What the Hell Does One Do??

[Granny]

I'm kind of at the end of my rope right now ... in other words, I don't like a lot of uproar in my life and I have just had about enough of it for the last week. On the one hand, you're dealing with a very caring Granny; and on the other had, you're dealing with a ranting Granny. Sometimes I just need to run off at the mouth.

My youngest daughter called one day last week and her ne'er do well, jackass of an ex-husband was in the hospital. He had a severe stroke and an aneurism and bleeding on his brain and his blood pressure was off the charts. Well, he owes her a shit-load of back child support and now that my grandson is 18 the state is going after his butt hole father. But all of that got set aside, because the fool IS my grandson's father and the neurosurgeon thinks he's going to die - so it's the right thing to do. You put things in perspective and health issues outweigh child support issues. My daughter was advised to call the Red Cross and get her son home. So she did that, and the Red Cross got with the doctors, the hospital, the hospital social worker and the military. Paperwork for Social Security disability payments got started and the military got his leave and transport from Korea to VA taken care of.

Then I get a call from a day shift co-worker called before I went on night shift that our little 96-year-old lady had a bad fall that morning and she was at the ER with her for the duration. Little lady thank God didn't break anything but she's bruised all to hell and in pain. Great.

Next day I have to see another little 96-year of lady, cook dinner for her for the week and give her a good bath for the week. My boss is out of town and she personally takes care of this lady because everybody else refuses to go to this house. Well, I've seen dirty houses before so I told her I would cover for her while she's gone. So ... I've got four burners going on the stove, giving the little lady her bath, the house has NO A/C, the windows are all shut, not a hint of a breeze, I'm sweating like a pig and about to pass out. That house was hotter than the hinges of hell.

And I have to continue my little rant later as I have to leave now to go on my second full shift for the day. I know y'all are just loving this drama and trauma.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Hang in there, Granny. Ain't life a walk in the park?

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

Why doesn't someone clean the 96-year-old lady's dirty house for her? Get some volunteers together, whatever.

 

[Granny]

Yes, JakeStarkey, life is one big stroll in the park. Right now it seems more like some bad witch's black forest. And when I closed my little this morning I was tired and grumpy and when I reached my second shift little lady's house - I looked at my watch and it was, "Oh, my God! I had misread my watch and had arrived on duty an hour early. That screwed me up for the rest of the day. I have my routine down to a science and that one hour just threw me completely out of whack for the day. At least my little lady was in a good mood and she ate well and that makes me happy.

My grandson got home from Korea last night all safe and sound. In the meantime, unknown to him because he was in transit, his father is having massive temper tantrums in the hospital and throwing shit all over the place and determined to sign himself out of the hospital AMD. And his equally jackass of a mother who has his power of attorney was whining because he just had so much on him and he was so stressed, blah, blah, blah - is blaming everybody but sonny-boy for the mess he's in. Mother-f'er!! Stop whining and tell them to RESTRAIN your precious child and/or sedate his ass before he blows out another aneurism or has a freaking heart attack!!! When I talked to my daughter this morning something happened at the hospital and he was not signed out and my grandson was on his way to see his father. I can't wait to hear what the hell was going on.

THEN while I was working yesterday I got a text from the love of my life high school flame and he's about to have a nervous breakdown. We're still where we were some 50+ years ago - through our marriages to other people, children, and divorces, time and space, etc. His ex has put him through financial hell on child support and one child has graduated from high school and left home some time ago. His daughter is a rising senior and she's miserable as hell and has been begging him for a year to please let her come live with him because she can't stand much more from her mother - and her mother wants her gone ... he's about physically ill from all the uproar and needs some down time and space. And I understand that - we know we're still where we always were with each other. I just wish I could do something to help him, but I can't. And I can't afford to be taken down into any kind of depression. So we're both backing off for awhile.

I have one more day of double shift work and then one of my ladies will have my undivided attention until the 21st of the month. My boss will be back, my work calendar will be clear til the end of the month and I may make another trip back to VA if for no other reason than to see my grandson. If his father should croak, he will need to have his maternal family with him. I wasn't planning to make another trip to VA anytime soon, but family situations come ahead of other plans. God, that's another 7 to 7-1/2 hours driving one way.

I'm sure I'll survive all this turmoil, I just hate having so much of it at one time.

 

[boedicca]

The only good thing about everything piling on at once is that it is temporary and will pass.

Remember to breathe, hun...and hugs.

 

[Granny]

Why doesn't someone clean the 96-year-old lady's dirty house for her? Get some volunteers together, whatever.

Well, she has a son who lives with her and appears to be relatively useless and her other son is a long-haul driver and nobody else in the family gives a damn from what I understand. It's sad ... but there's a whole lot of that going on all over the place. The truck driver got us involved as far as her personal care is concerned. And these things are her "treasures." She has some tissues, scraps of paper, etc. in her shirt pockets all the time - and she was REAL CLEAR that I was to transfer these treasures from her dirty clothes to her clean clothes when I was bathing her. It needs to be done, but her family should be taking care of it and it's just not happening. It's like homeless people pushing grocery carts on the streets - this stuff they pick up are their treasures and they guard them ferociously.

 

[Granny]

The only good thing about everything piling on at once is that it is temporary and will pass.

Remember to breathe, hun...and hugs.

What would I do without you, Boe? xo

 

[boedicca]

The only good thing about everything piling on at once is that it is temporary and will pass.

Remember to breathe, hun...and hugs.

What would I do without you, Boe? xo

What would we do without you!

XO B@Y

 

[TheOldSchool]

Good luck with everything Granny. Boedicca is right that all hard times will pass. They're still pretty awful.

I PROMISE you this will cheer you up at least for a little bit:

26 Moments That Restored Our Faith In Humanity This Year

 

[LadyGunSlinger]

I'm sorry Granny that you're going through so much stress and pain in your life right now. I hope it gets better for you soon .. Hang in there!

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

Man, I can identify, Granny.

First, my husband quit his job and went on unemployment for nearly a year and then he got a job that pays less than he was making in unemployment. I am running up credit card debt and struggling to pay the bills. I have been buying groceries using a credit card for the past four weeks.

I've worked at the same place for 20 years and now the company's been sold. I just found out that I will still have a job, but everything is going to be changing and I really have no idea what will be expected of me.

Our job site will be moving clear across town. I currently live right across the street from my workplace and will now have to drive clear across town. That may not seem like a big deal, but I am agoraphobic and my problem is with driving, traversing intersections, in particular. : ( I can have terrible panic attacks, life is hardly worth living if I have to suffer them frequently. I also have an old car, and with our current financial situation, I can't even imagine buying a new one.

And also, with finances in such dire straights, I keep getting hit with unexpected expenses...a pit bull attacked one of my little dogs and I had a $350 vet bill, my clothes dryer broke down ($200), my oven broke down ($200), I had to go to the emergency room with an apparent gall bladder attack (hundreds of dollars, all the bills aren't in yet)...there were others, I can't even remember everything.

Basically, I feel like my life is falling apart. I have so much on my shoulders, several rescued animals who depend on me. We fought so hard to buy this house, it would kill me to lose it.

But I will not give up. I think it is possible we will get through this. Time will tell.

I didn't think that when I turned 60 everything would get tougher. I guess I'll never get to slow down. Oh, well.

If I had it all to do over, there would be no men in my life. Just be self-reliant, don't build any hopes around men helping you out. Because in my experience, they don't help, not really. And once they discover you are a strong woman they lean on you and suck you dry.

 

[Granny]

Man, I can identify, Granny.

First, my husband quit his job and went on unemployment for nearly a year and then he got a job that pays less than he was making in unemployment. I am running up credit card debt and struggling to pay the bills. I have been buying groceries using a credit card for the past four weeks.

I've worked at the same place for 20 years and now the company's been sold. I just found out that I will still have a job, but everything is going to be changing and I really have no idea what will be expected of me.

Our job site will be moving clear across town. I currently live right across the street from my workplace and will now have to drive clear across town. That may not seem like a big deal, but I am agoraphobic and my problem is with driving, traversing intersections, in particular. : ( I can have terrible panic attacks, life is hardly worth living if I have to suffer them frequently. I also have an old car, and with our current financial situation, I can't even imagine buying a new one.

And also, with finances in such dire straights, I keep getting hit with unexpected expenses...a pit bull attacked one of my little dogs and I had a $350 vet bill, my clothes dryer broke down ($200), my oven broke down ($200), I had to go to the emergency room with an apparent gall bladder attack (hundreds of dollars, all the bills aren't in yet)...there were others, I can't even remember everything.

Basically, I feel like my life is falling apart. I have so much on my shoulders, several rescued animals who depend on me. We fought so hard to buy this house, it would kill me to lose it.

But I will not give up. I think it is possible we will get through this. Time will tell.

I didn't think that when I turned 60 everything would get tougher. I guess I'll never get to slow down. Oh, well.

If I had it all to do over, there would be no men in my life. Just be self-reliant, don't build any hopes around men helping you out. Because in my experience, they don't help, not really. And once they discover you are a strong woman they lean on you and suck you dry.

All of which make my little "traumas" nonsense. I did have some comic relief last night and it was just perfect. I was so damned tired when I left my day shift little lady (10:00am to 6:00pm - although I admit I got screwed up on my time yesterday and worked 9:00am to 5:00pm). I went to my night shift little lady (10:00pm to 8:00am) and I was telling her about having to cook meals for someone a couple days earlier. I said, "I woke up here in your house in the middle of the night and said 'Oh my God! I forgot to put the brown sugar in the sweet potatoes!'" We looked at each other and I said, "What kind of person forgets to put brown sugar in sweet potatoes?" She burst out laughing and about ready to roll out of her chair. Instant relief!! Today was the first day I have wakened feeling like a human being. When I was getting ready to leave her house this morning to go to my little morning lady, my night lady sort of lowered her head and leaned toward me and said, "Give me a kiss." I gave her a peck on top of her head and said, "Do you want me to start calling you Mamaw?" She said I could. Now, that's a great start to the day!!

Today was my last day for double shifts and I will now be with my little night lady until the 21st. After which I have the rest of the month off. Actually, I DO have to go back one more time to give this lady her bath and apologize PROFUSELY for screwing up her sweet potatoes - I mean, I was born and raised in the South - who the hell forgets to put brown sugar in sweet potatoes?! She'll have her 96th birthday a day or two after bath day and I think I might pick up a little vase of flowers for her. I think she would like that. It would certainly brighten up her dirty house and maybe make up for the sweet potatoes.

My grandson called this morning and he said they still can't stop his dad's bleeding but are going to try this one medication and if it doesn't work they will have to operate on him. With his blood pressure through the roof surgery could kill him. The aneurism is ruptured and the continued pressure from bleeding on his brain can give him brain loss issues.

But, no, Kooshdakhaa, I do not rely on men and do not plan to ever marry again. But my old flame and I just have this enduring love between us ... through high school, through Vietnam, over the passing years ... he was a good kid - we were both good kids and we're both good people now.