Buzzzzzzzz...

Today after work CC and I went to visit one of those Beehive Communities.  Otherwise known as assisted living.  My grandmother has talked about one for a while and CC's mother needs a little help, but otherwise is capable of independent living.

They are actually pretty nice.  They are not nursing homes.  They do not smell.  They have supervisory staff 24/7.  I get the name now.  They essentially have some central areas, tv room, kitchen, dining, activity room but they also have some space of their own.  All of the rooms are off of the main areas and halls.  Just like a beehive. You can have your own cable tv in your room, phone, etc.  They all come with their own private baths.  The rooms do have different sizes to accommodate married couples, sisters, etc.

No one is forced to socialize.  You can keep to yourself in your room as much as you want without anyone bothering you.  You can also participate in all of the available activities as well.  It's pretty much an all inclusive thing.  Food, personal care, utilities etc. is all covered.  No up charges.  That is nice and makes it easy to budget for.  Now, you are still looking at 3200-3400 a month.  The equivalent of a big mortgage and some college tuition but can be a viable option.  I think it is something my grandmother could embrace and she has the money to swing payments.

Concern is, are the people happy?  While we were there, many of the residents were in the main TV area watching Andy Griffith.  Not a lot of chatter.  It was a bit hard to tell if they were actually happy.  It's all good in theory but then I think, "what if it was me?"  I love my grandmother dearly and would rather she just come and live with me.  She is a hoot and an absolute joy to have around.  I would never want to do anything that made her unhappy even if it was something she asked for.

CC's mother is another story.  I don't know if it will work for his mother.  We may be better off finding her a handicap accessible apartment close by.  We can do the laundry, grocery, etc. but she will have her own space and it will be more cost effective for her budget.  I think regardless, that whole road is a rough one traveled.

It Was Bound To Happen...

I knew it.  I just knew it.  Somehow I had the feeling today was the day and I was right.  Today went well. I left work early to run an errand as the store was to close at 4.  I picked up a new garage opener and headed toward the house.  I went to call my son and hung up the phone.  I occasionally like to come home at odd times to surprise him, make sure he isn't up to no good while I am out.  My instincts paid off today.

The garage door was open when I came home.  I pulled in and sat in the car for a few minutes, finishing my conversation with CC. We have two doors from the garage that enter the house.  One enters the laundry/mud room and the other enters the top of the basement stairs and turning, into the foyer.  I walked into the latter and called out for the Son.  He said he was in the basement taking a nap.  He was WAY too alert to be napping.  The basement was totally dark so I turned on a light and decided to walk down.  I looked into his room and he was in bed.  I flipped on the light and the covers didn't look right.  I glanced around and saw clothing that was DEFINITELY not his.  I tapped what looked to be his leg and asked if it was his and he said yes.  I pulled back the covers and low and behold....  I found FOUR feet.  *Sigh*.

I asked who was under the covers with him, guessed and told him to dress and come upstairs.  I questioned him on the usual.  What were you thinking? Did you wear a condom? How stupid do you think I am?  And so forth.  I had him go downstairs and fetch his girl and bring her up as we were ALL going to sit for a talk.

I was blunt.  Discussed birth control (which she was not on), discussed condoms (failure will happen before they win the lottery) and both should be used.  We discussed ramifications of babies at young ages, what they could expect their lives to be like if it happened etc.  I laid it all out on the line.  I advised her to go home and have a discussion with her mother about birth control.  She has 30 days to take care of this and prove to me she had or I will discuss with her mother.  I think they got the picture.

The fact is, I did it as a teen and everyone else was too.  I am not so naive to think that the kids aren't doing it now and probably at a younger age.  I figure the best you can do is to make sure they understand ramifications of not thinking beyond their urges and to make sure they are protecting themselves from unwanted pregnancies and disease.  We have kept condoms in this house since the Son was 12-13.  I guess it was a good thing.  They were slowly disappearing.  You never know if it was his friends taking them or the Son but at least they are being used.  For that I suppose I can be thankful.

The Long Week Ahead

Next Saturday CC is moving to be with me.  It's gonna be a long week.  I'm so excited!  FINALLY we get to be together.  :)  I love him so much!

Getting What I Want....

I'm getting what I want. CC is moving to be with me in 9 days. I'm scared to death. Not of how I will feel and react but how CC feels. He is leaving his world for me. His job, home, friends, sports. What if he is unhappy here? I don't want him to be miserable. It makes me a bit sick to my stomach to think of him unhappy. I want this more than anything but not at the cost of his happiness. And so I worry...

Late Nights and Neon Lights

View from a Vegas skywalk

Wow!  CC and I had a great time in Vegas! It was better than I imagined it would be.  CC covered the highlights in his blog but I will fill in the blanks.  :)

I left work around 11a.m. on Wednesday to take the Son to the airport.  He went to stay with my Dad in Orlando while CC and I were away.  I drove straight to Nashville from the airport and got there pretty early.  We  met up with a friend of his from work at Eastland Cafe.  I had a wonderful time.  Food was good and Nicole was very nice.

Thursday finally arrived and we were off to Vegas!

After a lengthy plane ride we finally arrived.  Although we had lunch at Gerst Haus before we left, I was starving!  (CC reminded me we ate at 11 CST and it was around 7 CST when we landed so it was okay to be hungry).  Whew!  LOL!
A short cab ride later we arrived at the Luxor.  Pyramid shaped hotel.  Not bad but it was at the end of the strip.  Needless to say, we were able to walk off our Mexican with the distance between the Luxor and the Venetian.  Blue Man Group was great!  I was able to get my picture taken with one of the "Blue Men" afterwards.

Unfortunately, I had not used my camera since we went to the Chihuly exhibit and the camera was still set for taking pictures at night.  Sooooo - we're a bit fuzzy...

We hiked back to the hotel afterwards and about died.  I was up about 5 hours past my bedtime!  The one thing I should have mentioned is that the people with the cards on the street drive me crazy!!!  It was so very annoying to have all of these people wave these cards at you.  UGH!

The next morning after a breakfast of coffee and a scone, we went and bought tickets for two more shows and then back to the hotel.  We decided to kick back at the pool.  Special of the day was Red Stripe buckets of beer.  Dinner was at a restaurant called SeaBlue.  It is a Mediterranean restaurant in MGM and very good!  We walked from there to New York New York where a bit of gambling was done prior to the start of Zumanity.  We had excellent seats, second row!  The row in front of us was made up of love seats which was pretty interesting to say the least.  The show was great! I don't know where they find so many people who seem to have rubber joints.  Talk about flexible!
Our walk back to the hotel seemed quite a bit longer than our walk to the show.  Needless to say, lack of sleep, alcohol on board and very tall heels made me quite cranky.  My shoes were giving me fits and blisters on the balls of both of my feet and I had a melt down.  :(  I'm quite embarrassed about it but feel the need to apologize in a somewhat public manner.  So, I'm sorry baby.  I behaved badly and will not do that again.

Saturday came and we decided a laid back afternoon was in order, so back to the pool!  Today's special... Heineken!  CC looks very relaxed doesn't he?  ;D
Lunch was poolside as well.  I ran inside and grabbed some yummy sandwiches and it was a picture perfect afternoon.  We returned to the room for a bit of a lie down and to secure reservations for dinner.  Sgt. Pepper Live featuring Cheap Trick was an early show at Paris so we needed to get  reservations quick!  The winner was  Mon Ami Gabi.  French!  It was yummy!  Not long after dinner it was time for the show.  Great music and great company.  You just can't ask for any more than that!

We were up early to catch our plane.  The flight was uneventful and before too long, we were back in Nashville.  We picked up the girls. They were very excited to see CC!  We spent a low key night at the house just watching some television and cuddling on the couch.  Monday came too soon and I left to go back home, making a pit stop at the airport to pick up the Son.  In less than two weeks, CC will be making So. Indiana his home too.  I can't wait!

Viva Las Vegas!

We will be leaving for Vegas in just a little bit.  I can't wait!!!!!!!

The Best 10K Ever Spent

View from the carport

My family has a 23 acre farm. Grandma lives there and I take care of it.  We keep 6-8 acres as her "yard". This means mowing and trimming around EVERYTHING.  We had a small riding lawnmower for several years which was very difficult to use as the grass could get so tall.  The mower was too small for the job.  About 5 years ago I talked my grandmother into buying a tractor that can handle our mowing needs.  She spent 10k on our Massey Ferguson GC2300 compact lawn tractor.  it is diesel and can really mow.  It can take down trees 1/2 inch in diameter without blinking.  I somehow neglected to take a picture of it today so here is one from the Internet.

Now it still takes about 8 hours or so for one person to do the whole thing right, trimming, etc. so I go every other weekend to take care of it.  You get a sense of accomplishment when you look at the end product but I can think of way better things to do other than yard work.  I took some pictures of the end product: (More text at the end).

Immediate front yard

Obligatory vehicles that don't run you have to mow around...

Section of front yard by the road

Coming down the drive

The house

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back yard, both sections

Back yard

There are several other sections of yard I did not take pictures of but you get the idea.  A small riding lawn mower just wasn't made to do this type of mowing.  I love my tractor!!