Home Invasion

[copied from dland]

Yes, the ILs were here today. Long day. Let me recap for you:

I finished my cleaning this morning, which was good because I found out last night they were coming at 12:30, which in IL-speak means 12:00. Like K and I, the ILs are compulsively early people.

When they arrived, the FIL managed to get into the house -- his mobility is severely limited -- and parked in a chair in the living room and pretty much stayed there. So we all sat in the living room, which we almost never do. Living room seating consists of a couch that used to be the Sibs', two cushy club chairs, and one uncomfortable cane-backed chair (where the FIL sat); all three chairs are formerly my parents'. The MIL left around 12:45 to go to the baby shower she came up here for, and then ... eternity set in. The Hubs and his father were supposed to be going to visit the Hubs' uncle (FIL's brother-in-law) and cousin, but Uncle Al, slightly addled and pretty much stone deaf, forgot to call until after 2:00 to report that his son had arrived and they should go over there. So until then, the Hubs, K, and I rotated in and out of the living room, keeping the FIL company and listening to his endless stories. He is perfectly sharp and clear of mind, but he is painstakingly sloooooooooooow in everything he does. I don't know if he was always this way or it's due to his age. He also repeats the same stories to each new listener, even if there's one new listener in the room and everyone else has already heard him ad infinitum. But he is a dear, despite all that.

They headed out, R arrived, she and K and I went to the supermarket, the afternoon passed. When we got home, the Hubs and the FIL were already back, and ensconced in the family room. The only place the FIL can sit in here is in my desk chair, which I know and is where I expect him to sit when he comes. But the family room is down two steps from the kitchen, so once again, getting in and out is a chore for him. Handicap + slow = shoot me now.

Then the MIL returned, and we hung out until it was time to meet the SIL and her husband for dinner at 6:00. The real mercy here is that since the ILs had to be in our area anyway, dinner was about a mile from our house; in fact, at a restaurant virtually right behind the house the ILs lived in when they lived here until they moved to the Jersey shore (aka Where All The Old People In New Jersey Live.)

Somehow, the wait staff at the restaurant must have picked up on the FIL's vibe because OH GOD WHERE THEY SLOW. The food was very good, though, and the Hubs only lost his temper ... oh, let me see, I think three times. What can I say. This is why I don't take him anywhere, but I figure if we're with his parents, let them worry about it. Generally, his mother is the only one who will ever tell him to cut it out, but when she does, he loses it more, so he pretty much has her trained not to do that anymore, either. But I digress.

We parted at the restaurant, after reminding the ILs to call us when they get home -- heh heh, they always do that to us when we leave them -- and didn't get home until after 8:00, at which point I became distracted by every shiny object that crossed my path. I had Things to do, yet first I became charmed by an email from eBay about Bare Escentuals, that makeup over which I am passionate, and I got caught up in that for a while, and went into the bathroom to see what color blush I use but stopped to ask the Hubs if he wanted to talk to his mother when she calls -- he never answers the phone unless he's alone in the house, even if he knows it's his mother calling -- and forgot to ask him because I saw he was sitting in his little study in one of the living room club chairs and wondered when he had moved it because I know I had been sitting in it earlier today and also I had stopped in the living room on my way to the bathroom to lock the front door and hadn't even noticed that it wasn't there and he said he had moved it 12 seconds ago and had never noticed until today that these were comfortable chairs and I said didn't he think they were comfortable when he saw my father sitting in one 24/7 for years when they were in my parents' living room and then he said Oh, he had sat in them before. (breathe.) Anyway, I think I told him years ago to put one in his study because he's never had a comfortable chair in there and needed one. But now, of course, he will never buy a new chair for that room, because this one is as good as new, and new was in 1961, when they still built furniture to last. And anyway, my mother had the chairs totally re-upholstered twice over the years, so they're solid as a rock -- the insides, I mean; they're very comfortable -- and the fabric's in good shape, too.

[Just got the phone call; they're safely home.]

In the meantime, there is never anything on TV on Saturday night, except the pubic TV station is always running oldies concerts, most of which I pass on, but tonight is all British invasion groups and singers, and I am loving it. Every singer looks older than dirt, but they sound exactly the same. At the moment, "Go Now" is being sung by god knows who, because it's a Moody Blues song and these are not the Moodies, but I think it's the Moodies' original lead singer, who thought the group was going nowhere so he quit to be a solo performer and the Moodies put an ad in the paper for a guitarist and they got Justin Hayward and the rest is history. If you're a fan of Moody Blues history, that is. I don't think of them as an old-timey group (although they were a serious part of my brief stoner phase in college), since I've seen them live about a half dozen times over the last 15 years.

And what are the chances that a person is going to hear "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" twice in one day? It's on my new CD mix and came on in the car and K said "Who is this?" and I said "Gerry and the Pacemakers" and she laughed and thought I made it up. ("Pacemaker" as a medical device didn't even exist when this group was big, big being a relative term.) And of course it was just on the show on TV and Gerry is old, man. I think I'm glad I missed Peter and Gordon; I seriously loved them when I was a kid although Gordon gave me a bit of the creeps. Chad and Jeremy, now there was an adorable duo.

I had wine with dinner, but you can't tell or anything, right?

If you're wondering what dieters eat at an Italian restaurant, the answer is apparently Penne Bolognese, which was excellent. As was the Pasta Fagioli, which put me right over my points goal for the day. But I didn't have any bread, and only put vinegar on my salad.

My distraction issue seems to have resolved itself; now I can't stop writing and trust me, I've run out of anything to say, unless you want to know that I'm making a Tuna Noodle Casserole tomorrow for the first time since about 1968 (when I last helped my mother make one.) I don't even know if I have a casserole dish in the house.

Jeeps, folks, I have got to quit this. I still have to figure out what color blush to order, and it's already past my bedtime. Or not. I am seriously perceptually impaired when it comes to Daylight Savings Time. I double-checked with the Hubs before when I changed my alarm clock. I know, spring forward, but I still don't always get it right.

GOOD NIGHT!


WATCHING PBS BRITISH BANDS :: ENTRY #1397