dianaschnuth

I made it through a couple more boxes and my trunk tonight. I now have a box of keepsakes (i.e. things I don’t want to get rid of, but am not going to need to use or display for a while) and a couple small piles of stuff on the living room floor. Stacks of paper and art supplies, mainly.

This begs the question: where does this junk live?

After I get the small bedroom clear of my junk, I’m going to need to clean and reorganize my desk area. That’s where most of this shit seems to be migrating.

This is just ridiculous.

Next task: clean out the closet in the small bedroom and reorganize our games. Maybe thrift or eBay some of the ones we’re never going to play. That’s going to be massive, too.

Saturday: Aaron, Mom and I went to the Crosby Festival at the Toledo Botanical Gardens. Had Italian sausages for lunch. Walked around for a few hours, took pictures with Mom’s new camera, ate frozen cheesecake on a stick, and headed home. Wore a halter top, and got a little sunburnt on my shoulders. (Finally, the long-awaited early summer sunburn!)

Later, Aaron went to Kris Heath’s bachelor party dinner, so Mom and I went to Kroger and got the makings for lasagna. Turned out awesome. Even left some for Aaron. We all played Killer Bunnies when Aaron got home, and I think Mom enjoyed it, even though she had a hard time reading the cards.

Sunday: We all ate lunch at the Reynolds Garden Café, then I went on a walk at Wildwood with Mom. After our walk, all three of us went to Borders at Franklin Park, walked around the mall, and ate some Dippin’ Dots. When we got home, Mom and I played some Tetris Attack, then we all went to Red Lobster for dinner. Mmm, Ultimate Feast.

Monday: Ate lunch at the Dragon Buffet, relaxed at home, took Mom to the bus station around 4:00. (Aaron took off of work so he could drive, and so we could have some one-on-one time later…) Mom’s bus was a half-hour late when we finally left at 5:30. Turns out that her bus ended up being over an hour late, and the bus we’d thought was hers was actually another bus. At any rate, on the way home, I figured out where I missed my turn on Thursday night. I don’t feel so bad for missing the turn onto Hill — it was hard to be sure it was the right turn even when it was light out, much less in the dark.

Of course, after a weekend of having my Mom in the house, Aaron and I made out like monkeys when we got home. And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

Overall, it was an enjoyable visit. Longer than usual, but that was cool. It’ll be a slightly different dynamic if Mom ever stays with us for longer than one weekend, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, I suppose. This weekend was all about getting Mom to relax and have a good time and not worry about all that stressful shit at home. I think it was a success.

Thursday night: Got to the bus station OK. Bus was only 10 minutes late after a 24-hour-plus bus trip. Proceeded to miss my turn off of Detroit while coming home and drove around the seedy part of Toledo for AN ENTIRE HOUR. Finally got home by taking I-75 North to I-475 West and South. After Mom and I got to the house, she called Gary, who proceeded to call back at least twice after midnight.

Friday: Woke up at 10:30am to find Mom already awake. Hung out and talked until Aaron got up around noon. Went to lunch at the Happy Rose buffet. Mom and I then went shopping. Best Buy didn’t have the selection of digital cameras she wanted, so we went to Circuit City, where she ended up purchasing the display model of the Kodak P830. Got Mom some socks and reading glasses at the Dollar Tree. Got me a skirt at Dots. Got Mom some shorts and got me a new convertible bra and some body wash at Target.

Came home, saw Aaron off to work. Did my PUSH workout while Mom watched. Started making dinner. Gary called. I made spaghetti while Mom talked to Gary. Ate dinner while watching Victor/Victoria. Played with Mom’s camera. Talked. Then Aaron came home early! Yaye! Mom went to bed just before midnight, and now here I am, blogging it all. 🙂

Saturday? Crosby Festival in the early afternoon, then Aaron goes to bachelor dinner with Kris Heath and company, while Mom and I possibly make something special for dinner here.

It’s nice having Mom around. I hope her circumstances back home aren’t such that she’ll need to move in with us, though… for many reasons, but certainly not because I wouldn’t want her around.

In about three hours, my Mom should be rolling into Toledo via Greyhound. I’ve taken a four-day weekend from work, and Mom and I are going to spend those four days catching up and chilling out.

I could do with some chilling out right now, actually. I’m super-stressed about driving into downtown Toledo after dark and hanging out at the bus station. I’ve been high-strung about it all day, even though it’s only 15 minutes away from my house. I’ve never driven there myself; I’ve only been picked up or dropped off, and that was years ago. I mean, I’ve got my maps printed out and highlighted and directions all ready to go and everything… but those one-way streets make it seem like such a maze, especially in the dark. I’m sure I’m over-reacting, though.

After I successfully get Mom home from the Greyhound station, we’ll have four days to do whatever. She only has a few requirements: Crosby Festival, Chinese buffet, and maybe the zoo. Oh, yeah, and a walk around Wildwood Metropark. I definitely want her to play Killer Bunnies and Carcassonne with Aaron and me, among other games. (Mom likes games.)

Apart from that, though, I’m not sure what we’re going to do for four days. We don’t really live in a “walkable” part of town; all we can really walk to from here is the rest of our neighborhood. Not like BG, where we could walk around campus, or to a coffee shop. Not that Mom likes coffee. At all.

Anyway, I’m sure we’ll think of something. For now, I have a few hours to get unfreaked about driving 15 minutes to the bus station, and to do a little cleaning. I already vacuumed the couch yesterday, so that Mei wouldn’t bother Mom’s allergies quite as bad. Now all that’s left for tonight is dishes, kitchen table, bathroom floor. The basics.

If I don’t post again this weekend, just know I’m out having a killer time with my Mom. 🙂