Day #54 > TUESDAY 16th DECEMBER
Quiet morning & Bob & Mum are out around 10.00am for haircuts. It’s raining so Abel doesn’t get walked, as Abel doesn’t like rain. Yep.
Bob leaves to warm the car up but of course forgets Mum’s collar, so I ensure she’s suited-n-booted before she leaves & she asks me who else would care for her? I reply that I’m really not sure, as Bob’s long-gone in the garage now, but hey, it’s not new news, but I hope she has a lovely time out having her hair cut. She raises her eyebrows . . .
I do some chores around the house & do more work on the blog before they return. Dull ole day, & once back Mum is spending her time sorting through clothes. Bob is heating soup for lunch . . .
All calm until we get ready to leave to see Trip & Brenda for 3.00pm – it’s Trip’s birthday & we’ve been invited round for coffee ’n’ cake to celebrate. I ask if the Deweys picked anything up for Trip’s birthday whilst they were out? ‘No.’ They did not. ‘Should we?’ asks Mum. Mmm, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that Mum has zero confidence in anything, so making a decision is nigh-on impossible without it being passed back to the questioner for their view. ‘Mum, he’s your friend – & has been for a very long time – do you think you should take a gift for his birthday, even just a small little token?’ ‘Yep, yep I do!’ Comes the reply so we go around the houses once again & finally decide upon a bottle of wine. ‘Ok, we’ll stop by Publix the supermarket en-route & pick something up then.’ I say. We agree to leave at 2.30pm & it’s now around 1.30pm. Sorted.
You’d think so wouldn’t you – you’d think that’d be sorted. Oh no. Alas Mum seemed a little nervous, & asked every 10 minutes if we should leave yet. We managed to hold off to the allotted time & en-route I asked if we should get Trip a card; well, the fall-out was huge. Massive conversation – much buck-passing – ‘I don’t know Mum, he’s your friend, would he appreciate a card or would he regard it as a frivolous waste of money?’ I offer, so Mum agrees we should get a card. Arriving at the supermarket Bob confirms that he does not choose cards, so he cannot possibly go in the supermarket alone. Mum gets out to accompany him, & I see no point in staying in the car alone so join them. I ask Bob if he has lemon juice for tonight, & that we should get the olive oil too, whilst we’re here. He said he didn’t know we’re out of olive oil. I’m at a loss – as he confirmed the previous night he’d run out as I wanted to use it for diner, but now he’s denying it. Mmmm, Mum’s not the only one with memory issues. Although it’s not all bad news, as apparently there’s lemon juice in the house. I touch on the fact we’d discussed the lack of olive oil before, he shrugs & asks what type – I simply reply whatever he usually buys & he storms off ahead. Well, when I say ‘storm’, I mean wibble . . .
We leave Bob to it; in fact for once I voice my feelings to Mum. ‘Can we just leave him here Mum?’ I ask, sounding much like a grumpy teenager. ‘He’s horrific today!’ Mum agrees, but says she’s used to it. ‘Not ideal is it Mum, to be “used” to it – why, why do you tolerate it?’ I ask. ‘Well, I don’t know.’ She admits. Sigh.
We reconvene down the wine isle, Mum selects a nice Provancale Rosé – which I suspect was slightly above Bob’s allocated budget – & we add that & a card to a teeny tiny bottle of olive oil that Bob’s selected. We pay – to be fair Bob pays – & we continue in silence to Trip’s . . .
Mum & I have a lovely time with Brenda & Trip – & I suspect Bob enjoys himself too as he spends every possible opportunity talking about himself. It doesn’t go unnoticed, & a little game ensues to divert any of Bob’s me-me-me comments to another subject, & in the end Trip resorts to putting a car review on YouTube! Sniggers on the way out when I confirm that ‘Bob truly does have a couple of screws loose’ in a slightly too quiet voice to be heard by Bob . . .
It’s dark when we get back so I start on dinner – but Bob wants to use up the quinoa pie rather than go for what I’d planned – although it’s no problem & I do all the necessary, including shoo-ing Bob out of the kitchen when he lingered too long, telling him he’s in my way & simply go & sit at the table please. I suspect that didn’t go down well, but luckily the food did & we ate in a reasonably civil manner. Naturally this was followed by Jeopardy & bed. Phew. And relax . . .