My Aunt Cherry called me yesterday afternoon. She's my Dad's sister, and I don't think she has ever called me before. I hardly ever see her, in fact. She was calling to say that she knows my Dad has been wanting to come up to visit us for a long time, but every time he makes plans, they fall through. The fact is, he can't really drive himself all the way up here, and he has to depend on my little brother for rides.
A few days ago I called my Dad and told him I'd buy him a ticket to ride the train. He gave a number of excuses, reasoning why he couldn't possibly do that. None of it made any sense to me, and we left it alone. He says he wants to come up, that he will soon, etc. I know he does, and that he will. I just figured he was being lazy and noncommittal.
After talking to Cherry yesterday, I realized that my Dad is getting frail�more than I ever care to think about. His eyesight is too poor to drive long distances, and he fears traveling alone on the train. It makes me sad to realize this. P and I talked about one of us driving down and just bringing him back with us for a few days. Then driving him home again. A lot of driving, but that might be the only way to get him here. Kind of impractical, but no more than all of us going down there and having to stay in a motel while we're there.
So anyway, Cherry offered to drive over the Pass, pick him up, and then drive him up here. I was surprised! And grateful. She hadn't talked to him about this plan yet, and said she'd call me this morning to let me know if they would be coming. I really hope they are.
Today I am making a big pot of bean and ham soup, using the leftover Day-After-Christmas ham. I think I look forward to the soup more than the actual ham dinner. There are few things in this world as good as my bean and ham soup!
We had a gusty windstorm here yesterday, but we never lost our power for more than a few seconds. We were lucky -- the folks at the Quickie Mart down the street said the entire downtown area where we live was dark. Speaking of this particular Quickie Mart� there's a little hole-in-the-wall pizza place right next door, and a drycleaner right next door to that. We frequent all three of these establishments on very regular basis. It is not unusual for one of us to pick up the drycleaning while waiting for a pizza, then stop in and get sodas and/or beer to go with the pizza. All in one stop. Can't beat it, really. That's what we did for dinner last night.
Today we shall clean house. It needs it. I drew bathroom duty. P drew carpets, floors, and kitchen duty. Seem inequitable? We have 3.5 bathrooms. That's 4 toilets, 5 sinks, 4 mirrors, 3 tubs and showers, 4 floors. It works out.
If it weren't for the layout of this house (3 story SF style townhouse), I think we could easily do without 2 of the bathrooms. As it is, though, they all get used, and they all get dirty. It's insanely hard to keep this house clean. If I were still working full time, there is no doubt that a cleaning service would be hired to come in once a week.
Time to scrub. I'm already grossed out. Where are my rubber gloves?
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