This cat has gotta go!

So, I'm sitting here in the living room, writing another eHow (yes, still at it...) and I hear a 'thud' in the kitchen. Now, I know it's not Mom as she's upstairs taking a nap after her shower so I'm sitting here thinking, 'What dog did that....' No sooner did the thought surface than Killian came flying into the living room to me. If he had a tail, it would have been between his legs. He was all but crying. I laughed out loud as his ears were back, his eyes a bit wild. I think he thought he was about to get it and I believe he was running to tell me he didn't do it (for once).

Anyway, I snuck into the kitchen and found JB on the kitchen counter, in the little bowl I keep there for daily discards. The sucker saw me and flew off the counter, ears back. Rat bastard cat....

New 'do'

Well, last week, it crested 50 here in DC so I managed to talk Mom out of her chair and over to the best hairdresser in DC (BFF Mark) to give Gert a new do - she was looking a bit like a raggamuffin. She came out gorgeous though, as can be evidenced by her photo. Mom and I then went shopping for cosmetics (for me, not her - she's gorgeous enough) and stopped to meet up with John and Bobbi at our local haunt, La Mex where we all bellied up for an hour or so. She got lots of admiring looks and had a ball sitting there for a bit before she pooped out. So, back to her easy chair it was. But, we had a great time.

An outing with Gert

Got Gert out of her chair again last week and took her on errands with me. Pharmacy (check), CVS (check), mall (check), Costco (no-check as the parking lot was totally full!), and then over to Roy's Place to meet up with Kimberly for lunch. Roy's Place, if you don't know it, is tucked underneath the bridge in Gaithersburg and has been in operation since 1955. Their claim to fame is a menu of over 200 different sandwich concoctions - there's everything you can imagine, including tongue and calves liver. I figured this would be a good spot for Mom to get something different.

So, we belly on up to the table, Gert orders a:

Corn beef on rye.

Yep, you heard it here first. I suppose that, as we age, our tastes change too, become more simple. I've noticed that she's not eating as much protein as she used to so I trick her into it sometimes - peanut butter crackers, a piece of cheese hidden in the middle of a sandwich and, my go-to high calorie find - Ensure Plus (370 calories a can but she'll only drink 1/2 at a time). I feel only slightly guilty about these maneuvers and often tell her afterwards what she really ate.

I think she might be fighting a cold here and have been keeping her on Cordicidin (one of the few cold meds you can use when you have high blood pressure). She's definitely been off her feed and we've had a few tense times with me pleading for her to eat, just something. But, she's not getting any thinner since she has plenty of times when she eats 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches and 3 dinners (plus snacks). She's also been pretty quiet so I've been bringing in entertainment. Since John was in WV this past weekend and Bobbi is on one of her world travels, Kim came over one night and Jeff was here yesterday. Visitors are very necessary to keeping Gert propped up. And, Matee is back today when John drops her off on his way to work so that should cheer Mom up.

American Idol is upon us again.

So, it's cold out and Mom's been pretty much housebound lately, watching a lot of tv - she spends a lot of time on the 'Who's your daddy shows,' as she refers to the 'Judge shows'. We watch a lot of the food network too and actually try a few recipes here and there. All in all, a slow winter is being had by all. But, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Could be way worse.

So, we're both amused and chagrined to find that American Idol is starting again - We're not going to spend another season watching this show, are we', we ask each other?

So, we dialed it up. We talked about how Dad was sitting right here with us, rolling his eyes and asking:

'We're not going to spend another season watching this show, are we?' And he knew the answer too.

So, here we sit, watching the beginning auditions, most of which are truly horrible. But, the time spent has paid off in a few Gertisms:

1. A pretty horrible girl was warbling an equally horrible song. Mom looks at me and says 'How much is bus fare in Boston?' 'Why,' I ask (already knowing the answer). She looks at me innocently and says 'Because they need to send that girl back.'

Then, we were talking about Bobbi, John's and my local haunt, La Mex and some of the patrons there. There's one particular man, we'll call him Bobblehead, that just showers you with spittle when he gets tipsy. I came in the other night, freshly spittled, and lamented the fact to Mom. She looks at me and says:

'Now, Lori. You KNOW you need an umbrella when you're talking to Jimmy!'

Cracked me up. That woman is not right.