We went to a new place, The Son, The Daughter and I, called "TORTAS PAQUIME", it was good Mexican Street Food on The Cheap. Each Taco Order came with Four Street Sized Tacos, Above was the El Pastor and Below was the Carne Asada. I also had the Mexican Street Corn and an Horchata, which was very creamy and delish, everything tasted as good as it looked and a fraction of the cost of most places, we'll definitely go again. Us Three ate there and took the rest Home to Share with The Man and The Young Prince. I'd called in to Work before Noon, to say The Man was too Sickly for me to Work Tonight, which, he is.
Steven, our Manager, when he set up all these Shifts for me to fill-in for, knew it was subject to change without much Notice depending on how my Husband was doing after the Heart Attack and Surgical Recovery from it. Everyone knows my Situation at Home means I give Family the Priority and there's a lot going on at any given time. Which is precisely why I won't obligate myself to take on a permanent Shift anymore actually. I can't make commitments like that right now. But they appreciate that I often fill-in when they can't get anyone else on short Notice too. I don't live far away and can take on a random Shift called in Sick or just doesn't show up.
The Man is less Anxious knowing I called in and cancelled filling-in, he wasn't wanting me to go and I knew it. When he's really feeling bad he knows I'm the only Driver and doesn't want me gone so that if there was a Medical Emergency, we'd have to rely on Paramedics, the Fire Dept. or an Ambulance. That would also mean going to the nearest Hospital within sight of our Home which isn't the best ER, we go to the one a little further away which Specializes in Heart Attacks and Strokes, has an excellent ER and isn't packed with as many Street Folk or Folk from Da Hood. At most Urban Hospitals it can be a Walking Human Sideshow in the ERs and even a little scary Dangerous.
Here's an Oldie but Goldie of when I first got my Dreadlocks and how Micro-Dreads and Short they were, about the size of pieces of Yarn. That was Eight Years ago, and some are down to my Ass now and thick as Cigars. Plus, now I don't have 60 of them, I am down to 15 and let most Congo and just grow together for less Care. If I had let 60 of them get more Mature and individually Phat, I'd have them so thick off my Head it would be Crazy to look at, to Maintain, Style, and keep that many separated. It's hard to take Pixs of your own Hair, for me it is anyway, so Above is Before when they were Baby Dreads, Below is now they're Mature Dreads and that was taken a while ago so they do keep Evolving. I like them best in the Below Pix, than even now, coz they were tidier and about the Right amount of them then.
As they keep Evolving I Love 'em, and then get less pleased with the Evolution of them off and on, but, let them just do what they do. I'm a Lazy Dreads kind of Dread-Head, I don't fuss with them, I keep 'em Clean and mostly keep 'em Separated. I should have kept more than 15, but hindsight being 20-20, I gotta now wait for New Hairs and instead of letting them combine with an existing Dread, let them form a New Baby Dread I guess. Right now mine are going thru a messier stage, it happens, I don't get too fixated on it, they constantly Evolve as a Hairstyle and I actually do like that about them. Low Maintenance and they can pretty much take care of themselves in what they Naturally will just do if left alone to do it.
I roll out of Bed and don't have to do a damned thing with 'em. I can have the Wind blow a Gale thru my Hair and not worry about it coz it just Locs 'em up better to get Knotty. The only thing The Man says if we have all the Windows down in the Truck is, if one whips at him, it's like being beaten with a Cat O'Nine Tails. *Bwahahahaha* In fact, in most Prisons they make them Cut them off or they could be used as Weapons coz they're strong as any Rope. I could Strangle you quite effectively with one wrapped around your Neck. *Winks* If one gets stuck in a Chair, being as long as they now are, it can lift it off the Ground! *LOL* A thinning skinnier one can break off and look like a Dead scary Hairy Caterpillar. *Smiles* But the really Phat ones ain't breaking off now, too Mature, cutting them damned near Impossible too.
The Son spent most of the day doing Yardwork and prepping for Irrigation, then they Texted him from SRP that it's changed Date to the 4th! He was okay with that becoz all the Kids had Plans with Friends around 5:00 p.m. and Irrigation was slated originally for 4:00 p.m.. So, he's now gone to Volleyball, about a Dozen of his Friends meet on some Wednesdays to play at the YMCA. The Daughter's Friend Danae came to pick her up to go out and have a good time. And Princess T has Rusty picking her up to go out. So, only The Young Prince is Home with us Tonight it seems. It's a good thing I did call in to Work and cancel then, coz I can't really leave those Two Home Alone together and have a Peace that the coverage of Caregiving is Fine. *LOL* Short periods of time The Grandson could oversee Grandpa, but, it's like the Blind leading the Blind if you left them alone very long.
This is the only Pix that The Young Prince has with both his Dad and his Paternal Grandpa, who is a very Weto Hispanic too. His Gramma Lydia is a very Dark Hispanic with some Black Puerto Ricans in her Family. The Grandpa lives in Cali and many Years ago The Grandson would go visit him and the Family his Grandpa has now, often with his Dad and his Aunt Stephanie. It's been many Years tho' since that's happened. His Gramma Lydia lives here in Phoenix, she's been Unwell for Years with what can be a Terminal Illness, Type C Hepatitis. She's had it for a long time, her 2nd Husband Died of it, and he looked so fit but Died Young from it. We liked him a lot, he kept Lydia more grounded, she's a Wild One. The Young Prince couldn't visit his Paternal Gramma unsupervised coz of her lack of any appropriate judgment.
Her Kids, all Three of them, pretty much Raised themselves. I get along with Lydia just Fine, but not everyone does coz she can be volatile. And she has her Lifestyle, which, I knew what it was, but figured my Grandson didn't. As it turned out, Genius Boy, with his 148 IQ had figured it all out before he was even in School. I only found that out much, much later when he was almost Grown, that he always knew, but never Judged her. She belongs to The Streets. And her Grandson is Okay with that, he is a very Non-Judgmental Person like I am and I worked with a lot of folks in my Ministry Work that belonged to The Streets. Mebbe it's why his other Gramma and I always got along so well and she never, ever, had problems with me, and, she Adored our Daughter. The Daughter belongs to The Streets too and has no Shame in her Game. Her and Lydia are so much alike, similar Mental Health Diagnosis too.
The Daughter can relate very much to Lydia, even tho' they're a Generation apart. She jokes that every actual Relationship they've ever had with someone, that person was trying to Play "Captain Save A Ho". In many ways the Two of them remind me of Female Comedian Luenell, whose very Open in her style of Comedy of belonging to The Streets. Luenell is a Comedian and Actress and if you've never caught her Act, you really should, she's absolutely HILARIOUS. "Town Business" is a Comedy Special MUST SEE. The Daughter and Lydia can be equally hilarious with their Stories about their Vida Locas... sometimes Comedy is born from a Life of Tragedy and Pain, coped with by a Wicked Sense of Humor and perspective about it all that is a Rare Gift to turn it into stuff folks can Laugh about, no matter how tragic. Even their worst Stories they can make hilarious Comedic Stories about in the telling of it.
I'd venture to say that us Crazy Folk often have some of the BEST Stories, coz you can't make that shit up!!! *Winks* You really can't, it's often unbelievable when WE think about what we've done or been thru and are still here! The Man likes to Joke that he's been thru many Wartime Situations, in a Special Forces Assignment way most of the time, so he got some Stories. And some of what I've been thru or been unafraid of having to go thru and moved thru without showing Fear, he would give Pause about himself. *LMAO* Seriously, I've taken him to Neighborhoods I've Lived and places I've done Ministry Work in and he's like, I wouldn't dare to go there if you weren't my Backup Honey. *Bwahahaha*
Every Decade when they did Census I'd Sign Up and got Paid handsomely to go do Census in the parts of the City, or where the peeps who Belong To The Streets are, that they couldn't get many to go Count them in. Yeah, I'm Crazy enuf to do it I guess. Mostly coz, some of them be my People. My Tribe, so to speak. *LOL* Some of them only have the misfortune of Living La Vida Loca all the time with no relief from it. I've been Homeless before and I've Owned and lived in a Million Dollar Listing. I been considered Rich and I been considered Poor, Rich is better. Sometimes and usually quite often actually, Poor isn't a Choice. Many who've never been Poor have no Point of Reference to know and realize that. Poverty tends to be a Hand Dealt that is very difficult to Escape out of. Just like Obscene Wealth is never Earned, no Billionaire every got to be one Working to 'Earn' it. Below Meme incapsulates how one obtains Billions.
I've found some good Memes lately, either from other Bloggers or from my Algorithm Feeds, which know me better than ya'll even do. *Winks* I don't mind the Algorithms, tho' I know how Sinister their development was intended for from a Psychological standpoint to exploit the masses of a Capitalist Society that has run amok and Worships the Almighty Dollar rather than any God. I always said, in my 1st Corporate Life in Banking, when I ran Collections, Foreclosures, and Bankruptcy Departments for Major Financial Institutions and protected their Interests in their Bad Loans, as a Fixer of what goes Wrong, and to mitigate Losses due to what went Wrong in that Industry's Portfolio of Loans... I didn't Care or Listen to what you TOLD me your Priorities were. All I had to do to KNOW what they were, is look at your Checkbook or your Financials.
If your Priorities were People First, then Money, then Things, it would reflect that Order of Priority... or any mixing around of the Three. EVERY time and without exception. Just like nothing sorts folks out quite like Trouble, which shakes 'em out EVERY time and without exception too. It's not Rocket Science at all. And when there's a Serious Societal "Problem" that hasn't been Fixed, ever... you almost always have to just Follow The Money... and it will explain Why... and Who is Involved in Leaving it that way and benefitting most from it Staying that way. All the Lip Service or Excuses trying to Spin it any other way is just pure Bullshit.
The Man has been spending most of the day being morose. Hard to know how to Cheer him up and navigate thru more limitations he's having to accept. Along with the rest of us trying to have some strategy to help him rehabilitate, if we can pull that off again? It has to be quite depressing and he's not one to Talk about stuff, he just doesn't and won't, he's always been a Man of few Words. But, I also can't run with a Generic "I don't Feel Good" complaint from him Daily, that isn't specific enuf to warrant yet another expensive Trip to the ER or Hospitalization either. If he won't drink his Water, his BP drops, he Hates Water and has been told for Years he MUST drink more of it to avoid Dehydration and Blood Pressure Issues. He doesn't wanna put in the Work to regain his Leg Strength coz it's Hard. But, if you don't Use it, you risk Losing it. And once Mobility is gone the decline tends to be rapid and compounding.
Plus, he does crave the Attention that "Not Feeling Well" has afforded him and one can become somewhat Addicted to all that personalized Attention and therefore resist trying to Be Well. I went thru that with my Mom, if she wanted Attention, she often Magnified her ailments or how she Felt, coz then everyone was making her the Center of Attention. And tho' both she and The Man had legit illness, magnifying it and exaggerating it can fail to incite pity and arouse only irritation after too many False Alarms. Not only for Loved Ones, but even for Medical Professionals. If someone is coming in too often for much ado about nothing, then you can miss something Serious becoz it's assumed it's another Cry of Wolf that didn't Warrant Emergency Care.
I got a Rotisserie Chicken for the Three of us Tonight for Dinner, and a Cheese Tray with Crackers for The Man, so now he's Happy as a Clam at High Tide again, no more Dramatics. I do monitor him closely to ensure his Health isn't crashing again, but most of the time he needs to just hydrate, put his Legs and Feet up to prevent Swelling, and do his minor Exercises to start building up Strength. Doing what he can and stopping when he can't, Simple as that. But nobody can do it FOR him, that's Self Work and you have to Motivate your own Self to reach Wellness with the Determination and Desire to Be Well, for as much as is possible or probable. In your 70's and beyond, shit is gonna start wearing out and breaking down, but, you can keep Active Mentally and Physically to try to stave off decline as much as is possible or probable for you. It's up to you.
The Rotisserie Chicken was really good from "Fry's" and like the ones we used to enjoy from "Boston Market" before they went Belly Up. I miss that Chain, I liked their Food. They had unpaid Taxes, unpaid Rent, unpaid Employees and Vendors, so had Lawsuits and Seizures, which led to mass Evictions. They had chaotic Management and didn't pivot as they should... but, Locally the Quality of their Food and Value was always exceptional compared to competitors. So, it's a shame to me they failed due to how they were being run and perhaps not being as popular as the crappier competitors, who had better Quality of how they Honored their Obligations and Strategies.
Severe Financial Issues and Corrupt and Poor Leadership can Tank any Business or any Country for that matter. We're seeing that in Real Time in America due to Poor and Corrupt Leadership. And nothing being 'Sold' to the American People at all, so they don't know what's going on, it changes constantly, coz this Administration doesn't seem to know what they're doing except Wreck everything and leave carnage in their wake while raking in record profits only for themselves thru how they're making every decision about a Long Con and Big Grift, or cozying up to Bad Actors who clearly are bribing them and Buying them, so, we know we're being Sold Out. If you don't you're naive.
Well, Alex, the New Guy, asked The Young Prince out Tonight, so now it's just The Man and I with the House all to ourselves. I'm REAL glad now I didn't accept that Shift and cancelled doing it. I wouldn't have had coverage for The Man and he can't be left Alone. Granted, one of the Kiddos would have taken one for the Team and cancelled their Plans to cover for me, but, now it wasn't necessary. I want them all to de-stress themselves from how Stressful everything has been for us all. They're all Young and Need to have Fun and do their own Thing and have a Life.
And then of coarse my Mind went to a couple of Friends of mine who are very ill and might have Passed or will be Passing soon, like my Friend Kathie in Texas, whose on Home Hospice. Or if all the Kiddos were okay and accounted for, since everyone had gone out last Night and everyone wasn't back Home yet. I'll have a Peace when everyone is accounted for. I'll keep you Posted, probably in the next Post, if someone did indeed Cross Over as it's been an Omen my Family Maternally Believe in. If you get a Phone Call or Knock on the Door at exactly 3:00 a.m., and nobody on the other End of the Call or Door, it means someone is gonna Die that day.
My thoughts went in too many directions to go back to Sleep tho'. My ADHD Mind kicks into hyperdrive when something creepy happens that is unexplained and just Weird and unsettling. If it's nothing, Fine, just a Weird coincidence and I don't want it happening again. Who wants some Mystery Call at Three in the damned Morning waking you out of a Sound Sleep too often??!!! Nobody ever!!! We'd gone to Bed early too since all the Kiddos were gone, so the House was so Quiet.
Anyway, except for Emergency Services I wouldn't think the City would have their Phones Manned at 3:00 a.m. either?! And, it's typically not a Time when a Spammer would try to contact you either really with telemarketing or the usual Spammy Call. Enough about that coz now it's past 6:00 a.m. and I have to be up for to take Princess T in to Work. As far as I know we have nothing on the Calendar Today and no Home Visits for The Man's Care. Expanded Services are needed, but it means you have to be Home all the time and keep your Days Open to receive them coming to the House. Often they don't have a specific arrival time, it's a Window of a few Hours, since, they have several Clients they go to, with Traffic and how long the other Client might need them to be there, it at least makes sense. Nurse Remi is usually the one closest to coming almost on the Dot of 11:00 a.m. every Tuesday, she's punctual, but spends a lot of time with The Man during any visit.
He really enjoys Nurse Remi and she has such a Maternal way about her that he listens to her advice and doesn't shut down. So, we joke that it's like he has Two Wives now looking out for him. *Bwahahahaha and Winks* It's a long standing Joke coz of The Man being LDS. Back when he first Married me I had Two Single Girlfriends that used to attend all the Sporting Events on Base that his Squadron held and played in. The Man was very Athletic back then so he was in all the Squadron Sports and all his Military Friends thought we ALL were his Wives and he played along with it. Most folks didn't know the difference between someone LDS and someone FLDS so they thought all Mormons had Polygamy. *LOL* So, my Friends Tina and Leigh played along and each of them had a Daughter, I had The Daughter and The Son, his Friends were like, you Mormons sure don't mind taking on all them little Kids!!! *LMAOROTF*
Some of my Friends Adopted Foreign Children of a different Ethnicity than they are. So, if you see a White Couple with a Child of Color, it doesn't always mean both Parents aren't Biological anyway, perhaps that Child(ren) were from a previous Relationship. My Kids aren't White and so quite often they'd be asked if The Man, who is White, was their "Real" Dad!? I was used to my Family being asked that a lot about me too, or if I was Adopted, coz my Parents were an Interracial Couple, and, I came out with the Light Hair. I had Dad's Darker Complexion, which I was Darker as a Child, but I was very Blonde and all the rest of my Family has Blue Black Hair, including my Younger Brother and Mom. And I didn't speak with an Accent like my Foreign Born Mom, whose 1st Language wasn't English. So, it would confuse people all the time.
Oddly, when Raising The G-Kid Force, most folks assumed we were already their Parents and not their Grandparents, which was just flattering really. *Smiles* At our Age it would have been nothing short of a Miracle for me to still be Breeding! I was Old and had a Hysterectomy! Even tho' Old Men can still Father Children. *Bwahahahahaha* And it took 15 Years before I was forced by the State to actually Adopt them and now can say, Yeah, I'm MOM, Legally, but, also, Gramma Really. And they still call their Mom their Mom, tho' "Legally" now she's their Sister and their Uncle is now their Brother... but Grandpa is still their Grandpa coz he wasn't allowed to Adopt coz of his TBI and Disability Status. *Ha ha ha*
They have never called me Mom, I'm still Gramma. The Adoption to us was a formality forced upon us by the State and the ever changing Laws about Kinship Placements, but not actually necessary in our opinion. We'd always had them and Raised them, regardless of our Societal "Labels". Now that all of them are Adults, people just get more confused when they're calling me Gramma in Public or calling their Mom their Mom. Still flattering tho' coz we're always told we don't look Old enuf to be that to them. The G-Kid Force Point out peeps looking and acting way more Geriatric than me, holding the Hand of a Toddler who IS their Oldest Grandchild, and saying, well, Gramma, that's Why! They could be Right. I've mistaken some Old Folks Grandkids for being their Great-Grandkids, Oooops. Coz in my Head the Math isn't adding up as to how they Look way Old to have Grandkids that Young still, when ours are Adults already and sometimes this Gramma is much Older than me.
No, Seriously, if someone is in their 70's or 80's I expect their Grandkids to be Grown now, not a Toddler. So, see, I'm making my own inaccurate assumptions. *Smiles* I do hear that many Grandparents say they can't keep pace with their Grandkids for more than an Hour or Two and I have to Laugh since I Raised some of mine. So, was with them 24-7 and 365 and I kept pace, when you have to, you just do and don't have the option of Tapping Out and handing them back early if you've had enuf fun. *Ha ha ha* But, now mine are Grown and we're in Great-Grandkid Territory, I know I'd lag some for the Long Haul with a Little One.
Tho', Oddly, the Teen Ones don't bother me as much as Teens could in the Past. Teens can have so much going on Hormonally that it can be like Dealing with a Menopausal Woman or a Man going thru Midlife Crisis. *Winks* And wrapping up this Post, Below is a Drone View looking down on our Property, looks so purdy from Above... we're so fortunate to Own this Property, we Love it. It's a rarity to have this much Personally Owned Green Space and Land in Urban Metro Phoenix Area Arizona. And finishing out the final Chapter of Life here is Good.
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Blessings, Love and Light from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian
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