Winter in Washington

Time to visit Mom, before the weather gets too bad. My Allegiant flight was the last one to Peoria for season; once the cold weather sets in, not too many people fly north. Ruth picked me up at the airport, supplied me with candy and Diet Coke, and let me have her car and her winter coat for this week - what a great sister!  She stopped by Mom's with me before I took her home, and we despaired over the state of Mom's driveway. Mom doesn't have anything to move snow or ice, but I don't want her to slip when getting in or out of the car, so at one point Ruth and I were using a hammer to break the ice off of the driveway! 

Thursday I drove Mom to the bank and to Verizon, where I confirmed her phone will work in 2020 (it's an old phone and there was some doubt about it).  Then on to Walmart for a stash of groceries for me (frozen veggies, bottled water, Diet Coke - things she doesn't keep at home). We also went to Menard's for some door weatherstripping and three window shades. Then, because Mom doesn't have internet, I stopped at Metro and added some data on my phone. I'm sure to use extra data this week! Back at Mom's place, Lisa came over and visited with us a while. Unfortunately Mom had called her earlier and asked her to leave Jade, her big doberman, at home. I like Jade but Mom doesn't care for her. After Lisa left I fixed Mom's sewing machine (it was just threaded wrong), and put put the new shades. The previous shades were so old that they broke! 

I also spent a few minutes attaching photos to the contacts in Mom's phone. Mom had specific photos she likes of the family and she doesn't have a smart phone, so I used her phone to take a photo of the photo, then attached it. The photos are a little fuzzy but she was very happy with the results. 

Friday I fixed a cabinet handle for Mom before driving us out to the library. Mom volunteered here for 26 years so the staff all know her well (it's where she met Lisa), and she likes to visit them when possible.  Mom had been asking about the Booth Family Facebook page so I logged onto one of the library PCs and showed it to her. Then we looked up my dad on the WWII page. I also showed her a few videos about dresses from different eras - she had no idea how many things are online now.  On the way home I stopped at Michael's drive-through window to pick up spaghetti for dinner. I didn't know I had to call ahead so we got to wait in the parking lot a few minutes, but it didn't take too long.  We closed out the night with one of the old movies Mom has on DVD.  

Saturday - Time for shopping! Etcetera in Metamora is one of our regular stops on Saturday, and Kathy joined us on the drive over. Today Mom fell in love with a 3-drawer wood cabinet. She wasn't sure she should get it because how would we get it home? It was almost as tall as her but I was sure we could figure it out. If nothing else, I could take her and Kathy home, then come back for it. But with a little help from the guys at the store, I got it in the back of Ruth's car and got it home. Kathy, who does not move furniture, suggested we ask Mary for help unloading it. Mary is a few years older than Kathy but a good sport, so she agreed to help us get it into the house, where we loaded it on a rug and pulled it into the guest bedroom. Now Mom has something to arrange, which she loves to do. 

We spent a little time at home, recovering. I used the time to do Mom's invisible eyebrows and (to my surprise)  she wanted me to cut a bit off of her hair. Kathy joined us at the Dairy Queen for dinner, and afterwards I officially transferred Mom's phone from Frontier to Verizon. Hope this works! After dinner Mom wanted to move the cabinet from one corner of the room to another, so we shuffled furniture around until she was happy with the results. 

Sunday I got breakfast at Hardees before driving to Pekin to visit with Lenora. She's just started chemo and is doing very well - she has a great attitude and is ready to beat this thing!

Back in Washington I did my regular Sunday thing - trim and color Kathy's hair. Afterwards I put up the weatherstripping and trimmed Mom's bangs a bit. She had found more photos she wanted attached to contacts on her phone so I did that for her. 

Monday I called Frontier to disconnect Mom's phone service with them, then took Mom to the post office, Verizon, Goodwill, McDonald's, and Dollar General. Back at home I hung up a couple of pictures in the guest bedroom (around the new cabinet), then tightened all the screws in her kitchen cabinets. 

Tuesday - my last day here! So we went to Walmart to develop photos from her phone, then stopped by McDonalds on the way to visit with Ruth. We joined Becky and Kathy at Steak and Shake for a late lunch. Then everyone went to Mom's where we moved a smaller cabinet out of the guest bedroom and loaded it into Ruth's car. Ruth is the "keeper of stuff" for the family. Then it was time to celebrate Becky's birthday! Mom fixed Sloppy Joes for dinner and we celebrated in true Mullineaux fashion - playing don't-count-the-points rummy and taking photos.

Kathy had bought a little stuffed toy with a recorder in it. Whatever she said, it repeated it very, very fast and in a squeaky, high-pitched voice - one of the funniest things I've ever heard!

Hollywood Studio with family

We joined Randy's nephew Brandon and his fiancée at Hollywood Studios, where they were treating Brandon's little brother Skylar to a day at Disney. We couldn't get fast passes for everyone because they had just bought their tickets but Randy knows his way around (as he should after over 100 visits to WDW!) and was able to make our fast passes turn into enough for us all. One thing they really wanted to do was the Rock and Roller Coaster. I sat it out but they all enjoyed it a lot. 

Then they took our advice and we got on the Tower of Terror - still the best ride here!

We pass-passed onto Toy Story Mania too, which is always a fun competition. The only ride we couldn't get a fass-pass for was the Slinky Dog Dash so we waited in line, and it was worth the wait. Brandon had arranged to meet another couple there and we got them all on the Alien Swirling Saucers. Then during the hotter part of the day we went to the Indiana Jones Spectacular  And our annual pass-holder discount came in mightly handy in the stores! This was one of the best days at Hollywood Studios.