August 8th - At home

Woke up this morning to Bob's grandpop's call at 9, saying he was "ready to go anytime" and Bob could come and pick him up any time now. Bob had arranged with him earlier this week that he would pick him up at 12:00. I guess Grandpop didn't want to take up Bob's day, or wait any longer, since he probably gets up at 5AM.

See, Bob had to take his grandfather to Cherry Hill to get something straightened out with the birthdate the social secrutity people got wrong. He wrote them because the insurance company denied a claim because the birthdates didn't match w/ what they had from social security (stupid reason). It was obviously a clerical error, and they needed him to show his birth certificate and other important documents so they could change it with social security. What did they tell him when he wrote? They wrote him back and told him it was stuck like that, they couldn't change it in the computer (as if the computer has some giant padlock with a mind of its own) and instead he is now supposed to GO BY THE WRONG BIRTHDATE. Seriously. The 78-year-old man is supposed to, in essence, get a new birthday. This is elder abuse, people. They should be reported. To who, I don't know, since they ARE the government. Sick. So he went down there w/ Bob, and it took very little time to straighten it out. He plays the sweet, confused, little old man very well. Mostly because that's him in a nutshell. They probably just needed the documents in person and didn't want to be bothered. Sick sick sick, these people.

More and more now I'm reminded that my and Bob's grandparents are getting older, weaker, sicker, and in worse shape, money-wise. I was born with 3 living great-grandparents. That I know of. My dad and his dad haven't spoken since Dad was 18 or so, so who knows, there. Never met the man, my real paternal grandfather. No big loss, from what I've been told. S But just Great-grandfather & Great-grandmother Uber and Gramy were around when I was born. I don't remember Great-grandfather Uber, we only saw him a few times, less than once a year, and he died my first day of Kindergarten. Gramy was really close by and really close to the family, and she died when I was 8. She played with us kids and sewed things for us. I had this stuffed rabbit that I brought to school and some kid named Derek ripped the arm off of. Gramy sewed it back on , and I remember after she died I wouldn't let anybody else fix the arm when it got loose again. Great-grandmother Uber hung on till I was a freshman in college. Smoked like a chimney, too. One of those tough Philly broads (brawds). It's funny, we would go visit her in the nursing home, her son (my Pappy), Grandmom, Mom, Cait, and me, and I was the only one she would recognize. It's the hair, it always is.
It's just nice to think that our girl will be born will all 8 (knock wood) great-grandparents. In relatively good states of mental capacity. Relatively. Some of them come and go, it seems. Some of them, if you talk to their kids, were never 'all there' to begin with. ;-)

I was supposed to get the whole house cleaned today, because tomorrow we're going to the shore - we ARE going to go this time, I swear - and then my mom's coming to visit on Thursday, and we have to go shopping Thursday morning before she gets there. So today was cleaning day. Now, not that cleaning didn't happen, but I certainly won't be getting any awards for it. I'm noticing dirt more and more, I think it's that nesting thing people talk about. Seriously, close to the hinge side of the doorframe, under the door in the bathroom, I noticed today that the tiles are dirty. I actually got on my hands and knees and scrubbed the BACK of the toilet and the floor behind it. The floor hadn't been done in weeks, it needed it, believe me. But the back of the toilet? What am I, nuts? And it's still not good, at least not to me. I still see dirty along the trim and the vent when I'm in there...and I used to care about 0% about that, now it suddenly needs cleaned.

The spirit is willing. And this cleaning would all get done if the flesh were not disgustingly weak and whiney. I had a headache all day, I was SO sleepy, and my knees hurt from kneeling on the tile floor of the bathroom scrubbing things that have never needed scrubbed before but needed it today. I tried twice to take a nap, once I realized I had to check my sugar and eat a snack right then, and once my mother called to chat, so there wen that idea. But mom did tell me that she won't be here till later on Thursday, buying me more time to clean.

My mother must think I don't know how to clean. Well, she's always had that attitude, to tell you the truth. NEVER was the job I did of cleaning the bathroom or dusting the living room ever good enough. I always missed something. I'll say it again: "A clean house is a sign of a wasted life." She keeps talking about how she's going to come after the baby is born and "clean for me". Riiiiiiiight. Not help with the baby, let us get some sleep, run to the grocery store, show me exactly how an aspirator works, throw in a load of laundry so we have clean crib sheets? No, she wants to clean my damn house. Um, there's a new infant in the house. Bob still has to work 40 hours a week. We probably won't be getting any sleep. We have no clue what to do with an infant. Diapers, nursing, sleeping, dressing, bathing, signs of health trouble, I know nothing. Can't we PLEASE just let the dust bunnies breed in peace for 2 weeks or so while someone who's had a kid before tells me what to do??? I mean, I know she means well, but who the hell can relax while their mother scrubs their floors? (attatch whatever emotional baggage fits your situation - she's older, she's not in good health, she has a bad knee, etc.) Thanks mom.

I did clean the bathroom today (including the medicine cabinet, another thing that's never been scrubbed out before. Hello, nesting instincts). Straightened & dusted the bedroom and guest room, and dusted the living room and family room (sort of. My style of dusting when I'm tired is "will dust show? No? Then it's not getting dusted!") I DID vacuum the pool, but I actually enjoy that, and I wanted to go swimming since it was deceptively hot today. Max appreciated the pool break as well.

"See, 80's is not a genre. 80's is a time period." ~ Bob

I learn something new every day. Bob's going to stay up all night reorganizing our 3,512 music files. I'm going to hit the hay.