Fairhope Vice - News from sleepy town

http://blog.al.com/live/2009/11/update_fairhope_police_standof.html

Turned out it was the bipolar owner of the building who had way to much to drink after a fight with his wife.

The new Police Chief of Fairhope is from Miami and is reported to using big city tactics.

More real life horror stories from Customer Serv

I know everyone has their horror stories. I seem to be acumulating a bunch this year.

Toyota Dealer.

We buy 4 brand new tires. After returning home I glance at the invoice. It has the WRONG name. My husband is Patrick. They have sold the tires to J. Patrick (who just happens to be my husband's cousin in another town). So I call Toyota:

Me: I explain that we just purchased new tires, wrong name, need to change the name.
Women on the phone: OK, I have changed the name (right, like she could do it that fast).

Me: Go to the Toyota dealer: I explain the purchase was in the wrong name.
Service Advisor: tries but fails to be able to change the name, no one at Toyota can change the name. They make a note in the file. They tell me the tire purchase is tied to the VIN number of the car.

Me: Bring my car in to Toyota for a checkup, with the new tires that include free rotation
Toyota: charges me for the rotation, THEY did not know we bought the tires from them

AUUUUGGGG!!!!!!!!

Next chapter - I have been offered a federal job, contingent on my backround/credit check and a few other things. All I have to do is login to their system and accept. The catch, I cannot logon to their system. THREE DAYS and two customer service records later and all I have is a userid and password they sent me for someone in MIAMI with a completely different name.

Customer Service Never Never Land - AGAIN

With the job market in the toilet you would think the people that are working would be sharp as a tack.

Husband's ATM card was destroyed when he left it in an ATM machine.

I called our Credit Union to request a new card, told them the story. Asked for a new card for my HUSBAND.

Two weeks later a card arrives in the mail, with my name on it.

I call the Credit Union and told her I had received a card for my self and I had requested a card for my husband. The Credit Union person proceeded to quiz me for the number on the card and told me "no no no, the card number should be xxxx". I repeated the card number to her and she had to call the Card issuing people!! Finally she was convinced that I, the customer, knew my own name and she agreed to send out a duplicate card for Husband. More LATER.

A LOOOONG HISTORY Story

My mother has had three strokes. The first stroke was a warning - a watch your blood pressure stroke. Mother did not like taking her BP medicine so in 1984 she had a major stroke. Dad was still working. Mother had a live in nurse for three months. In 1994 mother had the second major stroke. Instead of going to rehab she went home and Dad started taking care of her. He has been taking care of her, doing all the grocery shopping, bill paying etc. Mother has not gotten herself a sandwich or a drink since 1994. When I moved to town in 2000 I started helping, and each year I was doing more helping. Then in 2008 Dad had a health problem and then in February of 2009 we moved the both of them into assited living.

According to the Alzheimer Association, the leading cause of dementia in older adults is Alzheimer. The only way to confirm Alzheimer is with an autopsy.

My father has moderate dementia. He is taking two drugs for Alzheimer's, Nimenda and Aricept. Thankfully he has good medical coverage because these drugs are each over $100.00 per month, and there is no real hard data that they work. The drugs are designed to slow the physical progression of the disease but who knows if or for how long it works. Once a patient starts taking these drugs Doctors are very reluctant to pull them off because who knows, they may help.

At any rate, Dad still is still functioning at a pretty good level. He knows who his children and their spouses are. He knows who the grandchildren and great grandchildren are once he is reminded who they are. He goes to breakfast, lunch and dinner on time and he knows most of the people at the assisted living home. He has to be reminded to change his clothes or he will wear the same clothes every day.

He repeats things. While I was in California he lost parts of two teeth. Each time I visit. He tells me about that incident and usually shows me his teeth. I have to tell him the dentist recommendation over and over. I also have to make the decision about the Dentist, Doctor etc. He cannot make those decisions. My sister takes care of the bills and the money, he cannot not even write out a check any more. The Assisted Living takes care of medications, before they moved in I had taken over that task.

There is a person at the Assisted Living that does shopping at Walmart for the residents. I have been trying to get Dad to give her a list. He gives me the list instead. He has three different kinds of razors and wants a refill on all three. He wants asprin and rolaids. Then he complains of a stomach ache and it does not occur to him to take a rolaids.

His latest thing is negative behavior. I have had to drop back to trying to remember children and negative behavior. He grouches and says he is going to jump in the lake. I took both of my parents to the Fairhope pier where Dad threw a fit and I told him he could sit in the car if he wanted to. Then walking out on the pier he said he was going to jump, I told him to go ahead but I would never be able to save him. Anyway, it has taken me a while to figure out how to manage the negative stuff. The more I give in to it and say poor dad, the worse it gets. So I ignore or I say, sure, stay here by yourself. Mom and I are going to dinner.

At any rate, he had a GREAT time at the Pier and we had a nice lunch. So from now on I will be giving SHORT updates on their progress.

Woodland Historic Home Tour

Thanks to my friend Kim for picking me up and driving to Woodland for the Historic Homes Tour. It was really interesting seeing the magnificent renovations and preservation of those old homes. Looking at the homes NOT on the tour I was impressed with the amount of work an older home requires. The exterior alone is a job, pressure washing, painting, there is not end to it.

Woodland has an historic walkable downtown main street with lots of shops, art and restaurants. Here is a link to a stroll through History: http://www.strollthroughhistory.com/

In 1926 one of the Woodland families opened a grocery store. They held a contest to name the store. The winning entry was Nugget Market.

http://www.nuggetmarket.com/

Pictures - Not

Call me old fashioned but there is something that you will never see in my blog, too much personal info and pictures of my family. I am currently on assignment in California assisting son and daughter in law as they begin their journey as parents. A newborn keeps the house hopping that is for sure. No pictures and no names because any nut on the internet can read this!!

Before and After

Patrick made the Mahogany mantle/surround. Looks like a million bucks. FINISHED!!!!

Customer Service Never Never Land at Sams

First let me get the whining out of the way. Monday I spent my entire morning at Sam's getting tires put on Dad's car. Not exactly the way I wanted to spend my morning. OK, whining done.

Since I was stuck at Sam's I went to their food thing to buy a bottle of water and a snack. This was at 10:00 a.m. The lady ahead of me was buying three hot dogs (who can choke down hot dogs at 10:00 am?) Anyway, the person ahead of her informed the SAMS food people that the drink machine was broken, so hot dog lady had just paid for three worthless drinks. The Food person told Hot Dog lady she had to go to Customer Service for a refund. So she took her hot dogs and headed over to Customer Service.

Meanwhile the food selling people were talking: Lady #1 "Are we still selling drinks?" Lady #2 "Yes" Lady #1 "Drinks are not refundable" Lady #2 "That does not sound right". Then they continued to sell drinks. Evidently the machine was working, just dispensing flat drinks.

So, about 10:30 hot dog lady finally got her refund.

At about 11:30 I was released from Sams jail.

Sacred Heart Chapel - on the bay near Fairhope

This is Sacred Heart Chapel. It is on Mobile Bay in the Battles Wharf area of Point Clear. Mass is said at this chapel from memorial day until labor day. As you can see there is no air conditioning, the windows are all open. After Mass the children are welcome to ring the big bell out front. It is a really charming place where time has stood still, sort of. There are buildings on the property that when I was a child were used as a summer camp. The building where I learned to make a wallet out of leather is still there. So is the place where I learned to shoot a gun and shoot an arrow. The "barracks" are long gone, that part of the property was sold. As is the stable where they kept the horses.

The property has also been used for the summer home of St. Mary's home for girls. There has also been some children of migrant worker activities. There is a swingset that must be 50 yrs old.

Anyway, it is a very peaceful place to attend mass and walk along the bay. Someday I will post some pictures of the inside. It is very popular for weddings.

Bad Day/Art in Fairhope

Legs stuck straight up in the air. Is it art or just really bad lawn decor??

Some days I think I know how this young lady must feel. Mom and Dad are now 10 minutes from my house in Assisted Living. The good news is that they are 10 minutes away. The bad news is that they are 10 minutes away. Dad had a medication change and has been grumpier than usual. This morning's visit I heard from him about how he is not going to make it and how he should have stayed on McLaughlin Dr. He is getting up early and rushing to get mother dressed, instead of letting the staff do it. So, she wore the same sweater for four days. Today I got it and put it in the laundry. Another talk with the staff today about helping her get dressed and trying to beat dad to the job. He says he does not mind, yet he yells and complains about it. Anyway, some days are better than others but it is NEVER dull. Something is always happening. They are running out of this or they are needing that. Of course the constant doctor, dentist appointment thing and followup. Anyway, complain and whine. Maybe someday things will go smoother.

Customer Service Rambling

We had a great time at Disneyworld. More about that later. Something in Dani's blog about the *&^%person trying to send her a fax reminded me about what seems to be an almost global lack of CUSTOMER SERVICE. Either that or I have turned into a royal bitch in my old age.

Customer Service:
Hampton Inn - wonderful, got me a pair of scissors, gave me directions to wallmart. The free breakfast??? They kept the food well stocked. Eggs, ham, lots of cereal and some pastries

Disneyworld - WHERE are all the CHARACTERS layed off??? Cutting back are we DISNEY?? We waited 30 minutes (thankfully in the airconditioning) to see Micky, Minnie and the Princesses. What happened to roving characters. To HOOOT for them or something!!! Charge a fortune I want to see MICKEY!!!!!!

Contemporary Resort - excellent customer service, they reprinted Jack's key card THREE times, once because he lost it and twice because they put the wrong last name.

Fairfield Inn- Marginal, terrible free breakfast, they ran out of spoons.

FLAT TIRE INCIDENT - Wallmart guys were all gabby and taking their time plugging the tire. Thankfully we drove all the way here before it went FLAT again. Took the car to Toyota (where we bought the tires). They did not have it in stock, had to order. I had them do the regular service and clean the inside of the car. The service guy bragged about how great a job they did on cleaning. Some sloppy looking guy brought my car out and it had peanuts all over the floor of the back seat. REALLY, don't brag about your cleaning job and then show me that.

Poachers

This is the lake behind Catherine Place. I was excited to see these young men out there in their canoe because I thought it would make a good picture. They said they were bass fishing.

When I went in Catherine Place some of the residents were all in a flutter because someone had driven on their private land and were in their lake. Evidently this is private property and posted.

Potty in the Bathtub

This is the ugly side of remodeling. The potty is in the bathtub. There is dust and dirt on everything, EVERYTHING. Furniture is stuffed everywhere. There is only one working bathroom with no door. The doors have all been removed and are propped up here and there. This all began on tuesday when we began camping out in the kitchen/dining room. All is supposed to be finished today. Thankfully the tile people will be hauling all the old carpet and debris out with them.

An example of the cheap builder vinyl floor can be seen behind the potty. All the ugly cheap, impossible to clean builder carpet is now gone from the living/den and hallways. The bathrooms are now tile. The tile guys are putting the grout down now.

Hanging at the W in Chicago

On the way back from California I used our AARP discount to score a reasonably priced room at the W. The W is just a few blocks from the train station and just a few blocks from the Art Institute. We were easily the oldest people I saw there. The doorman welcomed us and we entered a stunning lobby full of trendy folks enjoying drinks and snacks. The room was trendy and comfortable. I would stay there again. I loved the art, design and energy of this hotel.

Dairy Queen in Walnut Creek

Patrick and Brian were good sports as they were dragged around to the many towns that I wanted to explore. Here we are in upscale trendy Walnut Creek, land of great shopping and a Dairy Queen tucked in across from a botox place and down the way from a Nordstroms!!. We actually visited the Crate and Barrel that Jen managed, a huge store full of great stuff.

Thanks to Brian and Jen I am expanding my knowledge of great places in the East Bay.

Sorry Shirley H., when we traveled to California for Dave and Dani's wedding you wanted to go to Walnut Creek, I did not even know where Walnut Creek was. To someone who lived most of her California life in Marin and sonoma, the East Bay was just a jumble of towns I heard on the traffic report. I have now been to some great East Bay locations like Martinez, Benicia and Crockett.

Now I have a list of places yet to explore in the East Bay. St. Mary's college in Moraga, Lafayette, Pleasanton and more time in Livermore.

Signs of the South

Well we are back. After a glorious month in California we are back in the south. While we were gone the Japanese maple completely leafed out, the daisies and hydrangeas are in full bloom. Of course the weeds are as high as an elephant eye. Oh, and the pool pump engine burnt to a crisp, a new one was installed yesterday.

This is a picture of a a car in the tunnel with a lawn mower jammed in the trunk. Let the the weekly lawn mowing commence.

I have lots more pictures and words to post. We had a great trip.

Searching for WPA Art

The great depression began in 1929 with the famous stockmarket crash. In 1935 President Roosevelt put together a package of economic programs aimed at bringing the country back. One of those agencies established out of these programs was the "Works Progress/Projects Administration" (WPA). Many americans were given government jobs in construction. Many artists were hired by the WPA and put to work creating murals in public building. The Mural above is in the Sacramento Amtrak station. the building was built in 1916. The mural was painted in the 1930's.

There are also murals at The Museum of Mobile is located in the former city hall. If you ask the workers at the Museum about these murals you will probably get a blank stare. Here is a link to the documentation:

http://www.archives.state.al.us/mobile/mobile1.html

This mural is in the Martinez California post office.

Economy will get worse before it gets better

We have enjoyed our time in California. We have had cool, rain and now sunny weather, temps in the high 70's.

If California is a bellweather for the rest of the country we are in trouble. The state is short billions, El Dorado county will have to borrow millions. There was a big jump of foreclosures in April. People are pulling their children out of private schools and putting them in public. Yes this has affected people that were already living beyond their means but it is also affecting the frugal people.

I have happily traveled to old town Folsum and the little towns of Sutter Creek and Placerville. All share the same signs of the sinking economy. The little downtown streets are peppered with out-of-business restaurants and shops. Every small business closed means a loss of jobs.

So, I am predicting things are going to get much worse before they get better.

IF DOGS CAN DO IT - SO CAN I

Live in the Moment. This came to me driving up Highway 45 in Mississippi on the way to Memphis. Time stands still in little towns with names like Chunchula, Buckatoona, Tupelo and Citronelle. I actually saw two old guys sitting in a breakfast place just passing the time. Along the back country roads there were signs for yard sales and homemade purses. Pine forests, country churches. There were wood crafts, bird houses and red dirt roads. I'm thinkin some of those people had lived there all their lives and never ventured to far away.

At any rate. I am trying to hold myself to living in the moment.

We are in Memphis until Monday when we board the night train for CHI town.

This morning we watched 4 yr old Ethan play soccer, his daddy is the coach. We went to visit their house in the country. Then we went to lunch at Arlington Barbeque in Arlington Tenn. Yum. Gregory and Cristi have a beautiful house and two really cute children.

Crummy Art Supplies

My talented niece posted a blog entry about "Mr. Sketch" markers. That got me thinking about one of my pet peeves. The lousy art supplies marketed to unsuspecting parents by our favorite importer of chinese products "Wallmart". (on a side note, I only go in Wallmart when I absolutely have no other choice).

Every school year bins full of dried up practically worthless rose art markers, elmers glue sticks and crummy no name colored pencils are pedaled as school supplies. This stuff is practially worthless, low quality and pitiful. One can purchase a good quality glue stick at Michaels for around $1.00, it will last the entire school year. Crayola makes some good quality markers that will outlast those cheap rose art things. Use your Michaels 40% off coupon to purchase some artist quality prisma color pencils. They are blendable and will last all school year and beyond.

Recently I took Jack to the Art Museum in Mobile. This museum has a children's section on the first floor. It was a Saturday and as usual we were the ONLY people in the children's section. There are a lot of hands on projects for kids, giant Lego's and plenty of art projects for children to start. There are also hundreds of dried out, spent, ruined markers. Empty pads of paper. Broken equipment, It was pitiful. I emailed the Director of the Museum of the pitiful shape of his children's section and he said he would inform the education director. The Art Museum in Montgomery is hands down 100 times better and there is NO fee!!!!!!!!

Cooking Disasters and other Boring things

OK, here is my stab at a blog entry that has NOTHING to do with my parents (who by the way are still taking up a lot of my time).

I have only had two cooking disasters that I can remember. The first was when we lived in New Orleans. Before work I put something in the crock pot. When I arrived home I took a look at the food and wanted to thicken it up a bit so in my tired "just getting home" stupor I grabbed a yellow box I assumed was cornstarch. Unfortunately it was baking soda. When I added the baking soda to the simmering pot it proceeded to erupt like a volcano and spew everywhere. Chinese takeout was substituted for the ruined dinner.

Last week I made spaghetti squash in the microwave. Spaghetti squash is allowed under South Beach, regular spaghetti is not. Anyway, I followed the directions stuck to the squash. I was just passing the microwave when the door blew open and spaghetti squash exploded all over the inside of the microwave, what a mess.

Now - for the biggest messes I have ever made. I always remember when littles Brian was helping me bring in a gallon of milk. He was about 4 years old. He dropped the milk and it exploded everywhere. Yesterday I dropped a container of custard straight down on the floor, it spewed all over the wall, computer, printer, floor. That was a bigger mess than the milk.

Maurice and Archie

Oh, I did forget to mention Maurice and Archie. These two have now become the stars of our parents lives. Maurice is a poodle rescued from a puppy mill. He sits on a chair while his owner has lunch. He has had more than one personal tour of Mom and Dad's apt. Archie is a terrier and belongs to one of the nurses. He runs around the apt. and never barks.

So sorry for all of you out there with imperfect dogs, they will never measure up to Maurice and Archie!!

Still a work in Progress-Pictures in bad light

The wreath from Brian and Jenn looks great on Mom and Dad's new door. Oops, I think it may be hung upside down?? no worries. The living room is still a work in progress. We are bringing a few more pieces of furniture from their house. There is a hutch going in that empty corner. Then we will have to tackle that huge empty wall.

Assited Living - Moved In

All the furniture finally arrived and has been rearranged several times.

We took Mom and Dad to their new home friday morning. I pictured two hysterical people and this was not the case. They were both fairly upbeat. Mother said goodbye house. We got in the car and went to Rite Aid, picked up medicine and said goodbye to the Pharmacist.

We arrived at Catherine Place and went straight to their new apt. The chairs are working out. The big handicapped bathroom is wonderful. We had a very nice lunch AND dinner at Catherine Place. Dad and Mom really enjoyed the grand piano concert friday night. They had a reasonably comfortable friday night.

They have been kept VERY busy. Breakfast is at 7:30 in the "chow hall". Dad pushes mom in a wheelchair. Lunch is at 11:30. Usually there is some sort of afternoon event. Their favorite is the people that come in to play the grand piano. There was also a blue grass group. The afternoon events lead into dinner at 5:00.

Mother has gone between hating all of us to semi enjoying herself. She very much wants to go back to her house. Unfortunately she is the one that needs all the help and is breaking all of our backs as we try to lift her out of the car.

Dad has no more grocery shopping to do. No house repairs. The staff help mom get dressed and dispense all the medicine. Dad is enjoying meeting the two "handy man" guys there and the residents.

Assisted Living Move In - Take Two

At around 3:00 today I received a call from Ashley saying we would receive our full order by 6:00 pm. At approximately 5:30 today Ashley delivered the mattresses and box springs we ordered. Now why, oh why, did they not do that in the first place?????

Tonight was fun because my three sisters and I looked through pictures, discreetly packed things up.

Margie took Dad over to the next door to Suzanne's and across to Pee Wee and Mr. Bassett. Pete and Norma came by. It was a really nice day.

All this gives me hope for tommorow. I hope there is not too much crying when we move them out of their house for the last time.

Assisted Living Move In - Take One

So here is how today has gone. The recliners and sofa/sleeper were delivered as scheduled. Unfortunately, the recliners are rockers which I guess my sister and I failed to realize. Margie has gone by Lazy Boy in Mobile and gotten a swap out with a monday delivery. Cannot have rocking chairs because the older folks will be richocheted out when they sit down/drop into the chair. We will have to use some of the Assisted Living place chairs for now.

Ashley Furniture delivered the twin sleigh beds, one mattress, and NO box springs. So here is how it went with them today:
10:00 a.m. I call ask about delivery, they tell me I should have already been called. Delivery schedule for 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm. GOOD THING we did not need to be at the Assited Living to meet the furniture.
10:05 a.m. Ashley person tells me there was an error in the purchase order and they would be delivering two box springs and one mattress!! I stressed the fact that we had TWO people and they needed a place to sleep, was promised a call back.
12:30 pm No call back, I call Ashley, they say they are working on it but they have been busy.
12:30 ask to have the store manager call me.
1:00 pm Beds are delivered, one mattress NO box springs
1:30 pm I visit Ashley where I am told things have been crazy around there and they were working on a loaner mattress. That is when I told them that I did not care about their internal problems and we needed a mattress and TWO box springs. Oh,, and the store manager has gone home for the DAY.
2:30 - Ashley calls and says they will deliver loaners by 6:00 pm tonight. More later.

Arch D'Progress

The Arch is nearing completion!! Looking really good.

Move to Assisted Living is a GO

A date has now been set for Mom and Dad's move to Assisted Living. I will be sending out postcards with their new address. Move in date is Friday Feb 27th. Lots of details to work out.

Today they had more police on their street and the meth lab people are out of jail and back at their house.

Here is a link:

http://www.mercymedical.com/assistedliving_catherinepl.php

Boring, Boring, Boring

Well lets see. I am taking pictures of bowls and covering shoeboxes with magazine articles. Man oh man I am leading a boring life. I will have to get myself in gear and get something cooking on this blog.

The Lazy Way to Cover a Shoebox

While PCK is busy doing something productive with wood I have been busy as well. I recycled the shoeboxes from Amy's bridesmaids gifts. I only covered the end of the box (lazy) because that is all you see!! I have more boxes from Sam's that I am going to use for something.

To Glue or Not to Glue - That is the question

This is an arch update. The picture is of the newly constructed unpainted arch crafted by PCK. All care has been taken to make sure that the keystone is architecturally correct. In the Roman days the keystone would of course actually be functional and hold a massive weight of stone.

Attention west coast readers (all two or three of you), here is a blog I found on the Calistoga Pottery Website.

http://californiatravelgirl.blogspot.com/2008/12/art-wine-and-castle-in-calistoga.html

I have been meaning to get a picture of this pottery. We have been using these pieces from Calistoga Pottery since 1995!! Still no chips! When we bought these plates we had four teenagers in the house. This pottery survived the move from California. They keep hot food hot and cold food cold.

THE HOTEL/ PARKING GARAGE THAT ATE FAIRHOPE:

This hotel has been shoe-horned into a street in Fairhope and as you will see from my expose, asserts itself into every nook and cranny. On the plus side, assuming it stays full , this hotel will be a big boost to the shops in Fairhope, flooding the area with shoppers. That will be good. Note the views from the courtyards.

ARCH UPDATE:

Pay no attention to that clutter on the Island (you should see the dust EVERYWHERE from just that little bit of drywall sanding).

A renovation job has morphed and snowballed into a recrafting of the opening to the kitchen.

It all started with one Travertine tile. We were going to tile the bathroom. We brought one tile home, it made the carpet look old and ugly. We then decided it was time to paint that big white wall. Next thing you know Patrick is framing out the opening to the kitchen.

How about Spray Paint???

Remember that ugly sawdust encrusted refrigerator in the Garage?? I cleaned it up and painted it.

Coming soon - more fun with spray paint. I am going after the ugly brass switchplate covers.

In honor of my beautiful creative niece Rye who cleverly named her blog "wryeter's block" even though she has no block, I give you:

Titles I Could have used for the blog but didn't. (Most of which will be used for upcoming blog entries.)

How about Spray Paint???
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
The constant duster
Coffee on the keyboard
Should have used a T square
Way too much yellow
The unfocused resume
The color of tea

OOHH, I felt like Brian today. I was hanging out in the Electrician aisle at Lowe's. I saw CONDUIT and JUNCTION BOXES. There were these three guys talking "electrician" talk and they completely ignored me. I could have fallen on the floor and had a heart attack and they would have kept on talking. Frequency, Fittings, grid, heavy duty. Man it was a bunch of parts that is for sure.

P.S. On one of the HGTV shows the homeowner used junction boxes for spice racks.

http://www.abbeyroad.com/visit/

This is a really cool website. A Webcam on Abbey Road!!!!

Sorry Paul, this restaurant is now gone from this location. A victim of progress. This road is being 4 laned. It did move to County Road 32 so it still lives on. When it was at this location it did the business!!

Lets just say a visit to the foot doctor with my parents is not my favorite way to spend the day. I had to go in with each of them and see their really gross toenails and puffy dried out feet. Then I watched as the foot doctor sprayed toenail matter all over the room as he cut their toenails. GAG. I never heard a vacuum cleaner so I am assuming that the next person going in the exam room waded through the filthy muck of who knows how many toenails.

After breakfast at McDonald's we ventured over to the Beauty Shop.

Belinda cut Dad's hair and blew it dry. She had a really nice talk with him. She is very pro assisted living for them. She grew up on DIP and knows how bad their neighborhood has gotten. Dad's hair looked really good and mother's looked good as well. Good for another week!!

OK, still no sewing but I do have an excuse. Little Kate was here for four days and she her bed is in that room. I have a dress for her all cut out, just have to get in their and do it.

On the parent front. Catherine Place is holding a first floor unit for Mom and Dad. The Unit will be available the end of February or beginning of March. The economy is hitting the elders. Many families are moving their relatives to the smaller units. That is why the one on the first floor will be available.

Mom and Dad will be the ONLY married couple in the place.

Dad is planning on what to bring with him. Mom is vowing not to go.

So this Tuesday I am taking them both to the foot doctor to get their toenails clipped, then to the beauty shop to get their hair trimmed. Today I washed their clothes, cleaned out their fridge and did some garbage duty.

I had a blast working out of my home. At times it was stressfull but most of the time it was rewarding. I worked with a great crew and had some amazing bosses. In 04 my job was transferred out of the country and I joined the newly unemployed. Fortunately I was able to attend college fulltime for two years. I completed an Art degree. Still my home office had stayed a home office/study. Now my workspace has been replaced with a machine that has struck fear in my heart and brought out my worst "turtle on the sidewalk" tendencies. I have replaced my office laptop with a vintage Singer sewing machine and, yes, I am going to use it.

This is bay access on a street next to Bayside Academy in Daphne.

This is what do it yourself tileing REALLY looks like. The tile master cut the tiles and installed in the pantry. One more project completed.