Around about 3:30 today, when Walt and I were fixing ourselves lamb sandwiches for lunch, I decided there was no point in getting out of my pajamas. We expected no visitors and couldn't go anywhere because Jeri was borrowing the car, and the flannel jammies and new slipper-sox that the girls gave me were just too comfortable to think about taking off.
There were a few tasks that Jeri and Phil did that were very helpful. One involved the gift they gave me.
This is page 1 of two framed pages. It is the arrangement Jeri wrote for a song for my mother's 90th birthday and it's based on a tune my father wrote for my mother (when they were still married) for the party to celebrate her retirement from the Bank of America.
(Interestingly, it was at that party that she confessed to me she had fallen in love with another man and was going to divorce my father, but he didn't know that yet. I told her I was thrilled for her.)
The original song title was "Grandma Won't be Working Anymore" and it was written so that each of the kids had a verse to sing (David was 5, which would have made Jeri about 11 and she told me today how terrified she was of singing the song in front of all those people she didn't know, but all five kids came through like a champ and Grandma was very pleased. Grandpa too, I suspect)
When my mother's 90th birthday came around (by this time both of her husbands had died), Jeri decided to rework that song and present it to her, this time nobody was embarrassed to perform because by now they were all seasoned performers).
Anyway, she came across the music the other day and decided I would like to have a copy. I would!!! I just love it and today, the two of them hung it up on the wall over the piano on which my father wrote the original song, so there is all sorts of meaning when I look at that wall now!
Sadly, my mother can't appreciate this any more and I wish my father were here to see what he wrought, but it's only me to get all warm and tingly inside when I look at my gift. (Of course part of being warm is those toasty new slipper-sox that I'm wearing!)
Jeri also solved two crises this afternoon. The first was Lacie's lost watch. I mistakenly thought it was Brianna who had lost the watch and said that I knew she had it here in the house because I was going to ask her if it was a FitBit. So a grand search of the house took place, with no results. Then I discovered that it was not Bri's, but Lacie's and so Jeri went to the theater to see if maybe she had lost it there yesterday. She had. Crisis resolved.
I was also having problems with my hearing aids. I needed to change what they call the "wax guard," which is this infinitesimal ring which snaps inside of the piece that connects to the microphone. This was carefully and growing-less patiently explained to me by the rep who contacted me after I sent an e-mail.
When you are clumsy to begin with and when your vision is so bad you can't see the damn hole where it's supposed to go, you get very frustrated. Tears and swearing were involved and I wasted three ear guards. Finally it took me holding a magnifying glass for Jeri to find the hole and get it snapped into place. The hearing aid then worked. I asked Jeri if she could please come back every 3-4 months to replace the wax guard for me! Next time I'll get Walt's help, with his arthritic thumbs! I don't foresee a good outcome!
She also had a coup while downtown. She stopped in Logos and was able to find a copy of C.S. Lewis' "The Last Battle," which is the final Narnia book, for our next book club meeting. When she sent Laurel a message showing her the great find (the only C.S. Lewis book in the store, by the way), Laure said she should go out and buy a lottery ticket!
But possibly a good idea she didn't since when she went to get in Ned's car, which she and Phil had borrowed, to go to Ned's house (Phil had gone earlier by bus), she discovered that Phil had the car keys with him. She had to borrow our car to drive to Sacramento, get the car keys and then drive back here to leave our car and pick up Ned's.
Jeri, Polly and I sat here for awhile visiting this afternoon, and Jeri tried to get a good picture of Polly, who has really been unusually mellow this Christmas.
Neither Walt nor I felt like dinner, since we'd had such a late lunch, so we just caught up on unwatched Jeopardy shows, had our nightly ice cream bar, waited for Jeri to get back with the car, and now I'll put these comfy pajamas to good use and see about sleeping.
Christmas is finally over. But it was a good one. It's always a good one when we get to be around the kids -- and when my mother is having a good day.
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