whaaa?

I've been thinking about something for a while--nearly two weeks--and trying to decide whether or not to post about it. And looky--apparently I'm going to share.

Two weeks ago this Saturday, Jessie and her girlies came over for a visit. We played and talked and ate and that was the first time I played the dancedance game, right? I remember so clearly standing at the kitchen sink, after dinner, stacking dishes, when the phone rang. It was my mom.

Mom has this practice of emptying the furniture out of the carpeted rooms once a year to have the carpets cleaned. She also takes down the floor-length curtains in the livingroom so they don't get wet while the carpet is being cleaned. She and dad stay at a local motel for two nights and then go back home after the carpet has dried. Obviously, they can't move all of the furniture out of the house and into the garage, so they count on the menfolk in the family to help with the furniture moving.

So anyway, the phone rang and it was mom. She said dad was having a "hissyfit" about the curtains not being back up and could I come over right away and help her put them back up. I told her that Jessie and the girlies were there, that we'd just had dinner and I was cleaning up, and that we'd played a videogame that had left me so sore that I could hardly move, so would it be alright if I came over the next morning and put up the curtains then? She said dad was mad that the curtains weren't up yet and I suggested that he might put them up himself? She said he'd asked where they were so he could do it himself--she said she'd told him they were in the bathroom and he could see them every time he went in there--[because everyone puts their curtains in the bathroom when they take them down?]

Anyway, I told her I just wasn't up to hanging curtains right then but I'd be over the next day.

She called back five minutes later and asked if I'd bought a bunch of crap while out at the yardsales with Sugar that morning and I said no, we'd been unable to find any sales so we just went to breakfast. She said oh--and then hung up.

Five minutes later, the phone rang again and this time it was dad. He asked what mom had called me about. I said she'd asked me to help her put up their curtains but I couldn't come over right then but would be over in the morning. He said that he would take care of it himself in the morning so I shouldn't come over. I asked if he was sure and he said yes, thanks, but he would do it and I shouldn't come over.

So I didn't go over. I spent that day and every spare moment since working on either calculus or a research paper for labor economics.

I didn't hear from them on that Sunday so I called on Monday night while driving to calculus. No answer on the home phone or cell phone.

No return call either.

No return call since. Not even in response to the calls and messages I left on Thursday, Saturday, or Monday of this week. I actually drove by the house Monday after class when they didn't answer their phones, but the lights were on and everything looked fine. I even talked Jack into driving by a couple of times on our way to work to see if the lights were on in different rooms and they were, and one morning, we followed mom onto the freeway--although Jack had to punch it to catch up to see if it was really her. It was. Jr went over on Sunday morning and shoveled the snow off of their driveway and sidewalks and saw them both and they were fine.

So, I'm scratching my head and wondering, what the hell? They aren't answering my calls and they don't return my messages? Bewildered, confused--my parents aren't speaking to me? Or don't recognize me? certainly distracting. or uh. hm. okay. Well, not okay. More, uh, what the hell?