I stopped around 11:30 and fixed Daddy a good lunch - grilled ham & cheese sandwich, clam chowder, and of course, my magic elixer of celery, carrots and red bell peppers. Activia for dessert. You get my drift. Fiber, fiber, fiber... I asked him how it was and he said it was all right. In other words, it was swill.
Headed to my church client, which is just around the corner. Not a soul was there - every thing in this city shuts down when it snows. I had to turn off the alarm and luckily, I was successful. I hate it when I mess up and the alarm company calls and wants the secret word. I start spouting out words like Heaven, Bible, Jesus, Cross, Sin, Satan, Communion, Chalice... Finally, they say "It's ok" and the shrieking alarm stops. And I say "Hallelujah!" and they say "Bingo!"
Since no one was there, I cranked out my work sans interruption. Made a point of calling the treasurer to ask him if he had the report my least favorite staff member is responsible for. I needed it to close January books. My phone call served a dual purpose. It let the treasurer know that a) I was so dedicated that I made the treacherous 1/2 mile drive to pay bills and do month-end work, and b) that the aforementioned staff member hadn't given me her report. I was glad she hadn't because a) she looked like the jerk-off instead of me, and b) I got to leave earlier than I'd planned because I couldn't proceed without her report.
So far, so good, huh? Then I headed to the grocery store to stock up on milk, fruits and veggies, high-fiber oatmeal, and of course, beer. I was running dangerously low.
I got home and decided to try to jump Mother and Daddy's van which was sitting in my driveway with a dead battery. I just can't bring myself to drive it - so embarrassing. Not that my 10 year old Subaru is cool, but relatively speaking, I guess it is. It makes me look like an adventuress. I need to find a cheap kayak to strap on top. And stick on one of those cool bumper stickers.
Back to the battery. The jumper cables I keep in my car weren't there. There weren't any in the van, either. I asked The D about them and he was trying to tell me where they were. Something about opening something behind something. I asked him to come show me and he got mad and said, "It's too far to go all the way out there", meaning to their house. WTF good are jumper cables in your house? But at least he knew where they were, unlike me.
So I went over to my sweet neighbors'. Took the Lowe's gift card I've had for a month - a thank you for their help with getting Mother up and down the steps in her wheelchair the day before I took her to the hospital for the last time. I take great comfort in knowing that Mother and Daddy spent their last night together in the same bed at my house. And had their last meal together. Mother loved my chicken spaghetti - I made it very plain for her - she was a picky eater. She even asked for seconds. But when it was time for bed, Daddy and I had to carry her. Her knees were buckling. My strong, fiercely independent mother cried in my arms. Said she didn't want to be a burden. I reminded her of all the shitty diapers she'd changed. And told her that she wasn't a burden. And that she shouldn't worry. I'd take care of her and The D. And that I loved her so much. It broke my heart.
Back to the battery. Wonderful neighbor brought his battery charger. The D jumped in the van and started trying to crank it. I was afraid it would blow up. Neighbor said it wouldn't hurt anything. Hopefully, the charger will do the trick. We'll see. Not holding my breath. But D will be mad at me if it doesn't work.
Now something good. I sat down to check my stocks and even though the indexes were down, my stocks were up. Proof that I'm a contrarian. And that I've been damn lucky - I mean smart - lately.
Better get back to it. I've only worked 6 hours today (billable, anyway), and meetings and deadlines are looming...
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