It was not a dark and stormy night but this is where my life super-changed.
My Grandfather died last November. He was 89 and I was right there. Totally, it does suck, but it was strangely OK then and remains so. However, he left behind my now 92 year-old Grandmother who refuses to move in with either of her daughters, one of them being my 72 year-old Mother.
Everyone assumed she’d move in with my Mother. Not so much. Imagine the following. She moved from her father’s house, to her horribly abusive first-husband’s house and, finally, to the house of the only Grandfather on my mother’s side that I’ve ever known. She had never lived alone. Ever.
When asked about moving in with my Mother (or my Aunt), she railed, “Are you drunk right now? I’m sorry he’s gone but I’m having fun being by myself!” And she is! She’s doing great!
However, she’s able to do so because my Mom does myriads of things for her every single day and my Mother is dreadfully overweight bordering on obesity and has mobility issues of her own. I should mention that my Grandmother fits exactly that image of the sweet little, old lady. She, in fact, is a very sweet and charming little, old lady with a wicked sense of humor but who is so Goddamn demanding in almost every way, it’d make your head swim. She’s a handful even for a team of professionals.
We don’t have a single team of professionals. Not a one. We have my Mother. My Aunt isn’t a factor, sadly. She’s the baby as well as the under-performing sibling who has no problem letting my Mom, the over-performing sibling, do all the heavy lifting. In order to prevent my Mother from dropping dead from exhaustion and/or from committing matricide, I compensate for my Aunt by spending about half my time at home in Charlotte and the other half in Lexington. The rage I feel toward my Aunt comes and goes. I think I’m getting closer to accepting things as they are.
Where’s my brother, you say? Being a shit and not helping me even a smidge. In our ecosystem, he’s the under-performing sibling (as well as the baby) and I’m the over-performing stooge who wants to break his neck. But, again, I think I’m getting closer to accepting things as they are.
When I make the eight-hour trek up there, I usually pack for a month’s long stay and have three — usually stinky — canines in tow in the back seat. Thank God for station wagons! Even still, it’s a lot of trouble but I have to do it and, despite the resentments, I do so gladly. I like my Grandmother and I like my Mom and want them to hang out with me on this planet for as long as possible. I never take my PS4, though. I wanna and I could fit it but I’d never have time. Seriously, my Grandmother has me on the move very nearly around the clock throughout the day. “I just got back from Costco and now you’re telling me you need me to go back to Costco to get bananas? At 4:35 PM?! You know how easy it’d be for me to kill you, right? You are very tiny. Literally, I could kill you dead in about, I dunno, less than a minute?” Our relationship allows us to talk to each like that. As I say, she has a fierce sense of humor but, duh, she also drives me insane.
On top of all of the above, I’m also starting my own business. I provide private computer tutoring on Apple products to, well, ladies who lunch. I charge an obscene amount for my services and I truly enjoy what I do. It’s what I did for seven years while working for Apple so it ain’t no thang. I feel very fortunate in this regard but what this means, though, is that even when I’m at home, I have very little time. You’ll gain a greater understanding of the lack of time thing a few paragraphs down.
But wait! There’s more! About six to eight weeks ago, the HD on my PS4 died, dammit. So, yay for that! I was trying to logon to FFXIV and the entire system started acting just a little bit wonky; then, I heard The Sound. I hate that sound. I’ve been meaning to order the replacement kit from OWC but just haven’t gotten around to it yet.
Lastly, as some of you know, my right hand, my number one… she’s dying. Her name is Paige and she has advanced kidney disease. We learned this just a little over two weeks ago. Many things that were priorities no longer are. She could die in a coupla weeks or, if we’re super-lucky, it could be in the area of eight months. She’s nine years-old and the likelihood of her reaching ten is far-fetched. My gut says I will have my sweet, sweet girl for two more months. Just speculation, but I can kinda feel it. I was a mess for about a week but I’m now in a better place.
Last week, a friend of mine and I and our collective pack spent a couple of days hiking in Pisgah National Forest and it was just what the doctor ordered, both for humans and canines alike. I’ve slowly been posting photos in an iCloud Album. As soon as I’m finished, I’ll post the URL.
Because I’m able to set my own hours, I’m able to spend as much time with her as I want. I even take her to the office when I’m working. Any prospective, new Student Clients are asked about allergies to dogs and if they provide an affirmative response, I apologize and refer them elsewhere. That’s just the way it is.
You have no idea how much I miss all of you, mmm… most of you and can’t wait to visit FFXIV as soon as my stupid console gets fixed.
For those of you who don’t mind showing yours if I show you mine, catch me at
r—0—b—b—i—e—h—0—w—e—l—l—a—t—m—a—c—d—0—t—c—0—m (Ditch the dashes and change the zeros back to o’s.)
Otherwise, hit me up on Twitter. I’m not there nearly as much as I used to be but I try to get on at least once every couple of weeks. Sometimes, more, sometimes, less.
I’m over-the-moon to have heard from those of you who’ve reached out to me. Thank you. It means a lot. I’ve been a shitty friend. I know it. You know it. So, c’mon… No reason to whitewash anything. However, even though I’ve been a shitty friend, I think you’ll agree that my reasons are pretty compelling. Nevertheless, I offer each of you my sincerest apology.
Lastly, I’d truly love to hear from all of you! It may take a while to get caught up fully with each of you, but I’ll take that action over nothing.
PS. If anyone knows how to get my animated GIF’s to move on Tumblr, please let me know! It’s making me crazy! You’re missing out on my awesome dogs!
PPS. “Game of Thrones” rules all and if you disagree, you will get cancer and die.