two quick stories

I guess it's been a few days since I've posted, but let me just say two things about school. First, I'd forgotten that the classes my school offers that are four days a week, four hours each evening, for three weeks involve a heap of homework that there is no time to get done. Doh! And one other word of warning in case any of you are thinking about taking Astronomy (aka, Physics 1040 Astronomy). This is the word of warning: PHYSICS. Uh, what? Did I take Astronomy because I wanted to avoid physics? YES. Did I take Astronomy because I thought it would be about constellations or the zodiac or something like that? YES. Should I have paid more attention to the name of the class? YES. Who knew that astronomy is ALL ABOUT PHYSICS? AND PLANETS AND STARS AND GALAXIES AND MORE PHYSICS AND WEATHER AND MORE PHYSICS???

you've been warned.

So about those two quick stories. (and by quick, I mean, quick in my story world, which means short story instead of novel. again, you've been warned, right?)

We spent a bunch of time with my family this past weekend. In particular, my parents, because my dad's birthday was Friday night. (happy 84th dad!) We were all invited to my parent's house for mini-eclairs and mini-cream puffs and fresh fruit. I'd called my dad first thing Friday morning to see if he wanted to go to dinner for his birthday before he had dessert at their house, but we decided it was going to be too much eating for him since my brother had already invited him to lunch that day. We made a plan to eat dinner on Saturday night and then we all got together on Friday night for dessert. It was a warm night and I'd been working on my physics, I mean, astronomy, all day, so we didn't stop to change clothes, we just jumped in the car, me in my knee-length black sweats that have an L-shaped rip in the right knee from the day that JoJo grabbed a mouthful of sweats with her fang as I walked by. My mom offered to fix the tear for me that night if I'd just take off my pants and give them to her. I pointed out that if I did that I wouldn't have on any pants and my aunt Jean and I chuckled at the thought of that, but I could tell that my mom so wanted to mend those sweats.

I called on Saturday afternoon to see if my parents were ready to go eat and when my dad answered the phone, I was a bit surprised because he usually can't hear the phone ring and also can't hear people on the other end of the phone. Anyway, he said he had been about to call me because he wasn't feeling so good and he wanted to postpone to another time. He said he was feeling lightheaded, so I asked how his blood sugar was since he's a diabetic. He assured me it was good--he'd just checked it and it was 110. Then he said he was having trouble seeing--so I asked him again, how his sugar was, and again, he assured me it was good. He said we could talk later about our new dinner plan, and then he said goodbye, and I told my family we were postponing the birthday dinner again but would likely get together either Sunday or Monday, which was Memorial Day.

My mom called later and asked what dad had said when I called. I related the conversation to her and that's when I learned that she hadn't been home when I'd called earlier (I should have realized that when my dad answered the phone). She had been out shopping and when she got home, my dad was still having a sugar problem because apparently he'd taken his insulin and then been very active and that had caused his sugar level to drop way too low. Mom had given him something to eat that was quickly absorbed and he was recovering just fine.

Sunday night my mom called and suggested that maybe we should all go to breakfast early Monday morning and then we could go put flowers on the graves. Jack and I agreed to join them at the IHOP and Stu, Shi, and Audrey joined us. As always, it was an adventure at the various cemeteries, but this is a short story, so I'll just say that we all kept our arms and legs inside the car and enjoyed the ride.

This morning though, while I was getting ready for work, I couldn't find my black sweat pants. I looked everywhere--under the bed, the sofa, in the laundry baskets, the closet--but to no avail. My sweats have disappeared. There would be no workout for me today at the gym without my sweatpants.

I suspect my mom slipped into my house when no one was here, snagged my pants and took them home to mend. I suspect she'll return them, unannounced, because, you know, I'll never notice that the tear has been closed, right?

~~~~~~

On Mother's Day, Jack took me perennial shopping. I'd picked up a bunch of plants and put them in my cart and was holding one--a scabiosa--in my hand. Scabiosa is a plant that has pale violet blossums and looks a bit untamed in my gardens and has always been a welcome addition because of the color and open airy feeling it has. As I stood there waiting for Jack, a woman walked by and commented to her adult son, "Oh look, my favorite flower--scabiosa."

A few minutes later, she came back and said, "You have my favorite flower--scabiosa!" I commented that I really like them too. She asked me if I liked them for the same reasons that she did--because they are the perfect flower to teach children to never touch flowers. I gave her exactly the look you would expect--my best, "WHAT?" She explained that if you touch the blossums they burn your palm and that is the best way that she knew of to teach little kids to never touch her flowers.

And I wondered--WHERE DO PEOPLE LIKE THIS COME FROM???