Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Friday, October 3, 2014
Midnight's idea of spending a lazy Friday did not include hiding from the vacuum cleaner. And as you can see, she is not amused.
Well, let's start with the good news: The power is back on at my mom's house, and my living room looks better than it has in ages!
It's not difficult to connect the two dots. After yesterday's storms swept through, over 185,000 homes were left without power in North Texas. My mom's house was one of them. Fortunately the temperatures were cool and they were able to open windows and stay comfortable. Yet, with two hospital stays in as many months*, I wasn't sure my mom was up to another night in a home without power. The options were a hotel or here.
I've been in FenCon Panic Mode for most of the last two months, so you can imagine the state of my living room. "Worse than usual" ought to about cover it. I decided I'd better at least get that room in shape for company. Chris helped me move crap to the garage storage area. (We had brought a bunch of stuff in to go through it, but with the heat and everything else that happened... So it's back. But for how long? For. How. Long?) I hauled out the vacuum cleaner and got going.
By the time I'd finished the floor and the second couch the phone rang. Power was restored. After only 18 hours. I think their record was 22, and that was during a heat wave.
Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. I finished vacuuming and did the dusting. The room looks a lot better, but there's still one pile left. I just pooped out. But hey, it's done.
My cleaning plan for this week was to tackle the desk and sewing area if I had the energy. Oh, well. Ghu knows how long it would have been before I tackled the living room otherwise. I do have some cunning plans for the rest of the weekend, most of which involve relaxing. And beer.
Have a good weekend!
* I know I'd mentioned at least one hospital visit on Facebook, and for the sake of the old lumber-attic, here we go: Mom had a stroke in early August. We were dining at a restaurant in Dallas, and fortunately we were very close to Parkland. Say what you will, but they're a level one stroke center. They got here the serious clot busters, and she was home in a few days, and back bowling in a couple of weeks. This was no TIA - her entire right side had gone dead and she'd lost the ability to speak. Her neurologist said she'd dodged a bullet. Last week she was back with the same stuff that got her in May of last year. She did her vampire impression with four pints of blood, got probes in both ends, and nothing out of the ordinary was found. She's still weak from the blood loss, but the doc says she'll eventually be fine. All she can do right now is take care of herself. Which she does anyway. And those of you who know my mom know she's pissed to be down and not able to do much. She's stubborn, but in a good way.