The Mom who Cried Wolf

Finally figured something out - maybe I have figured it out again. Part of what is most distressing about mom is that she is constantly groaning and complaining about her ills. Luckily not in a completely horrendous way - but it is incessant. I remember when I was 17 and traveling with her in Egypt how she complained about being fat and overweight and unable to get around comfortably. And she went on and on about her cramps. And that was 33 years ago. Now that she is older (81) she complains about her drippy nose, her difficulty breathing, pains in her stomach, etc. My feeling is that a large part of it is that she wants sympathy. Maybe no one was sympathetic to her as a child - or when she was ill she got attention that she was otherwise starved for. I don't know, and honestly, I don't really care. It is just a) grating, b) enervating and c) it dulls me to listening to her woes. Which means that when she has something serious going on, I won't know it until too late. Because I will think that it is just one more carp. Oh, her sore ribs turned out to be a slight muscle pull that went away. Yippee!

We ran a couple of errands yesterday. I got to see crush 2,714 (or some such number - so many crushes, so few girlfriends...) which was pleasant. And I made her smile a couple of times. We went to two pharmacies and Walmart. At Walmart we got mom a good fan for her room. I will take a picture of that today. When we got it back, setting it up was easy - except for the part where I had to remove five boxes of papers and crap from the place where I wanted to put the fan. I don't think those boxes have been touched in 5 or more years! Mom said decades, but I don't think that was the case.

Yesterday I also attended a rehearsal for the opera where dinner was provided. Yum! I didn't do much except chat with a couple of performers and helpers. Every little impression helps.

Oh, went to Red Dove Tavern again - they do have a decent beer selection. Saw another new crush - 2,715 - and had three beers - Slyfox Stout, Ommegang BPA and Ithaca Apricot. Yum. I do feel weird buying beer that doesn't count towards a plate like they do at the Flying Saucers...

The Turkish Women have cancelled our wine tasting jaunt because they are too tired. Now I can either do something on my own or take mom to the racetrack? Any thoughts?

And I need more readers and more followers if I am to reach my goal of fifty followers by the end of the year! Well, maybe if my blog were more interesting...

Pictures from July 12, 2011:


The sunken garden at Houghton House. A fond memoryful place for me...


Gowns galore for the opera chorus!


This is what I ought to have bought rather than the house. Sigh. Hindsight is so good...