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What it’s like to be me

My life will always be a comedy of errors and todays post will confirm this.

Yesterday Brian was over at my moms house assessing what needed to be moved and a plan on how to do it. Somehow she managed to trip over a lamp cord and started to fall. He caught her before she totally hit the floor but she managed to bend her foot backwards. This morning when I got a message it still hurt and she thought it could be broken I decided to take her to urgent care. This would confirm no breaks and she could stop worrying.

The nurse practitioner was a little snippy and no lie my mom flipped her off when she left the room. She returned after the X-ray with a total change in attitude and informed us mom had three bones broken in her foot and they needed to consult orthopedics to determine if she needed to be seen now. She comes back a short time later and says she can see them this week but she needs a splint and no weight bearing on that foot. Hopping around on one foot with a walker is not an option. Even I would veto that so I reach out to my sister to see if she has a wheelchair and she does. So mom and I make plans to swing by her apartment storage unit to pick up walker (Brian had just put the stupid thing in there the day before) then to my sisters house for the wheelchair and then back to her house.

She realizes she has no cigs so I agree to stop at gas station. She then smoked one while I’m fetching the walker. I start the car to leave and it will not start. So I have to call Brian who is currently at my moms house. He is busy power washing her siding to get her house ready to sell. Luckily he was just finishing up. So he has to drive to my moms apartment to jump start me. My mom cannot get out of the car because she can’t put any weight on her foot. So my car starts up and he tells me not to turn it off. Yeah duh!

We fetch the wheelchair and make it to her house. Luckily she never took the wheelchair ramp down from when she broke her ankle back in 2010. We barely made it in the door because the wheel got stuck on the entryway. By this time Kayla had arrived to go to the store and pack some things up. So I dropped her off and came home.

Brian backs my car out of the garage and looks at the battery. He then took old one out and bought a new one. I am so thankful he can fix anything.

Mole Moral~ It’s never simple in this family!

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The ultimate prize

I haven’t blogged in quite a while because after covid calmed down, my personal life ramped up and well I just didn’t feel like writing. That all changed today. My mom had asked me to take her to the Northcutt/Witt family reunion some time ago. I was like sure and didn’t think much about it. I was a little nervous thinking about being around a bunch of people. Thanks covid, I could easily never leave my house and you give me the perfect excuse not to. So I told myself not using covid as an excuse, leave your house as it was outside at the park in Sullivan.

It was great seeing my cousins Lisa and Alana again. What wasn’t great was how many aunts and uncles had passed into heaven and how old the rest of them looked. Lisa and I both agreed we are still twenty-five so that made no sense. When I was younger we would have Christmas on Christmas Eve and then drive to Sullivan Christmas morning and have a big Christmas lunch with everyone. They rented to IOOF hall each year. I can remember my sister and Alana fighting over who was going to hold the babies and I wondering what was wrong with them. I have so many memories of Great Grandma Northcutt from these Christmas’s and the summer reunions. She was a wonderful lady and I loved her so much. Before lunch as prayer was being said I could see her perfectly in my head, it was such a nice memory.

Then we found out there were attendance prizes and my moms name was called. She picked a letter that my great grandpa had written to my great grandma and I think it could be displayed as an ornament. I didn’t take a good look at it but I called it when she died. She then told me about another gem that was available. My cousin Shirley was called a little bit later and she picked out that prize and gave it to me. I was so honored that she would do this for me. I have been told many times I get my baking and sewing ability from Grandma Northcutt, so this is perfect.

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I am hanging it in my kitchen and I am making this cake tomorrow and bringing it into work. My co-workers are all chocolate lovers so I am sure they will love it. Usually if I bring in baked goods our newest CRNA Andrew is working with us as well. I am not sure if this measuring spoon was actually hers but I am telling myself it is. I just love it!

There was no cell reception in the park so it was so nice that not one person was playing on their phone. We all had to talk to each other in person  (gasp) and everyone was paying attention and not distracted by technology. It really was a nice change and made me miss something I didn’t even realize I missed. I guess a sign of getting older (besides everyone else looking so freaking old) is looking back into the past when things were simpler.

 

Mole Moral~I refuse to allow covid to turn me into the hermit that lies right beneath the surface of my personality! Next up Colorado for a week!

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Cornbread

When Brian and I were dating I was in nursing school. I came home every weekend because no one stayed over the weekend. This was in the mid eighties and we were not allowed to have boy visitors past ten. They had to be signed in and out and if you were caught with one over night, you were kicked out of nursing school. So Brian and his work friends would pick me up on their way home from work on Friday nights and he would bring me back on Sunday night and leave by ten because the rule follower wasn’t risking getting kicked out of nursing school.

My mom made dinner a lot on Sundays and one of them she made cornbread. Well, Brian just raved about how good it was and how he liked it. After this she would make it for him almost every time he ate over. Lets fast forward about five years. Brian says to me I really hate cornbread, I just said I liked it back then to be polite to your mom. I of course reported back to my mom who died laughing and she never made it for him again.

I can honestly say I have never made cornbread the entire time we have been married. Brian will tell you I don’t cook anyway and my mom will tell you I starved my girls when they were little. They would come to her house and wipe her out of food. I do enjoy the cornbread when I eat at Cracker Barell.

Mole Moral ~ Sometimes being kind and polite bites you in the butt and you get stuck eating something horrible for years!

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Christmas Angel

It was back in 2004 and I was at church when Pastor Tom spoke about a thing he did called Christmas Angel. For the 12 nights before Christmas you pick someone who may be struggling, had a bad year or just need a lift at Christmas and drop off presents. The first night you leave one of something, and the second night two, and the third night three etc. But there is a catch, you drop the present, ring the doorbell, run, and try not to get caught. Of course if you have your children help, they can do the ringing and running and you drive the getaway car. He had this done to him by a mormon family who never revealed who they were. He said we shouldn’t tell either but if someone did that for me and never said who it was, it would bother me forever. So on day twelve I always left a note revealing who I was. Although he said this was a way to bless others, over the years it has been a big blessing to our family.

The person or people I have chosen were always picked by God. He put their name on my heart at some point during the year. Some years it’s really early like April or May and sometimes its been as late as October. Now God doesn’t talk to me in an audible voice for that would surely make me a crazy person but I just get the feeling this person is the one. Most of the time it is a patient I have cared for, but sometimes its a friend that doesn’t know this secret about me. This year I received a little push back from who I chose, to the point I started questioning myself (and God). But in true God fashion I got the answer loud and clear on day ten of dropping gifts off. I received a note saying this girl had a bad year and every night she had to have painful dressing changes and knowing she would be receiving a gift made the discomfort less. I started crying when I read the note. After all it is the exact reason we have done this every year since 2004.

This is the first Christmas we had without Emily. She is working out in California and ended up spending Christmas with the Lindsay’s. If she had to not be at home, she was at the second best place in the world. After all had Brian and I both kicked the bucket, our kids were willed to them. There were times they threatened to kill us so they could live with them. Emily was very sad that she didn’t get to Christmas angel with us. Allyson said to me she liked houses that were farther away because we had more time to talk. So I started thinking about some of the highlights and I shared some of them with this years girl. I decided to blog them tonight for my girls.

The very first year I worked evenings so I had to drop the gifts off during the day. Since I worked the first three days I dropped them off during the day. Apparently that person worked during the day so finally on day three I made my sister call from her work and say this is your Christmas angel please check your front porch. The next year we did my neighbors I had as a child. She was convinced it was a neighbor down the street and each night would yell thank you and say the lady’s name. She never once thought it was me. One year the family lived in De Soto. We arrive in the dark and not one single mailbox has the address on it. None of the houses do either. I attempt to get on google earth but the houses are blocked by trees. By this time I am freaking out, screaming and cursing when the husband walks out to check the mail. Last year the guy I did was convinced he had a stalker and almost called the cops on us. He also had no numbers on his house so my oldest went rooting through his mailbox (which was attached to the house) to see what address was on the mail. One year we did Allyson’s friends who are twins. The first night she was at their house so I had to deliver by myself. I knocked on the door so loud that the guy across the hall opened his door also. I scared them all so bad they bumped heads on the table they were under. Before I had a smart phone I had to use map quest. I arrive to the street I was supposed to turn on and it had turned into a QT with no way to get through. I had to call Brian who had to get out his street guide to get us to the correct house. One year we pulled up to the house and Kayla says they are in the garage. I say no they are not, deliver the gift. She gets out starts to walk and I hear them in the garage. I say F**k they are in the garage, get back in the car.

This year was no different. The very first night I had worked and went by myself. There were no numbers on this house so I had to walk up to the neighbors to see their numbers. I ring the doorbell, hit the second step and my ankle goes sideways. I almost fell and I said oh hell no, I am not getting caught on day one and made it down the steps. One day just as I was getting out of the car, they came out of the house to go somewhere. I jumped back in the car and hid till they left. Then became paranoid they would forget something and come back and catch me. On the eleventh night just as Allyson was crossing the street a van pulled up into their driveway so she came back to the car. We did a lap around the subdivision and then she delivered. But the thing we will always remember is the stop sign in the middle of a street with houses on each side of the road. No cross-road or anything. The sidewalks are on both sides of the streets as well so we couldn’t figure out the purpose. On the last day I was actually going to ring the bell and wait (I’ve only done this one time in all these years) but they were not home.

So what started out as a way to bless others has turned into a Christmas tradition that we all love and look forward to each year. We’ve had great family talks and great family yelling. We’ve brightened 19 families over the years and hope to do 19 more. Although sooner than I care to admit, it will be me by myself so I better keep on running so I don’t get caught.

 

Mole Moral ~ Ding dong ditch still seems wrong even when leaving fun little presents.

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The adventure of picking up the cake

It’s an understatement to say nothing ever goes right with me. So the logical conclusion would be that picking up the cake was a true Mole adventure. When I called the sculpture park and the office is closed until Monday I went into full on panic mode because the auction site said they had to be picked up by the fourth. I also wanted my cake, like today. I call Meg in a panic and she said why don’t you try to find a park ranger and talk to him. She is so smart! So I jump in my car and find the ranger. Now he is in his car on his cell phone and I am standing out in the rain waiting for him to get off the phone. He finally gets out an apologizes for keeping me waiting. i said its no big deal I’m too mean to melt. When he caught my humor he started laughing. So I told him I won the auction and he said let’s go see if anyone from maintenance is still here and we can talk to them and I will show you the back entrance to the park. I showed the maintenance guy my papers and he was fine with me coming back with my husband. So I found the back parking lot which was right next to the cake. Most people parked over on the other side and had quite a walk. So my husband and I turn the cake over to remove the sandbags and guess what? My cake does not have a secret hatch or sandbags. So we removed the concrete blocks that were inside and put it safely in the truck. When we got home we were moving it into the front yard to hose it off when it slipped out of my hands and went skimming down my leg and to the ground. Now my husband saved the day by not just letting him (the cake) fall. The cake was fine, my leg not so much. (His back is now hurting because of not letting the cake fall to the ground.)  My leg doesn’t hurt too bad right now but by tomorrow it should be a hot bruised mess. I had on a brand new pair of jeans and luckily it did not rip a hole in them. My cake has metal around the bottom which is what nailed my leg. So my cake is safely home and he is in the garage till he dries and then will be safely in the basement. My husband is acting about the cake like he does our dog. He can’t stand the thing when I actually I think he finds it really cool.

Yes i am referring to my cake as a boy. Most of the cakes I would consider to be girls but I think the sculpture park was one of the most boy cakes around. And my husband who “thinks the thing is stupid” has already looked at my picture from the spring to see how the top looked and what is missing. He is also figuring out what was used to glue the wood to the top. The cake could use some fixing, I am hoping at some point to meet the artist Nick Lang and see what he suggests.

Mole moral: We own the coolest cake ever!!!

 

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