Twistedspinster

I think I'm a chameleon.

Remember the movie Runaway Bride? The thing that sticks with me the most is that the title character completely takes on the characteristics of whoever she's with. The newspaper guy asks each of the prospective grooms what kind of eggs she likes, and it's whatever *he* likes.

I think I'm a lot like that. I've referred to it as the Farmer's Wife gene-- "What dear? The mule died so you want me to pull the plow? Ok, then."

When I was a teenager at music camp in North Carolina, I got a southern accent. When we drove through Utah, I felt the pull to squelch my own wishes over Mike's. Stuff like that.

My point? I'm doing that here in the rest home too. Ahem. Assisted Living.

I even found myself buying some stay-drys. geesh. And it wasn't in my head either.
If it was just the mental slow-down, I'd blame the coffee. I swear it's decaf-- like they're afraid of overly-caffeinated seniors or something.

But it's good to see the Schooleys. They're a close family, and that's new for me. And I fit right in, sense of humor-wise. (maybe that's the chameleon thing again, but hey. It works.)

Yesterday, we were all at Mike's sister Connie's house for dinner. I didn't take a head count, but there were at least 20 people. Mike and Eleanor, the parents, 6 siblings plus all their spouses, grandkids, and great grands.

And oh, the stories. Snail races on picnic tables (the winner used a trail of Coke, and the theory is that the sugar and caffeine was the winning strategy).

Pat and Jim, Mike's older brothers, told about the time Pat gave Jim a ride in the dryer. (that explains a lot.) There were conflicting stories about how many shoes were also in the dryer.

And how Pat and Jim (age 5 and 3) went to visit Grandpa and brought home a lot of new words that Mama didn't like at all. Well, Eleanor threatened the washing out the mouth with soap routine, but it wasn't more than 30 seconds before Jim used those words again. So, Eleanor dragged him all the way upstairs to wash out his mouth, and when Jim came back down, he told Pat "Her already done it."

The caffeine's worn off... I'm sure there will be more stories!

posted by Ruth S. @ 7:53 AM