from the porches

window of time

 
Practically every day of every week I have to drive Truett to appointments . . . or my mom.  But, I think I'm getting smarter.  Schedule one for him in the morning and one for her in the afternoon.  Then I won't have to be driving every day of the week. 

Well, this morning Truett had an Opthamologist appointment in Gainesville . . . and clever me, I scheduled the McCall's Pest Control technicians to spray Mom's house at 1:00 this afternoon.  "Kill two birds with one stone," I say.  One trip out and one trip in leads to two things accomplished! 

 
Mind you, when I spoke to the receptionist at McCall's Pest Control, she flat out told me she could not guarantee me a definite time. . . It had to be a window of time.  So, the appointment window was set for 1:00-1:30. 

Since I had Truett with me today, I reminded him that we would be sitting at Mom's house for approximately thirty minutes in that window of time.  Well, about ten minutes into the window Truett became agitated.  "They should be here by now!" 

I agreed, but calmly reminded him we still had twenty more minutes left in the window of time.

 
But being a business man and all that . . . maybe just being a man, Truett said, "Call them and tell them we've been waiting!" 

I hedged and fudged and finally got so exasperated with the ranting and raving from Truett that I dialed 411 on my cell phone, and got a direct call into McCall's Pest Control.  (God only knows how much that will cost me!).

 
After a few minutes on the phone, I was connected with the "technician".  He apologized and said he did not write down our information; and in fact, was in Lake City.  Do you want to know what happened next? 

 
 
I cried.  The tears just popped right out and I sobbed.  I certainly didn't know I was going to do this.  After all, it was just the pest control man. 

And dear sweet Truett said, "Don't cry!  It's not a big thing!"

But, it was to me.  I have no window of time.  When we have appointments to get to at a specific time, then we are there at that time!

But, something good came out of today's window of time.  As I drove Truett home, I told him I was going to go to the Ichetucknee Springs and take pretty pictures. . . that that would make me feel better.

 
Truett asked if he was invited, but I reminded him that I cannot push a wheelchair in the sand.  So I went alone to the South entrance of the Ichetucknee River.  I stood at the dock and reflected on my melt-down.  And I cried some more.

But there is a bright side. At the south entrance there is a paved path that I've never noticed before; so when the grandchildren come for a sleepover on Saturday, I will be able to take Truett and Maddie and Oliver to the Ichetucknee Springs.  And that will be fun!

By the way, is your life built around a window of time? 

As an educator, mine never was.

Astounding!

 

 

 

 

put them in nature

 
Entertaining a seven year old and an almost five year old is a challenge.  I'm not used to entertaining.  I'm used to bossing. . . "Do this.  Do that.  Sit up straight.  Follow my outline, etc."

 
That's right.  I'm used to seeing children for one hour, sending them out the door, and receiving new ones.  But, keeping your grandchildren for a sleepover and many hours the next day, is a big challenge.

 
There is only one way to keep the sanity.  Put them in nature! 

As a '50's child, we had no TV to sit in front of for hours.  No.  Our mom's said, "Go outside and play" . . . and then they locked the screened door.  I remember being so hot outdoors that I (and maybe my sister) convinced my cousin to drink "Coolant" because it had the word cool in it, so it must have been cool.  My cousin ended up in the hospital having her stomach pumped.

 
Well, today when I heard that first whine and that first, "Stop it!" I decided to put my grandchildren in nature.  We swam yesterday, and with the threat of thunderstorms today, based on the Weather Channel, I decided to take Maddie and Oliver to the park.  "Let's get that energy out!" I told them.

 
After the park, we ate lunch, and I let them watch Sponge Bob Square Pants on Nana's waterbed.  But it wasn't too long before I heard, "Quit it!" 

Oops!  Back to nature!

 
Maddie and Oliver and I wandered toward our woods, with both kids exclaiming, "Eeeew!  A spider web!"   So I walked them toward a cleared field next to our property and told them next year we can look at cows.  "We might even name them," I said.

 
The elderly gentleman who cleared the field drove up the cleared field toward us and he stopped his jeep.  Then we chatted for a minute or two.  I told him the kids and I were looking for a climbing tree; and then he told me of the perfect climbing tree on his cleared property.  "An historic tree," he said. "It's on a national tree registry."   Mr. Kirby offered to drive us to the tree, so we hopped in his jeep.

 
Mr. Plato Kirby assisted Maddie and Oliver into the tree.

 

Meanwhile Mr. Kirby and I remembered our childhoods without TV . . . only trees.

 

I thought it was a great day today putting the grandchildren in nature.

 

By the way, Maddie and Oliver made their "Ants on a Log"; but they were not excited about them.  Oliver didn't like celery.  Maddie didn't like raisins.  So they basically licked the peanut butter off the celery.  Plus, Maddie told me cream cheese is better than peanut butter.

Ffffft!

worms in mud

 
Before my grandchildren, Madeline and Oliver, arrived today, I made "Worms in Mud".  Truett and I met Sam for lunch today to transfer the children to us.  At one point, they were a little rowdy in Kazbors; so I said, "If you are really good today, I'll let you eat "Worms in Mud".

 
Both the children were good enough . . . but, hey, we all know that even if they weren't good enough, they would be eating "Worms in Mud" at Nana's house tonight anyway.

 
Chocolate pudding with gummi worms were a hit with both the grandchildren; however, the more I watched them slurp up the worms, the more disgusted I became.

 
"That's gross!" I squealed.

 
But it didn't matter.  I surprised the grandchildren and that made them happy.

Tomorrow the menu includes "Ants on a Log".

hissy fit

 
I will tell you up front that none of the photographs you see on this post have anything to do with the story I'm about to tell you.  Most of the photographs were taken in the wetlands at Magnolia Park Rehab Center, except for this one which was taken in High Springs on the way home from rehab.

 
"So just who had a hissy fit?"  you ask.

Well, it would be the Honorable Mayor of Fort White, the owner of Advent Glass Works, Inc., and my husband, Truett George. 

It's true. 

This afternoon Truett had a doctor's appointment in Gainesville at 3:00 p.m. with the ENT surgeon. 

 
After thirty minutes of watching a Disney cartoon in the waiting room, I noticed Truett looking at his watch.  Mind you, I was thankful to be just sitting in a doctor's office doing nothing except checking Facebook or playing Scrabble on my Droid.

 
Then, at 4:00 p.m. Truett asked me to remind the check-in staff that we had been waiting one whole hour.  The check-in staff member said the doctor was running behind today and his personal nurse was about to make an announcement to that effect.

 
Well, at 4:15 p.m. Truett wheeled himself up to the check-in counter and said, "I don't know what's taking so long.  My appointment was at 3:00 p.m. and everyone has been taken before me!"

The check-in person said, "Well, there are three other doctors who are seeing these other patients."

Truett seemed okay with this for about another ten minutes.  Then he said, "That's it!  Push me over there!" 

"Oh, Lord," I mumbled.

So I pushed Truett over to the check-in window and Truett snatched up the sign-in clipboard.

And that's when he threw his hissy fit!

 
It seems the receptionist lied.  EVERYONE had signed their name, the date, and their doctor's name. . . . and the doctor's name all matched Truett's doctor's name.

By this time, however, the receptionists were getting a little nervous because Truett was getting a little loud.  I saw them muttering to each other and one receptionst left the office. 

Soon after, a special nurse came to talk to Truett.  She led us to a special little room  away from the general public.  I felt we were only seconds before the SWAT team would crash down the door, weapons cocked, and ready to fire.

Anyway, the nurse explained that the doctor was forty-five minutes behind (which was also not true because we were already into the hour and a half lateness).

Well, Truett gave this person a few choice LOUD CUSSING words and she gave him a new appointment time for next week. . . 7:50 in the morning.  "Just great!" I thought.  Do you know how early I have to get up now?  "Just great!"

On the way home Truett asked me how I felt about the whole situation; and I said, "Embarrassed!" 

So that's it.  End of story.

It just goes to show you that for some doctors' appointments, you have to throw a hissy fit to be seen.  But wait.  We didn't see the doctor today!  What was I thinking?