Coming Home, the vacation aftermath

"That'll be $485."
$485! It's outrageous what a plumber charges.

While E and I were in Grand Rapids my mother was staying at our house. We needed the mail to be checked everyday (I was waiting on a letter and needed someone to call if it arrived), and I had spent the grocery money the week before on bulbs for her to plant. She loves to garden and I thought she would enjoy putzing around in the garden for a week.

Not so. She moved a few plants to get ready to plant bulbs but never got them planted.

The weather was cold and rainy so she was in pain (she needs surgery on her knee but doesn't want to have it done). She couldn't watch TV because we don't get anything here and it took her a while to figure out how to use the vcr even after she had been given a lesson and written instructions before we left. She felt like Martha Stewart, locked up but with the ability to walk around the yard.

All these things led to abdominal panic. One panic led to another when she forgot how to flush a low flow toliet. For several days she couldn't get it to clear but the panic continued so there were additions to the mess. She finally called and asked what to do, none of our suggestions worked and I told her to call a plumber and get an estimate. She called a plumber and he arrived, did work and refused to leave without being paid. My father gave him his credit card number over the phone to get the guy out of my house.

I returned to find gardening tools and small piles of dirt on my kitchen floor, A large pile of dishes in the sink and on the counters, and the splatter of deep frying coating the stove and counters, vegetables in a near liquid state and brown limes in my refrigerator (they were FREE!). The house had been cleaned before I left but you would never have guessed it.

We arrived home at about 7:30pm on Saturday and my mother was itching to leave. She scurried around gathering up her belongings as I unpacked the most important things from the car. She grabbed her bags and got in the car. I drove her home (about a 25 min trip) and waited to be sure she got in her house ok. The last time I dropped her off she had tripped on the stairs and I wanted to be sure it wouldn't happen again. As I sat in the car and watched a sinking feeling came over me. "She has forgotten her keys."

I walked her back to the car and decided our collective hunger must be fed. We went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and E refused to eat what he said he wanted when we ordered. Instead he wanted Nana's corn. After dinner I drove back home, ran in and got her keys. Then I drove back to her house and then back home. After I put E in bed I discovered her medication, her pillows and a bag of clothing. I was going to have to do it all over again tomorrow.

Sunday I drove back to my mother's place and picked her up after dropping off the things she left. She came back to my house "to finish what she had started". She planted a few bulbs and acted as supervisor for a lot of other work. I swear I should have no butt now, I worked it off that day. While we were digging we came across wires -- uh oh! Time to call Julie, the dig lady. I was told to stop all digging, even digging with a trowel, for 48 hours. The utilities would be out to put up flags and spray paint the ground where pipes and wires are. My yard now looks like an obstacle course.

Lessons learned:
* Have the mail held at the post office when you go on vacation.
* Don't call Bishop Plumbing if you need a plumber.
* Call Julie whenever you plan to disturb the ground. You're supposed to call even if you are going to drive a tent stake.
* Always ask mom if she has her keys.
* Never ask mom to housesit again.