If you missed the start of this series, you can find it here. A lot of things will be the same or very similar.
Since Ben was sleeping, and since it’s supposed to be 109°F (43°C) Saturday, I decided to go to the pharmacy and fill the dang prescriptions.
We woke Ben at 6:30. He took his meds, went to the baño, washed hands, face, teeth and off to bed. Daughter got him changed and tucked in. Zeus was complaining about wanting to stay up later, but we were firm. He grumbled.
I did my Science… (only a few weeks til the Equinox, I think you’ll be surprised) it was still hot after the sun was down. Even the Parrots thought it was too hot. They usually take off in smaller groups, Friday night it was the whole flock.
I ate half of my Jersey Mike’s #13, did the Night Stuff, took the sleeping pill and morphine at 11:45 and konked out sometime after 1:00am. According to the Guessers app, it was a brisk 75°F (24°C) outside at that time.
I woke up at 6am. I heard Ben laughing. There was no Big Dumb Dog sniffing my ear so I deduced they were still in Ben’s room. They came and Bounced me shortly thereafter.
Morning stuff… pictures of the sunrise
Wake and feed and paparazzi Sven
Daughter got up while I was taking pictures of the sunrise. Ben kept coming outside to check on me. I think he wanted me to be in the living room with him. I told him to look at the sky. He said “pretty”. I showed him where the moon was, he said “Good Morning, Moon.” I gave the Moon a voice that said “Good Morning, Ben.”
He was back and forth to the baño also. Same old issues… progress was made this morning… SCORE!
Meds at 7:00am and a lot of SpazmaTaz Ben banging off walls, doors, furniture and falling down. I had to ask him to leave my room for scripting his Angry “Argument” Words. I still have no idea what he’s actually saying. One word sounds like “loo-tane”, the other sounds like “corr- tition” … he says them back and forth getting louder and meaner, like an argument between two people.
Things settled down around 7:45. Ben was in the living room with Daughter and I was Horizontal. I was doing Stuff on my phone when an incoming call came through at 8:24am… it was my mother. Dilemma, decisions… I took the call. “Wow! You answered, I’m surprised. I just wanted to hear your voice, and Mr. Man is away for a little while…” She kept me on the phone for an hour and a half. Ninety minutes of nothing. I answered because of the Kootie, because my mother is in her 70s, because… because. I’ve mentioned this many times, but in case there are new folks, or you missed the previous rants, or explanations… my mother lives one mile from me. I haven’t seen her in over a year, when I went to her house because my brother was visiting and wanted me to meet his wife of over a year. (he lives in the county north of mine) Anyway, during the conversation she realized she forgot Ben’s Birthday, she couldn’t remember how old he is, she couldn’t remember how old Older Daughter is. My mother is my mother. She isn’t really part of my life. She’s not evil, but she’s passive-aggressive and toxic. I keep in contact via text a few times a week. I shouldn’t have taken the call.
Ben kept coming into my room to hang out, but he was full of energy and my room has no AC. I kept telling him he needed to play in the living room where it was cool. Finally, at 12:15 I grabbed my stuff and took up residence on the end of the couch. It was the only way to keep the SpamaTaz from possibly having a heat stroke.
Once I was on the couch I told Daughter she could go lay down. She refused. Just like she refused to run a small load through the washer. She needed clean uniforms, and she was SURE that our washer would overload the power grid, cause a blackout, no AC or internet for Ben… cats sleeping with dogs… you get the picture. She hand washed a load of clothes in the tub and hung them outside. The things she fixates on to worry about… I just don’t get it.
Since Ben had me right there, he decided he needed some stuff taped together. We hadn’t done Arts And Crafts in a while. I have no idea what the blocks I taped together were supposed be, but I guess I did a good job, cuz Ben said “Thank you, Gramma.” when I finished. He settled down and watched his tablet and ate some Oreos after I’d completed my assigned projects.
Daughter went to lay down around 2:15. Ben had moved to in front of the Bath Room to do his chalk thang. Out of curiosity, I checked the Guessers app
Yes, I’m whining. It’s my blog and I’ll whine if I want to, whine if I want to, whine if I want to… Seriously, though… that’s freakin HOT!
Daughter came back out to the living room around 3:15. I told her I had checked with Younger about sitting with Ben tonight and she’s off work at 4:30, so she’s available. Older said we should be fine, and it’s true… Ben had a pretty mellow day. He was playing with his chalk and watching his tablet still when she got up.
I planned to see how Younger was feeling after work. It would be better not to take Ben out in the heat, but if Younger isn’t feeling well after work, then she needs to go home and rest.
Pregame show time. I’m not sure how Driving Miss Daisy is going to go, but we’ll get it done, one way or the other. Not sure I’ll be collecting Science Data tonight either. The smoke would make for pretty colors, but if homes are burning, I’m not able to appreciate the beauty, ya know?
Thanks for broiling with us today. I went out briefly to walk over to the market. It was ridiculously hot and there was a big plume of smoke in the east. A three hundred acre brush fire that was moving close to homes in the rural foothills east of my city. Hot weather and fires. Autumn in Southern California. Thank goodness we aren’t having Santa Ana winds with the heat. The high winds make the fires worse. Anyway, come by tomorrow. Maybe we’ll do more Arts and Crafts or dominoes and chalk. The AC will be blasting and there’s ice water and Sweet Tea… Ben might let you have a diet coke if you ask real nice. ¡Hasta mañana!
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HUGS!
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King Ben's Grandma 
Fire and hot weather, both distressing. Stay safe and stay cool. Hope you have a good night.
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Thank you. It’s still 97F right now. And the smoke is making the air awful.
I don’t think I’ll be opening up the house tonight.
I hope your Sunday is off to a good start!🤗🥰
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Thanks Angie! It’s a super busy weekend for me. Getting things ready for my daughter’s return.
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That’s super hot! I smiled thinking of Ben saying good morning to the moon 🌙 😊. Y’all be safe 🤗💖
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Ben is very cute when he says good morning or good night to the moon or stars.
The smoke is awful and it looks pretty scary, but CA firefighters know fires, and they had helicopters and planes dropping water and retardant earlier.
The winds usually come in from the west, off the ocean at night, that will help push the fire back to the east. It was moving west… I just hope no one got hurt.
Gonna be hot tomorrow too🥵 Bless the AC!🤗🥰💃🏼🌊🦜💫
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Oh my gosh, you guys are seriously dealing with some heat! I can’t even imagine! That must be so hot. We don’t have a whole lot of dry heat without humidity but I am sure you could bake a cake outside your house at this point! Hot! There is definitely some scripting that I have no idea what Declan is saying. I don’t think he knows what he is really saying either. He is just repeating the sounds that make sense to hin in terms of the video he is watching. I totally wish I understood what he was saying though. Sometimes I think it applies to the situation and sometimes I think the scripting was for fun. It is so hard to figure out at times. I hope you guys have a smooth night and a great day ahead – Hugs!
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Thanks Robyn. I hope this is Summer’s last hurrah! There’s a fire burning east of us now… the smoke is moving west… the sunset was pretty but the air stinks. One more day of triple digits then it’ll cool down to 95, so say the Guessers🤷🏼♀️
Just another fun part of 2020, I guess… onward to tomorrow, right?😉😂💕
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The heat is horrendous. I went grocery shopping at 7am and stayed inside the rest of the day. Great parrot pic ~ so many! Good smiley dragon pics too. Hope tomorrow goes easy 🥵🐱🐱❤️
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Thanks! We had a fire about 20 miles east this afternoon too☹ the air still stinks! The smoke was blowing west so it got “dark” early here.
Ben was chill though, so that’s good! 💕
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First, this bit would be a great opening for a short story:
I told him to look at the sky. He said “pretty”. I showed him where the moon was, he said “Good Morning, Moon.” I gave the Moon a voice that said “Good Morning, Ben.”
Second, I fully understand about being distanced from a parent, never mind the actual mileage. I haven’t spoken to my father in years. He’s never satisfied with anything I might do, and I’ve long since given up on seeking his approval. Of course I would like it to be better. But some things just don’t work out…
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The parental thing is unfortunate, but wisdom is knowing when to cut our losses. We’re taught we should love our parents and be a part of their lives until they pass.
Human relationships are complicated, people change, and your birth family is a roll of the dice. Just because someone contributed half your DNA doesnt give them a lifelong claim on you.
My daughters and I have good relationships and I hope they continue. My mother is nostalgic about an unhealthy time for me that she thought was great. I used no need at this point to re-educate her.
Cheers to us for being wise enough to know that distance isn’t always a bad thing🥂
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Wow that’s too hot. And we have been outside with jumpers, body warmers and woolly hats. It’s interesting Son did a lot of scripting most of which was his secret code, Have to say since he hit the teens that has largely stopped. xxx
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Nice! Sometimes the scripting is spot on! “And then there was trouble” works in so many situations. But right now he’s repeating “it’s a girl guy” over and over in an angry voice, while happily doing his chalk thang. The tone is irritating, the phrase makes no sense and the repetition gets to me after a while.
It’s nice to know there’s hope he’ll start being a sarcastic smarty pants in a year or two😉😂😂😂💌💕💌💕
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Oh my goodness, stay safe in that heat and smoke. I hope those fires keep a long way away. It’s nice to see Sven up and doing his thing again.
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The fire is moving away, south & east. The smoke isn’t as bad today, but the smell is still around, making me a little nauseous. The temperature is supposed to be 95F (35C) today, so that’s an improvement.
We really are used to fires like this in California. We have fires every year. It’s been bad up north this year, and this is the first bad one in San Diego County. I hope the whole season wont be like this. It’s been worse. In 2003 the Cedar Fire burned for weeks. We could see the flames on the hillsides.
We’re safe, thank you!💕
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I get your daughter’s anxiety. If Ben doesn’t have the internet, things could go wrong. And we have been lucky. No blackouts in my neighborhood. Only a few minutes away, those neighbors have had power outages non stop. They are county services, not city like mine. Maybe that’s the reason?
Husband is trying to fix the dishwasher. It hasn’t worked for weeks.
Bummer your Mom forgot her grandson’s birthday. My mother forgot my husband’s bday and called a few days later. Geeessee.
She is narcissist person. It’s only about her
We stopped by her place yesterday to Pick up her used chicken coop. We think we might try raising chickens. Fresh eggs. Yum. It’s a big commitment, so I’m still researching it, but I think we will get chicks. It’s too hot and smokey to assemble today anyway.
Probably going to buy a dishwasher
Take care Angle and stay cool.
Teri
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My mother is passive-aggressive Codependent, unhappy that life didnt give her an upper middle class lifestyle. We had it with my stepfather, but he was “boring” so she cheated on him and divorced him. But none of it is her fault. Everyone else is to blame for her misery. She’s quite the martyr.🤷🏼♀️
We are in contact, but not close.
Chickens will be fun for you. As long as the coyotes dont come after them.
I guess one good thing about not having a dishwasher is I don’t have to worry about it breaking 😉 Good luck!🍀
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