long overdue update

Mom and I went out yesterday to do some running around and it was unusually busy at Walgreens. Schwann's was giving away free ice cream (which I told mom we didn't need even if it was free) and they were apparently being guarded by the police, who had a motorcycle and their souped up Mustang chase car there. We went in and it was a back-to-school promotion, but it didn't start til 11, so Ozzy and I went back to get my prescriptions and talk to the nice lady pharmacist who swears her dog looks so much like Ozzy. She really loves it when Ozzy comes around. We talked and she oohed and awwed over Ozzy for a while and I left a different way than I came in, this time by way of the camera department. I turned the corner and there was this college age girl standing there in a crown. I said, "Look Ozzy, a girl in a crown." She came over to him and made a big fuss and asked if she could have her picture taken with him. Turns out that's why she was there, so people could have their picture taken with her. And, evidently she's a big deal, Miss Sooner, because just after we finally got the free print, the place filled with kids and they were asking where Miss Ashley something or other was. She was really nice and very good with all the kids. She loved Ozzy and he was very good with her holding him. She just gushed over him and talked about how much she wanted a dog but was living on the second floor. Didn't expect this when we left home. 

Mom tried driving the Versa yesterday, in fact driving to Walgreens. I am a horrible side seat driver, but, as I told her, I do owe $12,000 on the car. I know how she taught me to drive and I'm still trying to overcome those habits, but she really did okay. When we came out of Walgreens she didn't want to drive anymore. I asked if it was cause I was so annoying and she graciously said that she found out what she wanted about how it drove.

We've been watching the Olympics a lot, especially during the evening. I have been waiting since I bought the TV to see the Olympics on it, and it's awesome, but I've been having trouble with the sleeping again. Last night I finally decided to change my pattern and NOT sleep on the couch until 1 or 2 in the morning and then be awake in my bed the rest of the night. Instead I went to bed at 10:30 and slept all night. I've also, and this is why I haven't been posting for the last week, decided that I can't post at night before I go to bed because I'd go to bed and 3 hours later, when I was done, it would be 3 or 4 or 5 in the morning. This is better. But it's a bit odd, cause mom is sitting across from me playing her new computer games. She was quiet until she started poker, well actually until I said something to her, then she began a play by play, mumbling under her breath. I had to tell her no to the commentary. It's sad when you have to smackdown your mom - gently, gently. She also thought she had said something wrong cause I mumbled something and left to go to the office. Well, first of all, I'm always mumbling something, so nobody can take that personally. I was just scanning the Ozzy photo. 

This has been a working vacation for me and mom, and very good for our relationship. She has assumed several times that I wanted her to leave because I was sleeping so much or cause I went to my bedroom and slept during the daytime. I have been trying to tell her not to assume about me. She's not good at it - we're too different, and she's been working very hard at just asking things. I have also been working at not being snippy like Josh gets with me - I know how that feels and how unjustified it is - it's just intolerance of the aging process. Mom is further along than me and I'm way further along than Josh. I'm treasuring the time I have with mom, so every time she talks about going home, unless she's tired of being here, I don't want her to go. Ozzy, the little putz, is a grandma's boy and spends an awful lot of time in grandma's lap with a guilty look on his face, looking at me like "see how Grandma loves me and treats me."

The odd thing about yesterday is that, when I went in to the bathroom to see what wild hairdo I had from overnight, it turned out that I had miraculously awakened with perfect hair. Hair I try for and never get - I had anti-bed head. I was afraid to get dressed or brush my hair for fear of losing this once in a lifetime occurrence. But I did have to get dressed so I tentatively ran a brush thru my hair and said good bye to my perfect coif and viola, it kinda stayed. Wow, the stars must be in my hair house. 

See, the thing is, I don't even know how to use gel right. I got some when I got my hair cut short, and have had some in the past, but I hate the feeling of anything but my hair moving, of stiff hair. Kind of a holdover from having long hair. Somehow, when I was at the Tribune, I channeled someone and actually successfully used a curling iron and hairspray I liked and had a "do" that moved with me when I walked. My proudest day was when the secretary of the publisher asked me...ME... how I got my hair to look so good. Still gives me a soft warm feeling.

I tried the gel I had gotten for Jenni's wedding and didn't use, after a shower, using the amount I thought I needed, forgetting the first lesson of Queer Eye, which is "from the back first,", so I took a handful (yes, take it literally) of this gel and put it on the top of my head and rubbed it in. OMG! My hair looked wetter than when I got out of the shower! I turned on the tap at the sink and started running my hands thru my hair trying to get the excess out. I looked like a mobster. I tried brushing it and couldn't get the brush thru. Oh Lord, what have I done? I grabbed the towel and tried to towel off the excess. In the end, I stuck my head back under the shower. The towel remained standing in the corner. You can see why yesterday was such a triumph for me.

So, that's about it. I'm not sure what we're going to be doing today. It's only 10 am. I'm not used to this. I've been up for 3.5 hours and it feels like nap time. We haven't been to a movie lately but we haven't been so inclined - too hot. It's in the 80s this week, so if there are clouds, who knows what we'll be doing.