It started with her grandmother dying on October 15th.
Knowing the way she reacted when they thought her son's gf might be pregnant (five weeks of crying, of locking herself in the bedroom, of secrecy - I had to guess after five weeks what the "problem" was - ... and the saying he's still a baby himself, and turns out no pregnancy afterall), well, knowing she overreacts to situations, I feared that she'd be in for a long, hard time with her grandmother's passing.
October 15th was also Alien's 21st birthday. I took her and her family out to dinner (nothing fancy, McDonald's for the kids to play on the playland while we adults talked). To my surprise, at the last minute, Gizmo decided to come along, leaving Gadget at home.
We had a good time with Alien (more on that below), got home after an hour or so, and I thought I best go talk to Gadget, give her my condolences.
She was anything but depressed. "She was old" and "she was an evil woman" were but a few of the things I heard. And then I was treated to a long and detailed family history worthy of a soap opera of it's own. Imagine Days of Our Life meets the Beverly Hillbillies (only without the striking it rich part).and you've got pretty much what I had the privilege of hearing. All the while, Gizmo, his back to her as he sat at his computer desk, rolled his eyes and made funny faces.
But then the drama began ... Gadget was supposed to watch Grandson whilst DILs parents (who usually babysit him when DIL works the afternoon/evening shift) were in Kentucky on family business. I made myself available to watch Grandson so that Gadget could go to the funeral home for visitation on Thursday and the funeral on Friday.
You'd have thought she was getting ready for a mission to the moon!! Detailed "directions" as to when and HOW to watch Grandson.
Excuse me? I've had over three decades of raising kids ... you just need to tell me the when part. I got soooo tired of saying things like "I have it under control", "I've raised kids, I'm sure I can figure out how to watch a seven year old" and once again finally "STFU will you? I'm not a moron."
Thursday rolled around. She was at the funeral home for most of the day (yay, she's outta MY hair!), not coming home until well after 9pm. Grandson and I had a ball!! As soon as he got home from school the first thing he did was to bear hug me and ask "are you ready to hang out Grandma?" We watched a bit of tv, had a picky eater friendly dinner (and he cleaned his plate, too), then played a game on my computer. All the time snuggling and cuddling. That boy sure loves his cuddles!! He even went to bed without any arguments.
The next day, Friday, was Gadget's grandmother's funeral. Gadget was home before noon. No brunch, no wake. Just plant poor grandma in the ground and call it a day. Then again, if my cousins were as horrible as she makes hers out to be, I'd have ran for my car immediately afterwards, too!!
So, she's home in time to get Grandson off the bus and watch him for the rest of the day. Poor kid comes up to me and asks "can I hang out with you instead? Aunt Gadget is just so boring next to you, Grandma". Bless his little heart.
*****
October 15 ... Alien's birthday "lunch" at McDonald's ... being as broke as I am McD's works good (and the kiddies can play while the adults talk), but no one complained!! Even the Knight in Rusty Armor was almost tolerable. Well, not to Gizmo anyway ("Mom, I wish he could be removed from the gene pool" he says afterwards), but that's a different story.
It did start to rain, and thus cut our visit short. How would rain do that, you ask? Rusty Armor started to freak "it's raining!! My car doesn't run in the rain, and I have no windshield wipers" ... so they rushed off before the rain got any harder.
That, however, cancelled the rest of our plans for the afternoon. Going shopping for Alien's birthday gift. I usually pre-shop, but since she needs clothes, I told her we'd go together so she could try them on before I bought them. And those plans were cancelled thanks to a short sprinkle. Yeah, it only rained lightly for just a few minutes. Long enough for Rusty Armor to panic and drive the three miles home.
The day after Alien's birthday a card arrived in the mail for her (at my house) from my mother. It contained a check and Mom didn't want Rusty Armor to know she sent a check so she sent it here (good thinking, Mom!!). She wanted Alien to be able to spend it ALL on herself, all one hundred dollars. Mom also sent an early birthday check for me in the same amount.
Today Alien and I went shopping. Alone. Rusty Armor actually volunteered to watch the boys so we could have some mother/daughter time. Okay, who are you and what did he do with my idiot SIL?
Anyway ... for three hours we had fun. Shopped, bought, and sat in the van talking afterwards (hey, why hurry home if we don't need to!). It was her first time without the boys or Rusty Armor in almost three years. Let her enjoy it!! Oh, and Alien got a job application from one of the places we went (The Salvation Army Store). She filled it out in the van, and turned it back in to the hiring manager. She has a job interview tomorrow. Wish her luck!!
We did have fun until we went back to her house. Seems there was some drama with my ex father in law trying to find her (he even came to my house I found out later) ... and thankfully my ex FIL isn't MY problem anymore. But, you could tell that Pa put an end to what had been an enjoyable day for the Alien. And by the time we got back, Rusty Armor was his old self again.
I couldn't stay long. I just can't deal with the stupidity that comes out of Rusty Armor's mouth. I did stay long enough to visit with Butterball and JR, and for them to empty the Altoids tin of about a dozen Altoids that they know I keep in my purse . Yes, my grandsons love Altoids!! I don't dare have more than a dozen on me or they'd eat a whole tin.
*****
Alien bought a few pairs of much needed blue jeans, and a Halloween costume for Butterball. I bought a few things; a pink short sleeve top, an adorable embroidered denim shirt, a few shirts for all three of my grandsons, and a few other things.
One of the "few other things" was a doll. Walking the aisles of the Salvation Army Store, I spot a life-sized doll that actually stops me in my tracks!! It looks just like Butterball!! At two dollars, I just couldn't leave the doll sitting there looking so sad. It'll be cleaned up (lots of restoration for this good quality doll), get it new outfit and start a new life as a much loved boy doll. I sure can't have a Butterball look-alike going through it's life as a little girl!!
It'll stay in my collection, but this doll was obviously made to be played with. It's a good quality doll, vinyl head, legs and arms, and a soft sculpted body that was made for cuddling (it's so soft and thick). "He" looks to fit into real baby clothes, I'm guessing either a 9mo or 12mo size. I'll take it with me when I'm ready to buy it a wardrobe at the resale shops.
And heaven help Rusty Armor if he says "boys don't play with dolls".
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