Twofer

Mom called me twice today! In her first call, she wanted a work and weather report.

Work: The kids and I went over again this morning. Perry has finished painting in the living room, so we helped pull off tape and paper, dusted, and replaced furniture. Dug some more post holes. Removed cabinet fronts and pulls in kitchen. Started stripping wallpaper in kitchen. Watered. Watered. Watered.

Weather: Same. Hot and dry. Record drought continues. (See watering info above.)

She told me how she was enjoying her time in Idaho. She talked with Karis and told her, "I'm in heaven!" But then Mom asked Karis if she was going to be back at the house Wednesday night. She wanted to be sure her roommate was on board. :)

Mom called a second time as we were on the way home from her house. Loren had been teasing her and she wanted to make sure we were not putting pictures back up on the newly painted walls! So funny. She has been very adamant about not returning any pictures to the walls, so of course we hadn't hung any up. But she wanted to check.

Mom insists it is time for her to come home. It did occur to me today that Mom doesn't really need cabinet fronts in order for her kitchen to be functional. So, if Perry doesn't get the doors sanded, bondoed (how do you spell that?), painted, and replaced by next Wednesday night, it will be okay.

Really, I know that I should stop worrying about this and just let the chips fall as they may. None of this, from the remodel to the trip to the return, none of it has been my idea. Why do I feel like I need to run around and make things work out right? I dunno. I'm the baby of the family, for crying out loud! I'm supposed to shirk responsibility, right? I don't know what my problem is.

Details

I will pick Mom up at the airport next Wednesday at 6:09. She will be flying alone, at her own insistence. Carrie arranged for wheelchair/cart assistance at each gate, but I don't know if Mom will use them. When I have flown with her in the past year, she has waved off assistance. Maybe it will be different when traveling alone? We'll see.

And now I see that it is my turn to struggle with delighting in Mom's presence. I feel so jerked around by her plans and expectations that yesterday when she called, it was hard to be happy to talk with her. She wanted to know if it was still hot and dry here. (Yes.) She wanted to know if Nate was watering as she had instructed or if I was doing it. (I am. I don't know what she thought he would do for hours at her house while watering her grass, trees, and plants. I don't know how she thought a 14yo boy would get to her house.) She wants Perry to work faster so her kitchen and fence will be finished for her return. (Perry is a one-man-show. He is good, not fast. Mom knows this. And my kids are building the fence, learning as they go.)

It is even hard to be happy about seeing her again. I will need a big attitude adjustment by next Wednesday night. Good thing God specializes in those.

Here's a Mom funny. Dave is out of town, working on his doctorate at Talbot. I was trying to work out with the kids how I would handle taking the Camry in to get the wheels aligned. At one point I suggested I could walk over to Mom's house from the car shop and work over there while waiting for the car. Meg looked at me and said in a reproachful tone, "Mom, you are acting like Grandma." I laughed, came up with a more sane plan, and told my kids that would be a good catch phrase for when I am being unreasonable!

And Now

Mom wants to come home.

Not right away. But not when the kitchen work is done either. She wants to come home next Wednesday. She says a little kitchen remodel will not bother her.

And she wants to fly home. Alone.

End of discussion. (What discussion?)

So I guess that's what she'll do. Mom is having dear sil Carrie make the arrangements. I'm waiting to hear the final details.

Idaho Update

Mom is safely ensconced in Idaho. My sister-in-law Carrie laid in the steaks, fish, fresh fruits and veggies, oatmeal, grapefruit, and bread from the bakery. Yesterday when I checked in, Carrie said Mom and Loren were huddled around the radio. Today, she told me they were off walking in the woods. And tonight my nephew Zane graduates from high school. Pretty sweet stuff.

Speaking of sweet stuff, Carrie and I have decided that when Mom moves on to heaven, the only suitable thing for us to do will be to get tattoos. We would like to have the family motto, "Everything's Fine", immortalized in ink. Being a traditional girl, I was thinking of something like this:



A heart for Mom, a heart for Dad, and the family motto on the banner. Whaddya think? Who's in?

ETA: I really like this one too, but would modify with two hearts.



Postscript: I ordered the acrylic stamp from Etsy today. :)

What Has God Been Teaching You?

At worship team practice Wednesday night, our worship pastor asked, "What has God been teaching you this week?" Well, funny thing. After Mom left Sunday with Loren, I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. Honestly, it hurts my feelings that my mom does not want to spend time with me. I know, I know, I've said this before; it is nothing new. It's just how I feel.

She needs me.
She thanks me for taking care of business for her.
She does really nice things for me, like willing my family her house.
But she doesn't especially like being with me.

And it is such a huge contrast when she is with Loren. She is delighted, happy, giddy. She smiles and smiles. She trusts him implicitly and his word is gold. It's not that I begrudge her happiness; I just wish that she could be happy with me too.

So, as I mentioned, I was a little bummed over the whole relationship situation. As I named my emotions and faced my feelings, God let me know He understood. And then He gently pointed out that often He feels that way too, because I treat Him the same way.

I need Him.
I thank Him for what He does for me.
I do nice things for Him and faithfully give.
But I don't especially like being with Him.
Bottom line, I don't delight myself in spending time with Him.

So, yeah, ouch. Nothing like examining a hurtful relationship and finding it a mirror. *sigh* The good news is that God doesn't give up. He keeps pursuing me even when I hurt his feelings. His love for me is so much better, so much finer, so much stronger than even my love for my mom. I could take a page from His book. And maybe I should do that!

Onward and Upward

Last night Mom and Loren stayed in Missoula, Montana. Mom slept for twelve hours and then the Dynamic Duo started on the last leg of their journey. You can't do this in Texas in June!



(That's Mom throwing snowballs, Loren says.)

While still in Wyoming, the Terrible Twosome stopped at Little Big Horn.



What a gorgeous day!

Dave said all these shots of Mom at various tourist attractions remind him of that Travelocity commercial where the garden gnome shows up in vacation pictures. I was thinking more along the lines of Flat Stanley.

Anyhoo, Loren said that yesterday Mom told him she would like to stay in Idaho until Perry finishes painting the kitchen. I was thinking along those same lines last night when I asked Perry for a guesstimate timeline. And that's when I found out that Perry and Noelle are leaving for Spain on June 20. So, finished or not, June 20 is a pretty good stopping point to plan on. Or Mom could wait in Idaho until we take our driving tour in July. I guess we'll take things one day at a time.

Where's Ma?

Well, last night around sunset she was at Mt. Rushmore.



Mom and Loren spent the night in Rapid City, South Dakota, and the last I heard at 10:00 this morning, they were in Wyoming. Crazy!