where ARE those flying monkeys when you need them?

I’m officially taking a break. I’ve been doing graduation checks all week long and I’m still not done. I don’t mind doing them and they’re actually pretty interesting – there are so many majors and so many minors and so many possible checksheets, as well as an infinite number of ways for students to have screwed their programs all up,  that it’s quite varied work and sort of like doing puzzles all day long. And it’s SO QUIET!!! It’s fall break so it’s quieter than ever, but it’s soooooo quiet!!!! I had to answer a phone call this morning and I could barely remember how to do it. In fact, I had to transfer it also and I’m pretty sure I cut them off.

So I want to post some more pictures of the lovely Oz. And try to post a video, which I’ve never done.

But first I want to whine about my parents. Well, it’s not really about them as much as a generalized whine about aging and illness and being elderly and I wish they’d go back to knowing what exactly they want to do and doing it, and not wanting me to make up their minds for them. Darn it.

We are supposed to go to Charlottesville next week and visit my aunt and uncle, as well as my lovely cousins and various spouses and kids, who don’t live there but are all driving down from points north for the visit. We did this last year and it was lots of fun. My aunt is my father’s last remaining sibling. My uncle was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma a few weeks ago. It sounds like he’s doing pretty well – but who knows, since apparently his mantra is EVERYTHING IS FINE. He’s having to have some chemo, though. But according to him (EVERYTHING IS FINE!!) and, more importantly, according to his doctor, it will be okay for him to have company next weekend. He says he’s up to it, the general consensus is that he feels good enough, and it might be good for him. And for my aunt. They would probably enjoy it. My parents will stay with them, but Baker B and I have a motel booked, as does one cousin and her husband and kids. My parents won’t do anything but sit around either, so they can all sit around together.

Well, I call my father last night to tell him it sounds like it will be fine, and he tells me now he’s worried about taking Mama up there. She’s already going on and on and on about it. She’s obsessing over leaving the cats. Who will be fine, my SIL will check on them daily, but she worries incessantly about them even when she’s at home. If one isn’t in the room, she wonders where it is and asks if we’ve seen it and if we make the mistake of saying we haven’t, she’ll have to go hunt it. We’ve learned to say, "Oh, I just saw Simon – he’s in the kitchen" or whatever. She is afraid they’ll get outside. She’s afraid if Becky comes down to feed them, she’ll accidently let them get out. And actually Simon DOES try to get outside – he’s a master at lurking just behind you and then shooting out when you open the door – but when Simon gets out, he just strolls to the middle of the carport and flops over and waits for you to come get him. Maddy couldn’t care less about going outside.

So in reality, the cats would be perfectly fine. But she’s already obsessing over it.

Naturally when Daddy hands me the phone to talk to her, she agrees that they will be fine and it will be fun to go see Merle and Frank. But that’s not what she’s telling him. Which is typical – she’ll tell us what she thinks we want to hear. Daddy gets the real thing. So I don’t think he’s exaggerating at all. And since she can’t remember one minute to the next, she probably DOES think one minute it will be fun and the next minute that something will happen to her cats while she’s gone.

And Altzheimer’s patients are not good travelers. I’m worried now that it’s too much for her, to be out of her routine for three days. She did fine last year – other than being confused in the middle of the night about which door was hers after she’d gone out to the bathroom, but I did the same thing and was confused TOO because there are like five identical doors on that floor, all in a little group. But it’s a year later and even though she doesn’t seem much worse at all to me, maybe she IS. At least in that aspect.

But I don’t want to cancel. But maybe we should. Daddy said we’d just wait till Monday and see how Uncle Frank’s feeling. I’m afraid that we’ll never be able to get them together – my aunt has lots of health problems too and tells Daddy she can’t ride all the way to Asheville anymore. So if they can’t come down and we can’t go up, I don’t know how they’ll ever get to see each other. I’m looking forward to it also but we can go up another time – as we keep saying we’re going to do – and visit the cousins. Which would be more fun, she types selfishly.

AAAAGGGGHHHHH.

I hate to wait till Monday to decide, but I guess we can. Actually I guess I better conquer my phone phobia and call Cousin J who booked the rooms and see how late we can cancel without being charged. I can’t email her – our email is down through the weekend.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHH!!!!!

Oh, well. I’m sure it will work itself out. I just feel bad about the whole thing and want my parents and my aunts and uncles to all be well and healthy and able to travel again. I thoroughly disapprove of this whole getting old and feeble business

Well, drat, I can’t figure out how you put in a video – does anyone know how that works?? I’ve seen other people do it here.

Dorothy’s house. Note the weird reflection in the mirror.

A Winkie and a little Scarecrow

Dorothy and M&Ms – in her running shoes.

A horse of Another Color – one new thing they spent that money on!

I really really really think these were some of the Royal Crossdressers of Oz from several years ago! Look at Glenda’s shoulders – plus the fact that not many actual women would be displaying their bra straps like that. Which look way teenier than they ought to be. And she was like 6’5". I think this Glenda was the Wicked Witch last time. I liked this Dorothy’s khaki-pants-under-dress ensemble, too. I was SO excited – I look for them every year!

This guy dressed as a tree was with them – I didn’t get a good picture of him, sadly.

Miss Gulch and Dorothy discussing Dorothy’s shoes. I wish this was clearer too. This poor Dorothy CRIED and cried and cried – she’d get okay for awhile, then burst into tears again. She didn’t want Miss Gulch totake her shoes. They were standing behind us waiting to get in the museum.

Baker B and Friend. Yes, Baker B certainly does need a haircut.