the way I want MY Home to be. If they want to Decorate, go get a Home of their own, coz this is the only Home I've got and I've been Sacrificial now for Decades, so in Old Age I want it to Be as I want it to BE. Now The Grandkids I Raised are Grown I no longer have Toys all over the place, and that was Nice FINALLY to get to that juncture of having Raised Two Generations of Children. But Twenty-Somethings and Middle-Aged Somethings have their own Challenges for Seniors to Share Space with Harmoniously. Especially when it's the Senior's Home. *LOL and Winks* I don't wanna be Wound Up all the time so I try to Maintain being Centered and Balanced as much as possible with Sharing Space with so many People now in our Old Age. It's cramped, we Downsized Space for a Forever Main Home considerably from previous Homes Owned.
Okay, Writing about it helped me avoid having a Meltdown, ya'll are Still Cheaper than Therapy!!! Coz this is like a 3-Ring Circus around The Asylum most Days and I'm the Ringmaster of this here Shitshow. *Winks and Thankyou for Tolerating the Online Meltdowns and Near Meltdowns while still coming Back as Dear Readers more than just the Once... ha ha ha!!!* I hear a Drill being used and I just don't wanna know what they're doing now that requires Power Tools?! *Breathe, Breathe, Dawn, Breathe!!!* It seems to be coming from the Guest Bedroom and he had said something about Hooking Up his X-Box, Video Game Systems, something like that, which is Why everything had to be Re-Arranged??? *Eye Roll and trying not to Fixate on what might be going on in there that will Trigger me or send me right over The Edge?!*
I hear Mando out Back with more Power Tools, and am just Hoping that's a Good Thing? Men with Power Tools always kind of make me Nervous, The Man used to engage in a lot of Demolition Projects that never actually got Rebuilt sometimes, so I Forbid that kind of thing now in my Old Age and Forever Home!!! Men like knocking things down and Demolition, but the Rebuilding sometimes they can spend literally Years getting around to finishing! And I got a lot of Younger Men in this Household now from Ages 25-59, and The Man is nearing 74 this Month, so, that's a lot of various Generations of Testosterone to Deal with in One Household!!! I want this Home to look fucking Finished and Turnkey, not a Work in Progress, Okay?! *LOL*
Explaining to me Why I'm hearing lots of Power Tools Today both Inside and Out might just be TMI for me to Cope with and Handle, so, I haven't dared to Ask!!! *LOL* At least The Man can't use Power Tools anymore without close Supervision, so that's one less Generation of Testosterone in the Mix of getting whipped into a Power Tool using Craze!!! *Whew* The Younger Generations all know the BEST Time to do Home Improvements I have not Blessed and given Approval of is when I'm NOT here. Then, if they can make it actually an IMPROVEMENT over what WAS, I might not Freak the Hell Out about it and be Grateful... perhaps? *LOL* The Son just Revealed what he Changed and I can Live with it and didn't Freak Out about his Changes. *Whew*
.jpg)
So, now we have it and it's large and will be very beneficial to doing Outside Projects. Roy has given us a lot of nice things that he doesn't wanna bother Selling and would rather give to those Friends helping him with his Moving Process than to Donate it to Strangers or leave it behind at the Property he'll be Selling. And their Friend Jason, whose a Nephew of Old Tom next door, also has given them a lot of nice things for helping him as much as they do. He sometimes uses a Wheelchair or a Walker but still tries to do a lot on his own to remain Independent, but The Daughter and Mando go over and help him a lot as just a Friendship gesture.
I was thinking that the Weather has been so Extreme all thru Fall and Winter, being unseasonably too Hot, then unseasonably too Cold and Wet, that we didn't get nearly enuf done in The RV Garage Mahal or She Shed that we expected to get done during those Seasons. When the Weather doesn't cooperate and isn't Normal it's just hard to plan anything in the Non-Climate Controlled areas now. We know Spring and Summer are usually just too Normally Hot to do much. So, I'm Hopeful Spring is abnormally not so Hot??? I don't know what to expect tho', but if it takes longer to get Too Hot, it will extend the amount of Work we can try to finish up before Desert Heat sets in and puts a halt to everything. I have set up some Pricing on Wheels Inside the Main House to Work on Inventory in here all Year now, but be less Cluttered and more Organized.
If I stick with bringing Inventory in just One Crate or Banana Box at a time, then I should be able to keep going with the Downsizing and putting fresh Merch into the Antique Mall with regularity. LATER: We dropped The Young Prince off at his Dad's and then The Man and I went to our other Antique Mall Location in Downtown Phoenix. I found the elusive Fiesta Ware Cereal Bowl of a Retired Color called "Flamingo" that I have a Mug for and was the only Mug I didn't also have a Cereal Bowl of that Color for. They actually had Two, which was surprising coz it's hard to find even One. I just bought the One, I have One Mug with a Cereal Bowl to match in many of the Colors and very few other pieces except in the Chartreuse Color, which I have several pieces of still. I Sold Off most other pieces I used to have of Fiesta Ware I used less of.
It's the only thing we Bought, but we did look around and it wasn't very busy. There was a Family there following behind us most of the time that had a very Bratty Kid. She was acting like she was a Toddler, throwing a Fit and Whining incessantly, but she must have been 9-10!!! She didn't seem like she had Special Needs so it just seemed like she was spoiled rotten and the Parents had no authority whatsoever, so she was really pitching a hissy all the time. It was annoying and I was so glad when they finally peeled off from behind us and went down another Aisle. A little bit of that Bratty Kid was going a long way, I couldn't have handled much more of her nonsense and acting up. Especially for her Age, I was actually shocked to see she was so Old when I turned around, I'd thought they were Dealing with mebbe a 2-4 Year Old!!! She was a pretty Tall 9-10 and looked Normal enuf, didn't seem Developmentally Disabled.
If I'm Shopping or Dining I don't wanna hafta put up with your Feral Kiddos antics. I could still hear her Misbehaving and Whining from several Aisles over, but at least they weren't right up our Ass behind us anymore. *Whew* She was ranting that she didn't wanna go to "Taco Bell" for Dinner, as if when someone else is paying for a Meal, a Child has any input on where the Hell whoever is Paying decides to go! I won't say my Kiddos haven't been on Board sometimes of where we are getting a Meal Out, but I tell them that until they're Paying, we're going where whose Paying wants to go. If they don't wanna Eat it, Fine, that's One Less Bell to Answer, One Less Egg To Fry then. And they can just not Eat, and go Hungry, I don't give a damn. *Winks* They have never starved from Opting Out BTW and now they can Pay, they can choose, and I don't Complain or Act the Fool, coz it's a Free Meal. *Winks* Be the Adult in the Room, no Kid is In Charge!!! WTF?!
I know, I know, I grew up in a different Era where Children were Seen but not Heard, and I kinda Turned Out Alright. Okay, so, I didn't, but, I damned sure knew how to Clean Up Well in Public, Respect my Elders and not Act the Fool when out with my Family to cause embarrassment or fuck up the experience for everyone around me. So did my Kids and the Grandkids I Raised, coz I didn't put up with no Mess in Public especially. Well, at Home either, and my Kids weren't even Right in the Head! But they knew how to be Respectful, Helpful, Decent Humans, even tho' they were on the Bat Shit Crazy Side of Mental Health Diagnosis. And if you can Teach Manners and Respect to the Seriously Mentally Ill, I figure you can Train any Child to Respect other folks and have some fucking Manners, acceptable Behaviors, and some Social Graces. If it's totally absent, you're doing said Child no Favors. Word Up, NOBODY Likes a Bratty Kid and it's not 'Cute'.
I was sore by Evening Yesterday and I'm thinking to myself, Why am I so Sore? Then I remember, oh yeah, that Two Hour Workout at the Gym! *LOL* Apparently riding a Stationary Bike does use some Lower Abdomen Muscles I forgot I had that needed some use and hadn't been used in a Dog's Age? *LOL* Those Muscles were Protesting loudly by around 7:00 p.m. after we weren't trawling an Antique Mall anymore and I'd become sedentary again for the Night. I ended up falling Asleep on the Sectional as I listened to The News on TV, without wanting to see any of the actual Visuals of the Fuckery going on now. Apparently he now wants ReTrumplicans to Run the Elections... as if we didn't see that one coming. And he's tearing down the Kennedy Center now too, the White House Demo apparently wasn't enuf Historical Carnage.
And speaking of Demolition atrocities, as we drove The Young Prince to his Dad's, there's an 1916 Farmhouse that was surrounded by Acreage of thick Tamarack, Pecans, Mesquite and Palo Verde, I've been intrigued with since the 1970's. You couldn't really see the actual House, just a glimpse of it up a long Tree Lined Drive up to it, seemed to be a Two Story Vernacular Edwardian Era. I've always been fascinated by said Property, a Fantasy to own it and even Google Maps couldn't zoom in on much of it from a Satellite coz of the dense Tree Cover. But Public Records showed it was built in 1916 and they didn't try to Salvage any of it during this tragic Demo, and was the Oldest Property in that whole part of the West Valley that had Survived from that Era. The Lone Sentinel until just now, now it is no more and I'm broken up about it even tho' it was never mine. I would have liked it to have been bought by a Preservationist Minded Investor, but it was on too much Land.
Just the Inner Cities have Historic Districts, if it was a Rural Historic around these parts it never Survives, it eventually will succumb to Development, always. No matter how lovely a Home it is, it will go down to some Developer who Temps them to Sell. Or some Rezoning of City Planners in the Pockets of Investors/Developers squeezing out the Holdouts on Historic Properties and Forcing them out involuntarily. You know, "For the Good of All" bullshit. And by "All" I really mean whoever will profit most from that transactional Shakedown of someone without the Pockets Deep enough to keep fighting them about it in Court. In order to just be left alone to Keep their Ancestral Home with some Historic Significance that has managed to just fucking Exist into Modern Times and just be a Commodity to exploit.
In recent times I've seen one after another of the Oldest Holdouts go Down and be Razed. Not as many as were destroyed in the 1970's in the Inner City of the Victorian Mansions replaced by Skyscrapers... more the ONCE Rural Historic ones that got surrounded by the Cities now. The last bastions of Rural History preserved for Future Generations to know what once existed around here during those Eras... and that it wasn't all once Parking Lots, Subdivision Hells, hideous Apartment Complexes and Big Box Stores as far as the Eye can See. Even in Communities like ours, some will Buy a Vintage Custom Mini Farm here and tear the House down to build something new on the Acreage now. Or Air B&B Party House Investors buy them and then there goes the Neighborhood and it's Peace and Tranquility... as well as the condition of the Property being Maintained or properly used and respected. Even a Million Dollar Listing will get tore up with Party People rotating in and out on short term Rentals all the time.
But it's the way of the World and I don't think Respect is every coming back into Fashion in America. I'm glad our once Allies are Moving On and Developing their Relationships elsewhere and no longer relying on America being decent, or an Ally they can rely upon, coz it ain't anymore. Before Congress they had a Host of Victims of ICE Testifying about what happened to them on The News, which is why I was watching it at all. It's no Isolated Case how many American Civilians who haven't committed any Crime and haven't even had any Charges, are being Shot, Abused, Taunted and Humiliated by these ICE Goons that the Orange Menace has unleashed upon Communities he wants to just Punish, Intimidate, and even try to Murder in broad Daylight. I know how the damned Poem Ends, so it's some terrifying real Nazi and Pol Pot Type Shit going on in America. To be sure Colonialism White Nationalist Types has always had Cycles of it all over the Globe for Centuries. So has Religions bent on Extremist Dogmas.
*******
No comments:
Post a Comment