Thursday, August 31, 2006

What I did on my summer vacation

So I took two weeks off in the middle of July. My family has a cottage on a lake about two hours from here. My mom is 82 and has Alzheimer's, and I planned on taking her up there for the two weeks. My sister who lives in Texas was flying in too.
At the end of May, my sister The Insane Bitch, with whom my mom lives, informed me that she & her husband were going away the first and last weeks of July. She handed me a piece of paper with the dates written on it, and informed me that me, my sister Texas, and my sister Ditzy (not their real names) were to "take care of" seeing to Mom during those two weeks. Mom cannot be alone for an extended period of time thanks to the Alzheimer's. I explained that I had already put in for my vacation time, and Texas already had her plane tickets, and we all know Ditzy is useless, so I suggested we call Home Instead, the service that takes care of Mom during the day. The Insane Bitch (TIB) went ballistic and said absolutely not, "those people" were not going to stay in her house overnight, etc. Incidently, "those people" are all bonded, etc. Later that night I called Texas to fill her in on the situation and she said that TIB had just called her and called her a "bad daughter", among other things, and was furious with her. I called Ditzy and got the response I expected, i.e., no way could she take care of Mom, she didn't have an extra bedroom & Mom would have to sleep on the couch, etc. (Sleep on the couch?? Hello, Ditzy, YOU sleep on the couch.) So anyway, D, TIB's husband, got TIB calmed down, and Ann Marie, their daughter, agreed to stay with Mom the first and last week of July. SO, Mom and I and two cats (one hers, one mine), headed up to the cottage the second and third weeks of July for vacation. For two weeks, I cooked, cleaned, grocery shopped, kept Mom entertained, etc., while Texas did absolutely nothing but sip iced tea and read books. After I cooked dinner the first four nights, I suggested that the next night Texas cook, at which point she informed me that she "doesn't cook". She made a grand total of two meals the entire time we were there. She wanted to buy a new camper, and so I went with her camper shopping, for trailer training, etc. She never once took Mom out so that I could have some downtime. Great vacation, huh? After Mom and I went home & she went back to Texas she did call me & apologize, and say that she would help out more next year. News flash: There won't be a next year. Ever since Dad died in 1999, I have used up every bit of my vacation every year taking Mom up to the lake. I'm not going to do it again next year. I have four sisters (two of whom are retired) and one brother. It's their turn.

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