I am fighting off some major fatigue right now. My adopted Ma, Cinders, took Jackie for 3 glorious days and 3 glorious nights leading up until Christmas Eve. Did I spend that time sleeping like a newborn babe? Nah. I tossed and turned. It�s official; my daughter is my security blanket. I can�t really sleep without her, except on the rare occasion that I drink. Then, I snort and slobber and snore my way through the night.
Drunken sleep is not good sleep though. I can tell this by the way my face is swollen when I wake up. No hangovers, just a swollen face with my eyeballs barely visible.
Usually when Jackie is gone, I clean like a maniac. This time, I did absolutely nothing, except for a little shopping. How embarrassing.
To get myself in the mood for Christmas, I listened to Soft Rock 102.5 everywhere I went this week. They played all Christmas music. I love it.
I felt myself trying to slip into depression this week and I fought the battle hard. This happens to me sometimes during this time of year. I find myself missing my mom and Aunt Rachel. My mom�s absence is so obvious. I think about her being able to be here to open presents with her granddaughter (who�s never met her) and I think about her smiles.
The holidays are a time for quiet reflection for me. A few stray tears may fall, but it�s part of losing someone I love.
The diamond earrings I ordered for Cinders arrived at 7:00 p.m. Thursday night via FedEx. I was so happy. After my encounter with the lady at the post office, Anna, I was so thankful that I have an adopted mom who really cares about me. Anna had lost both her parents, two weeks before Christmas. I couldn�t imagine.
The least I could do was give Cinders something she never expects from me. Diamonds.
Christmas Eve, I woke up at 8:00 a.m. I showered and even put make up on. I took a moment to sigh at my reflection in the mirror. I�m sick of being overweight.
I head out to my mom�s house. I get there about 11:00.
Mom said, �Did you bring me my surprise?�
I said, �Yep.�
She said, �Can I have it now?� Without a word, I handed her the pretty white box with the earrings in it. She opened the box and gasped, �I love it!� She gave me a big hug. Boy, was that worth it.
After conferring with everyone, I decide to go to Ms. Terry�s house to deliver presents for her and Lewis. I called her number and it was busy. So what�s new? I decide to head on over.
Jackie and I are off.
Ten minutes later, we get there and Lewis and Man-man answered the door. I hand Lewis his presents and I put Ms. Terry�s money-card holder envelope on the coffee table. I sit down and find out that Ms. Terry is at her sister Rita�s house.
We decide to wait a while. Lewis opened his presents from us. I had found him two Chevy Silverado trucks with remote controls. I had also given him an envelope with $20.00 inside so that he could buy himself a new Playstation 2 game.
He was pretty happy.
�Thank you, Ms. Melissa!� He said.
We waited for about an hour and Ms. Terry didn�t show. I had told my mom I�d be back by 1:30 so that we could open presents.
Back at Cinder�s, we were waiting for Karen (my cousin) and Maggie, my sis. Maggie was out with Mike making the rounds.
We did a lot of sit and wait that day. I did enjoy spending time chatting with my Uncle Rick, my cousin Darren (who recently decided not to re-enlist in the Navy) and my mom.
Jackie had broken out in hives (again!) from lying on the couch where the dog had laid. This is exasperating. We can give her benadryl, which might help with the itching. But the hives don�t go away until you remove the allergen.
We put anti-itch cr�me on the hives and gave Jackie some Dimetapp. Mom had also given Jackie an Aveeno bath the night before.
However, it was not likely that my sister was going to remove her dog, Phoebe. Besides, Phoebe has since the last time we saw her, had a bath. It just so happens that Jackie laid on the same spot Phoebe used to. Crap.
My aunt Ruth Ann talked to me about taking Jackie to an allergist. I really don�t want to do that, but I think it�s probably necessary. As time goes by, it appears that Jackie grows more allergic to cats and dogs. I thought it was the other way around.
We opened presents around 6. It�s a long story. But suffice it to say we didn�t get home until 7:45 Christmas Eve.
I did get some really nice gifts. My mom got me some pedicure tools. My sister Maggie got me a sweater. My aunt Ruth Ann got me a beautiful ornament that folds out to make a manger scene.
My favorite gift was a $30.00 gift card from Bath and Body Works from my Granny Great. She had drawn my name, so she was my secret Santa. She also got me one of those handy doo-dads that you put all your plastic bags in. I have always wanted to get one of those but never wanted to spend the money on one.
There were no Christmas movies on this year. Was this just a local thing with St. Louis? No �Frosty�, no �Rudolph�, no �A Christmas Story!� Sucks, sucks and double sucks.
Christmas morning was great. Jackie was the most thrilled with the Baby Born Hospital set. I kept having to remind her to open her presents, because she�d stop and start playing with that.
It is also apparent that Jackie got tons of art stuff. She�d better not ask me to buy her a crayon until September or so.
After we opened presents, I took Jackie out to breakfast at Denny�s. Boy, was it busy. And I wasn�t feeling very well. My sinuses have been feeling crappy for days. I couldn�t decide if I was still sick or if I�d slept to long. All day Christmas, I felt awful.
Anyway, we had breakfast.
After we came back home, we watched TV.
At 2:30 we headed up to Toni�s to do our gift exchange and to eat dinner together.
It was nice. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and green beans and macaroni salad.
Then, we opened presents.
She got me this incredible set of bowls. I can�t describe the color, except that it�s almost as deep red as red clay. I�m thrilled because I don�t have to buy more bowls. We never have enough bowls.
She also got me a nice organizer. God knows, I need some organization.
She opened up her gifts from me. You know me; I give girly stuff like hand soap and body scrub. Stuff that women don�t always buy for themselves. I got her some Christmas ornaments. My favorite was a black Santa. Toni had once told me that she found an old black man�s face to be so fascinating that she could stare for hours. She said their faces told a story. So, the black Santa was a hit.
After the gift exchange, I announced that I was exhausted. So, she sent me home with promises to send down pie and cake.
I went downstairs and watched some TV. I�m not good for much because I�ve been rushing around for weeks now. It�s finally starting to catch up with me.
I�ve been so busy that I didn�t notice that the few fruit flies in the house had multiplied by 4,000 and they were everywhere. I tried swatting them but I wasn�t quick enough.
I began to panic. About the time Jackie came downstairs, I told her we were going to find a store that was open and we were going to get some spray to kill the stupid fruit flies.
The only thing that was open was the Walgreen�s on Lindbergh. I bought a bottle of Raid, specifically for killing flies, gnats and fruit flies.
I also bought a bottle of bleach to pour in my garbage disposal, lest they be hatching in there. Then, I bought some of those flytraps.
When we came home I turned on the house fan, opened the front door and made Jackie stand outside. I fogged the crap out of those creatures. I chased them all over the house, spraying all the ones I could see.
After the house had aired out a little, I let Jackie back inside. My throat was a little raw, I guessed I had breathed in a little of that spray.
� an hour later, I walked into the kitchen and, I kid you not, every surface, including the floor, was covered in fruit flies. I must�ve disposed of about 100 of them. Gross.
I spent an hour disinfecting my kitchen.
Now, I could relax.
Sunday, I got up, and I noticed a few fruit flies. Not anything like the ones from the night before when I felt like I was being visited by one of the seven plagues from Egypt.
The sticky flytraps had done a pretty good job.
Still, I was seeing these tiny fruit flies in different spots. So.
Toni swore that there was a nest somewhere. I had already cleaned the kitchen.
Then, it occurred to me that sometimes the gerbils throw bedding out of their cage. I looked behind their bookcase. Yep, lots of bedding. And a month ago, we�d bought them fruit snacks. I vacuumed all of the bedding out from behind the bookcase. I threw the fruit snacks in the same bag that I dumped the vacuum�s dust cup into.
We will see tonight what happens.
May the force be with me.
11:26 am - December 27, 2004
Recent entries:
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