Chop Stix

I leave town for a day or two and Mike and Mom go shopping.

Loved every minute!


What they bought wouldn't fit in a shopping cart.

What they purchased was only practical to get because Mike was here to help unload the thing!

Hint...
Liberace had several..


A little less bling please.



More like this.

I don't think anyone is surprised that Mom bought a piano on a whim.... (Chickering of course)
The dude is coming to tune it tomorrow... I hope she takes requests!
 I'm gonna get Bella some lessons.

Topher who?

Topher and Josh left yesterday.. We play like we miss them, but Mike is driving out tomorrow so we can look forward to that.

Topher will be back next month.

Then next month we also have Rhone and Company headed our way.
That equals two houses full of people to love.

And babies too!

Dad spends more and more time tired and sleeping. He can't visit as much as he would like.
Mom loves having her kids come hang out and keep her smiling.... Since Dad doesn't eat much, she will have new victims, loved ones to feed.

Last week, Dad was feeling pretty icky.
But yesterday he seemed a little better, he even wanted to get out of the house a little.
So off to our favorite casino! Where we all came out with a little extra cash in our pockets.


LIKE!

While Dad was resting we found a park.. we love parks.
And in the summer heat, they are light on children!
Kids on the playground just ruin a good time!

Ouch! The worst slide ever.

I'm hiding! You can't find me..

Ride 'em cowboy.






Last night the boys spent the night on The Strip.
Bella must have missed them.

Wonder if they will notice all the cat hair when they pack up today?

Potty Mouth

The thing about Topher is, everything has a double meaning and everything sounds dirty to him.
He also has a contagious potty mouth.


I try to keep it somewhat clean... not really.
But it is more than disturbing when Mom and Dad catch the lingo.
Because I never want to hear Mom say V-jay jay again... Josh came up with the brilliant idea of making a Bingo type chart.



I edited the real words for this family blog.

We decided, (Topher, Josh and I.. not The Teenagers)
That if they get bingo they have to go to church!


But who will supervise?

The only flaw in our plan is... none of us are willing to go with them and make sure they attend.

Note to self: Hide the bingo card when hospice nurse visits.


I think that word is on the list.



Whew.

Could be worse, they could be going around saying "Oh my heck!"



Fun with Tophers phone.

Today we took Dad scuba diving.

And if you believe that, we also..........

 took this ornery creature.

Actually, we got Dad all signed up for hospice.

No more waiting forever in the damn doctors office for Dad.

He went yesterday so he could get a referral.. they made him wait 2 hours to get in.. (That is with a appointment.)





Now Mom can get rid of all the red tape that comes with caring for him.

We are good with what they had to offer and the attitude that they have.

It has been great having Topher here.. We can even get Dad to smile with our inappropriate remarks and antics.

Look what I found

Some bargains are better than others!

30% off!!! I will take one!



When I picked him up I was amused to find we dressed as twins that morning.
Totally by chance.

As Dad rested, we went exploring... Found a new park!


There were too many kids playing on the playground, so we just strolled around with Mom.

Too damn hot to hit the slide anyway!  Stupid kids.



Score! A scummy pond with turtles!... I think they keep it dirty to discourage Udells from jumping in.

Hey You! Yes you, stop pooping on the sidewalk.

It would be a great place to take Dad for a wheelie walk.. but the crap on the sidewalk would be way gross...   

Tons of Canada Geese... They are okay but they have some gross habits.

And they sound funny.

And they get too close looking for food.

Down right creepy!

 

Yawn..........


Topher again?
Hope I remember how to get to the airport.

I really do.

I am glad that I get to pick him up!
I will be happy to do it anytime......


Bella, on the other hand, needs to get ready for Tophers favorite game 'Stuff on my cat"

It's not a dirty word.

Hospice.
Before Grandma got frail, I always had a picture in my head of hospice.
Rows of bed with pale people, a grouchy old nurse in uniform administering huge volumes of morphine.
A depressing word with sad images popping into my head.


Soup? Can anyone eat this gruel?

It's not that way.
Mostly gregarious nurses, who know what to say and what to do.
Visiting the home and making sure all is as good as it can be, given the grim circumstance.

No gruel for you.. and a puppy too!

So we are going to look into getting them involved this week.
But it doesn't mean we are going to put him in a room and forget about the guy.


It will make Moms life easier.. they take care of prescriptions, make sure he is hydrated, check his blood pressure, that sort of thing.
Bit of piece of mind.
No surprise if Moms life and worries are eased, then that makes Dads life lighter.

Every little bit helps.

Many of us have felt the joy of opening the mail box and finding a card from Mom.
It's not your birthday or Christmas, a random Tuesday.
Yay! A check, just because!

It's from Mom!

I get annoyed when I see celebrities showing us what do gooders they are.

What's a camera crew? Why do I have to wait for them? I'm kinda  hungry now.

So yesterday the dude who has done odd jobs for the teenagers shows up at the door.
Minutes from eviction, he pleads for a odd job.
Mom, the bleeding heart, gives him enough cash to cover his rent and a extra twenty.
He has promised to scrape and paint the trim on the Sutter house.


"What if he is scamming you?" I ask.  Always the skeptic.
"What if he's not? Anyway I feel better knowing I have helped."
The guy gives most his money to the pharmaceutical companies helping keep his son with AIDS alive. 

Cost money to stay alive guys!

These are the lessons my parents are still teaching me...

Peeping Peeps

We decided to head for the hills again.
Armed with Benadryl and a full tank of gas we headed north in search for cooler air.... and to catch a glimpse of the great Mount Charleston Neon Peep pines.


These trees are nice but a little boring.

After hours of looking we stumbled upon our prize.



Mom and Marti found it.. .How could I have missed that?

 Not only had we found the perfect Peep Pine.
We found Peephenge!

Such a mystery.. where did they come from?



How do they grow such marshmallow perfection?



Wait a minute!




You twi think you can fool me?



What? I didn't do anything.



I don't think Dad bought it either.