Mom & Me Journals Histories: 1999 - 2001

...has translated into Not Being Able to Sleep, an unusual phenomenon for me. I'm having those bizarre stuck-dream episodes where I'm half in contact with reality, enough to know I have no control and can't move away from where ever the hell the other part of me is. "Night terrors", I think they're called. I usually get an hour to an hour and a half of sleep before one of these dream spasms throws me up against a wall and my struggle finally wakes me up. It doesn't seem to matter when I try to sleep. Because I'm getting so little sleep I'm trying to catch some during the afternoon. It's peaceful enough with everyone else asleep and the whole outside wafting through the house from every direction. I stopped drinking coffee a little over 24 hours ago thinking it might be that but it wasn't.
    Conversely, sleeping is all my mother seems to be able to do right now. It always takes her a week or so to adjust. I hope she opts for not accompanying me down to the Valley on Monday and Wednesday when I pick up MFS. I think even if she sleeps her ass off all day up here she'll be better off than if she goes back and forth. Sometimes I wonder if letting her sleep is a form of elder abuse.
    A baby wolf spider (which is about as big as a typical adult house spider and hairy) just sauntered down the wall and away down the hall. I'm the only one in the household who likes spiders. I am constantly protecting them from the cats and the mother. I think the spiders know this because I only see them at night anymore.

    I'm sure there're many things I should be doing outside the home today. But there's lots to do here, putting stuff away (my mother has too much stuff and she is a stuff person so getting rid of it will have to wait until she no longer recognizes it which may never happen), cleaning out the bathrooms, wiping the floors down, discussing the ins and outs of this area with the cats: They've already spit at a variety of passing creatures through the back arcadia screen door.

    Well, it's just so damn beautiful and refreshing up here I think we're just going to hang out today and enjoy the view, both inside and out. I've been putting things away all morning. I was so excited about waking up in Prescott that I woke up at 0230! The kitties were excited, too. I went back to bed about 0500 and reawoke at 1000. Mom is sweeping [To the reader: Family vernacular for "sleeping"; long history; don't ask]. She was up earlier when it was so exciting. We had the house open last night. It was wonderful!
    So on Monday we go down and close out the other house. Then we come back up. On Wednesday one or both of us goes to pick you up in Phoenix. Then, The Best Day Of My Or Anyone Elses' Whole Damn Life commences. I hope you're ready for this. I mean it!

    I finally decided, fuck it, and got rid of the idea of us having answering machines. I got rid of our "speed dialing" feature and we now have Voice Messaging. I'm going to set it up on both phones in a minute but I just wanted you to know: When we're not here the Bell System of Companies will be. Mom will not be able to operate Voice Mail so the messages will be safe.
    I'll see you soon! So will Mom. She'll be so surprised that I'm in from Seattle and you're in from Florida at the same time! Fun, fun, fun!

    We made it.
    I came up, went down and came back up, arriving at about 1730 before the bad part of sunset. We still have a lot to do on Monday to close down the house but we'll [Or I'll; as of now Mom says she's going. We'll see.] get it done.
    It is gorgeous up here. On the one hand, I don't want to go to bed tonight. On the other, I can't wait to wake up in the morning.
    I'm doing okay. I am still breathing in the shallow range (emotionally, that is; physically it's just the opposite) mainly because deep breathing hurts. I feel like I've been dropped into a foreign country. A really foreign country.
    What a beautiful night. Mom went to bed early, The Girls are still prowling the house, the house is open and cooling down and I think I'm going to make myself some coffee. With Orange Extract. Mmmm.

     Today I take the cats (all three, including Mom) up to Prescott then turn around, come down, pick a bale o' computer and go back up. I expect to have all that done soon after sundown. I decided The Girls would be less likely to freak and run and hide if we not pack the car before putting them in. I'm also going to feed them each a quarter tablet of Bonine, which is a motion-sickness preventative, the type that induces drowsiness. That should keep them, at least, calm enough to catch and transport to the car. They are very quick to notice infinitesimal changes in routine that might mean a trip. I'm hoping that if The Big Girl has at least one pleasant trip she may not be much of a problem anymore. Probably a pipe dream.
     Mom is still surprised about going up to Prescott. We'll be back down Monday to close up this house so Mom is thinking that we're just going up for the weekend. I know though, once we get up there, she won't want to leave for awhile. It was beautiful on Tuesday. It will be beautiful today and the irises will have bloomed, several whites and I think at least one purple.
     MFS will be here from the 16th to the 22nd. I have reminded her that we know how to operate all our home's machinery. She reset all our appliances when she was here before. I'm not sure when MCS is coming out.

    I don't know if Mom will find your most recent movie suggestions interesting or not. I certainly never thought she'd like Gladiator enough to watch it two times in a row. Nor did I think she'd like The Patriot. Who knows. Mom will get a kick out of sitting in her rocking chair and eating pop corn, may having an occasional root beer, and watching more than one of her daughters watch movies together. She really likes stuff like that. Are you crying, yet?