Monday, March 31, 2008

The Excellent Adventures of Momma and Granmmy

The last 55 hours have been... well.. how about I let you decide what adjective to use.

Friday plan to leave for an 8 hour drive to help my elderly Aunt pack up the house she has lived in for over 30 years to move into an assisted living facility.

Arranged to borrow a truck from a friend- think a cute little 2 seater with a jump seat.. strike that.. think a small burley manly truck used mostly for farm chores.

Laughter was, the only thing that got us through.. one of my favorites was my mother accusing me of going 175 miles an hour and that it made her nervous. I assured her that I was only comfortable at about 125 mph, and that frankly I thought after about 100, the doors would fall off.

Being a farm truck, well, the truck doesn't have all the amenities one might hope for, I was perfectly happy, but it seems my Mother's seat belt stuck in 2 positions only- tight and even tighter. I kept insisting it was user error, and that she was making it tight, and she kept insisting this could not possibly be the case, and at one point could not reach down to grab her purse to pay for the toll without undoing the seat belt. I think my laughter including tears are her predicament was not what she was looking for when she asked for help, but I thought I was being a great help!

In packing, my Aunt has some odd, odd stuff, some of it pretty cool, some of it down right scary, I threw out a can of Cream of Shrimp Soup that expired in 1993. We found a little figurine that looks something like what would happen if Precious Moments baseball player figurine mated with Chucky.

Then of course there was the 5 am stop at Walmart to get rope to tie down the tarp for the return trip home as after a glorious 50 degree it started to rain cats and dogs and sailors and midgets. Now, at 5 am, I am guessing rope isn't one of the things people usually go to Walmart for, at least that is my guess based on the looks I got (for future reference- rope is in the automotive section, not the hardware section). To make matters worse, I had to go back in and ask them to cut the little ropes off that were holding the big ropes together. Yes, I have ropes to tie someone up, but no sharp or blunt objects- I am a menace to society!

The dog? How did he do? He was wonderful, always near my side, never letting me out of his sight, sleeping on the air mattress with me (which I don't recommend.. a twin air mattress.. a dog and me) how we both didn't end up on the floor is a miracle. But this morning when I took him out to go to the bathroom, I brought a load of stuff out to the truck... after relieving himself, he jumped into the car and would not budge until we drove out the drive way on our way back home.

The adventure has ended, we survived, we laughed and my Aunt is packed and ready to move... now I just need some sleep...

1 comment:

Grammie said...

In my defense, I must say that when one's child laughs so hard she is crying, it is difficult to believe that she is trying to "help."
Yes, it was an excellent adventure - a trip for not good reasons but just delicious time with "Momma." Love it!!!